Kiwanis of Coweta celebrates 14 years

Newnan, Georgia, Times Herald
http://www.times-herald.com/close-up/Kiwanis-of-Coweta-celebrates-14-years--603582

Kiwanis of Coweta recently celebrated its 14th birthday, taking advantage of the opportunity to commemorate some aspects that make the club unique.

Keynote speaker Bill Loftin, charter member of the White Oak Golden K Club, listed just a few, prefacing his list with, "This club has been unique in so many ways."

Kiwanis of Coweta is the only club Loftin is aware of with a female-only membership.

The club was originally formed with an astounding 55 members in 1994. The founding members were dubbed "plank owners," a naval term bestowed on crewmembers of a newly commissioned ship at a time when ships were built of wood and iron for difficult sea crossings, Loftin said.

The club's first president, Donna Ruth Foster, shared memories of a pivotal first year.

Foster recalls the challenge of "learning the Kiwanis language," putting together the club's first auction and fashion show, and the $50 gift Kiwanis of Coweta gave to the Make a Wish Foundation.

"We were so proud," she said, pointing out that that same annual gift is now in the hundreds of dollars.
Foster laughed when she shared what she considered her "biggest accomplishment"—“all my charter ladies came back the next year," she said.

"All in all, we had a wonderful time and, remember, we started without any banners at all," Foster concluded, with a sweeping gesture of the blue-and-gold banners almost completely covered with achievement patches.