History of the

Civitan Club of Spartanburg

1947- 1961

Before Charter Night for Civitans of Spartanburg, Nolen H. Penland, Jr., was Temporary President and Adolph Vermont, Jr., was Temporary Secretary. Their work along with many others led to the Chartering of the Spartanburg Civitan Club on March 7, 1947, in the Cleveland Hotel. Our club was sponsored by the Charlotte Club.

The club's first publication was "Civitan News" published before charter night. This was followed by "The Spartan Civitan" with the first copy being published May 23, 1947. This became "The Civitan Builder" on April 9, 1948, edited by Herbert Hucks, Jr.

The Club was off to a fine start under the first president, Lewis Wright. Most of the year's time was consumed with everyone becoming familiar, understanding committees, ets. During this first year, the club sponsored a Style Show and a Piano Concert. The two undertakings netted the Club $449.58.

Wiley Bourne was President from 1948 - 49. Wiley and Carey Isley represented Spartanburg at the Civitan International Convention in Toronto, Canada. The enrollment in June, 1948 was 57. Work with the Crippled Children began this year; the annual stuffing party and the distribution of the coin containers. We sponsored a Junior Baseball team and won second place trophy. A play-off could not be held because of the polio epidemic. We also sponsored a "Y" football and basketball team. The "Buddy" system was successfully used to improve attendance and was written up in the International Publication. The first Crippled Children's Christmas Party was held in December 1948.

Nolen Penland was president for 1949 - 50 and was president longer than anyone else. The S.C. District started its scholarship program. The club issued its first printed roster of the club membership. The State convention was held in Spartanburg in May of 1949. Fred Donelson was convention Chairman. We sponsored the Wofford Gold and Black practice game with proceeds going to the Crippled Children. A benefit Baseball game which netted $965.00 for Crippled Children was also sponsored. Romaine Dreyer won a wrist watch on a Hollywood radio program. The club was incorporated in 1949. The membership in October 1949 was 61. The trust fund balance on November 4, 1949, was $130.43. A Family Night Square Dance was held March 4, 1950. The second Gold and Black game was sponsored in 1950. Bruce Littlejohn was made an Honorary Member on March 9, 1950.

W.M. Hobson was president for 1950-51. Fred Donelson attended the International Convention in Colorado. On October 31, 1950, the Club sponsored the Mills Brothers Circus. The net profits were not known until December 8, - - $10.65. The "Best Citizen of the Month" program was started with Elbert Ryan as chairman of the committee. Best citizens national President Shivers of Washington, D.C. spoke to the Club on November 17, 1950. The Cleveland Hotel began remodeling and the Club started meeting at the Elks Club on south church Street on December 22, 1950, and continued until March 9, 1951/ The essay contest was started with George White as Chairman of the committee. During this time, the trust fund ($201.16) was partially supported with contributions. Ground work was laid by Fred Donelson, Ab Smith, Cotton Hobson, Bob Handell and others for the Ice Vogues Show to appear in Spartanburg in early 1952. Fred Donelson was elected president but before taking office, was moved to Montgomery, Alabama. Wiley Bourne was awarded the Civitan Honor Key at the State convention held in Greenville. The Club's enrollment at this time was 60.

Cliff Lancaster was president for 1951-52. The first two perfect attendance awards were made on July 14, 1951 to Bill Arledge and Cotton Hobson for one year perfect attendance. On July 13, 1951, the Trust Fund balance was $413.64, and the Club membership was 61. The board of Directors changed the rules for perfect attendance by allowing meeting to be made up within 3 months of the date of the missed meeting. The "Man of the Week" was used some in earlier days of the Builder, but seems to have been started on a regular basis on December 7, 1951. We all remember ray Rice, advance man for Ice vogues. Members of the Ice Vogues cast met with the Club on March 21, 1952, during their first showing dates (March 17-21, 1952) in Spartanburg. The Club made a net profit on the show of $3,057.70. Crippled Children were entertained free of charge at the Friday matinee.

Bob Handell was president for 1952-53. The Club membership on June 6, 1952 was 61. Playground equipment for Beaumont playground and Fairforest Park was purchased for $1000.00. Rev. Leonard Small, of Edinburgh, Scotland, was made an honorary member of the club while he was on exchange basis with Civitan Bill Ward of the First Presbyterian Church. A family "barbecued chicken" picnic was held on September 19, 1952, at Rainbow Lake. On October 25th, members of the club built a Girl Scout Cabin at Camp Mary Elizabeth. The Club supplied the materials at a cost of $400.00. The Club membership on November 7, 1952, was 67. The "best citizen of the month" program was switched from Junior High to Senior High Schools with Fairforest and Roebuck participating. During 1952, the Club donated $750.00 to the YMCA. The trust fund as of December 31, 1952, was $586.98. Atmar Jennings was tipped 25 cents for showing a lady to her seat at the Ice Vogues Show. Ice Vogues was sponsored January 28 to February 2, 1953, with net profits of $1333.65. Another $750.00 was given to the YMCA for a cabin at Camp Skyuka; this made the total gift $1500.00. The Club paid $606.00 for building risers to put chairs on in the Auditorium Arena for the Ice Show. We hoped to rent the risers from time to time. Membership on March 27, 1953, was 67. The first "Coffee Day" was observed in the Spartanburg area in connection with the Crippled Children's Drive.

Sidney Dunlap was president for 1953-54. The trust fund in September, 1953, was $445.58. The Club sponsored "Field and Events and Give-away Night in the interest of promoting attendance at Duncan Park for the Spartanburg baseball team and for a money making Club project. We netted $180.00. The club enjoyed an outing at Floyds Cabin in October, 1953. A joint Anderson, Greenville, Spartanburg meeting was held in Greenville on November 24, 1953. No ice show was sponsored in 1954, because dates could not be cleared with the auditorium. Mr. George White was state chairman of the Civitan Essay Contest. Miss Beverly Pack of El Paso, Texas, 1954 Maid of Cotton visited the Club on February 5, 1954. We again sponsored the gold and Black football game and raised $208.35 for the Crippled Children's fund. The Club sponsored the Charlotte boys Choir at Memorial Auditorium on May 21, 1954, for a net profit of $78.63. Perry and Mrs. Slaughter attended the International Convention in St. Louis in June of 1954.

Perry Slaughter was president for 1954-55. The trust fund in July, 1954 was $444.82. The Club had been divided into two teams to sell tickets for the Charlotte boys Choir. On July 9, 1954, the Club meal consisted of steak for the winners and beans for the losers. On August 13, 1954, the Club voted to begin the sale of Claxton Fruit Cakes to raise money. In September of 1954, the March of Dimes held an Emergency Drive in which the Civitan Club took part and in one evening the drive took in $5000.00. The club held and outing at Rainbow Lake in September of 1954. The first fruitcake sales campaign had the Club divided into two teams, Civs and Tans. We sold approximately 10,000 pounds and had a net profit of $3000.00. Seven hundred dollars was given for the Handicapped Children's Room at Park Hills School and $1000.00 was set aside for a Scholarship Fund. The Ice Vogues was sponsored again on March 8 - 12, 1955, from which the Club netted about $900.00. The Gold and Black game on March 11, gave the Crippled Children $125.10. The Trust Fund at this time was $3477.61. The Club skipped a meeting on April 22, 1955, in order to meet with the 6th annual meeting of the National Committee on Community Foundations. This was the first time the meeting had been held in the South. The International Convention was held in Asheville and attended by Perry Slaughter, George White and George Bunch.

Robin Hood was president for 1955-56. The membership in June of 1955 was 69. The trust fund was $3077.68. and the Ice Vogues account was $2124.25. The Club started participating in the Ground Observer Corps in 1955. The first post was on top of the Schuylar building. The Club divided into four teams for the 1955 fruitcake sales campaign; The Leonard Still Hucksters, The Joe Bussy Ground Hogs, The Perry Slaughter Claxton Terriers, and The Cotton Hobson Boll Weevils. We sold 12, 859 pounds. We were entertained at our April 6th meeting by Mr. Geoffrey O'Hara, composer of "K-K-K-Katie" and many other songs. The S.C. District Convention was held here in Spartanburg on May 18th and 19th, 1956, with 103 officially registered. It was at this time that the Club bought a Civitan Banner. The trust fund in May of 1956, was $8,207.03. The Club donated $1600.00 to the Bethlehem Center Camp, $1500.00 for the Junior League Speech Clinic, and $100.00 for the Palmetto Area Girl Scouts. The Club also adopted a scholarship program to award a $2000.00 four year scholarship to a worthy and needy Spartanburg County boy or girl. Perry Slaughter and George White attended the International Convention in Boston.

Art Vickers was president for 1956-57. The Ground Observer Corp. work continued on a round the clock basis until August 1, 1956, at which time it went on a 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. schedule. The Club contributed $276.00 for boys and the same amount for girls to attend YMCA camp, and $94.50 for the S.C. District Scholarship fund. The Cub enjoyed Family night at Floyd's Cabin in lieu of the meeting on August 24th, with over 110 attending. For the fruit cake sales campaign, the Club was divided into six teams named after famous race horses. We met at Spartanburg Little Theatre for the meeting on September 28, 1956, and were entertained by Little Theatre actors and actresses. We, along with other civic clubs purchased the screen in the civic room. The Club made the following contributions: $100.00 to the Spartanburg High School Band, $100.00 for the Crippled Children's Christmas Party, $150.00 to the Dept. of Public Welfare, and $500.00 to the Crippled Children Easter Seal Drive. Total fruit cake sales were 13,172 pounds. On January 18, 1957, we met at and toured Drayton Mills. Ice Vogues of 1957, appeared at the Auditorium, not under our sponsorship, but through the Club, arrangements were made for local crippled children to be guests at the matinee. Membership in March of 1957, (ten years) was 68. Roger Everett was awarded our first $500.00 a year, four year scholarship. The Club approved an expenditure of $300.00 for a school-to-home telephone service for a handicapped child. The G.O.C. operated from June 3, 1957, to September 3, 1957, on a 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. basis. Perry Slaughter was installed as Governor of S.C. District and he also attended the International Convention in Chicago. The Club voted to sponsor a Little League Baseball team and purchased $200.00 worth of equipment. We also sponsored an essay contest in the county and awarded $90.00 in prizes.

Julian Foster was president for 1957-58. Donations included: $276.00 to the YMCA boys camp, $276.00 to the girls camp, $312.00 to the Bethlehem Center, $106.00 to the S.C. District Scholarship, and $270.00 for special equipment to be used by crippled children. The speaker on August 23, 1957, was John B. Bond, President-elect of Civitan International. At the meeting, Miss Jane Workman of Woodruff was honored as first place winner in the S.C. District Essay Contest and also 8th place winner nationally. Mr. Western Grizzard, District Field Man for Civitan, began work with clubs in the area to help organize new clubs. Another family outing was held at Floyd's Cabin as the first meeting in October, 1957. The fruit cake sales campaign divided the club into six teams named after various rockets. We sold 18,000 pounds. The club sponsored the organization of three new clubs with charter nights as follows: Union, October, 1957; Gaffney, December, 1957; and Clinton, January 1958. The Club met at Converse College on February 21, 1958. We contributed $1000.00 to the 1958 Crippled Children's Drive. A joint Spartanburg, Clinton, Gaffney, Union meeting was held at Pine Street School on March 28, 1958. Bill Lancaster made and presented a beautiful speakers stand. Julian Foster, Perry Slaughter, and Bob Wynn attended the International Convention in New Orleans.

Leonard Still was president for 1958-59. A group of boys were again sent to YMCA camp. the Club met at First Federal on Thursday, September 11, 1958, to discuss the rehabilitation Program. A report from the Special Projects Committee at this time showed our major contributions to date amounted to $15, 372.63 and our fund raising projects had netted us $23,539.27. this left $8,330.85 in the trust fund with $3139.12 earmarked and $5,191.73 available for other work. the Club voted to sponsor the Civitan Community Worksho9p with an initial amount of $3,000.00. At this time, Larry Amos was on scholarship at Wofford and Roger Everett at Georgia tech. The Club was again divided into six teams for the fruit cake campaign with each team being named after a sports model racing car. We received an award for outstanding service to the Crippled Children's Society. Romaine Dreyer presented the program on November 21, 1958. On December 5, 1958, we met at Wofford College. On April 9, 1959, we again held a joint meeting with Clinton, Gaffney and Union.

Ranny Brown was president for 1959-60. Little league baseball sponsorship was continued. On July 24, 1959, we visited the Rehab Workshop on Kennedy Street. The Club paid for a teacher of Retarded Children at Saxon School to receive training at Winthrop, gave $300.00 to help build a new Civic league ball park, and an additional $1,000.00 for the Workshop. During the fall of 1959, the Club jointly sponsored a new club in Greer. At this time, the membership was 79. The fruit cake sale saw the Club divided into two teams and something happened that had to do with Art Vickers, tom Littlejohn and a wheel barrow. 19,464 pounds of cake were sold.

Another $3,000.00 for operating the Workshop was set aside. As of March 11, 1060, we had $4,734.00 earmarked in our trust fund and another $5,085.00 available. The Club won the Attendance Trophy for Clubs in our class. The award was made at the District Convention in Greenville. We had won it before, so this made the award permanently ours. A total of $60.00 was awarded to the "Best Citizens of the Year." The Club approved an increase in dues of $.50 per month. Our guest speaker at a special meeting on Thursday, June 23, 1960, was Dr. Courtney W. Shropshire, founder and first President of Civitan International.

Bob Wynn was president for 1960-61. The Club met at and were conducted on a tour through the Kohler Plant on July 29, 1960. The Club was divided into four teams for the fruitcake sale. The teams were Hobson's Hustlers, Lancaster's Leaders, Vickers' Victors and Slaughter's Slayers (replaced by Boggs' Busters). A total of 18,829 pounds were sold. The trust fund in September, 1960, was $7,315.11 with $4,624.45 being already allocated for various projects. The membership in September was 81 (and three Honorary). A joint meeting for Spartanburg, Clinton, Gaffney and Union was held in Gaffney on February 9, 1961. the annual "stuffing" party was held again to help the Easter Seal Sale. As additional aid to the Crippled Children Society, a wheel chair was purchased for $145.54 and a Medcolator for $308.85. The Civitan Rehabilitation Workshop moved to its present location on West Main Street during April, 1061. Two Little League baseball teams were sponsored and aided with $367.50. Julian Foster was installed as District governor for 1961-62 and the District accepted an invitaition to have the 1962 District Convention in Spartanburg in May. The Club observed "Father-Son-Daughter Day" on June 9, 1961. The Julian Fosters and the tom Littlejohns attended the International Convention in Toronto. On June 23, we met jointly with Sertoma in order that the Civic room could be used for another meeting.

Cotton Hobson has been projectionist for the showing of over 75 films since the Club organized and Bob Handel's father has been our best "return" visitor.

The above history is neither verified for its complete accuracy of fact nor for its typing, but I hope it may be somewhat informative and interesting. --WMH