Kiwanis celebrates 75th birthday

By Staff, 06/17/21 1:58 PM

PRESCOTT – It was celebration time for the Prescott Kiwanis Club as it celebrated its 75th birthday.

The club was originally chartered June 13, 1946, and is one of the oldest clubs in the region. Club President Tammie Rose said the club does a lot of good things for the community. She pointed out Glenn Vasser is the longest continuous member with 48 years as a Kiwanian under his belt.

Vasser said it used to be embarrassing back in the day because some of the members would boast about having 50 years of perfect attendance. If they missed a local meeting, they would make it up by attending one at either Hope or Arkadelphia to keep the record going. He told the other members the club used to have a Forest Queen contest, sort of a beauty pageant for young ladies, adding the club bought and installed playground equipment at city park.

The work the club does in the community, he said, turns over several times and makes Prescott bigger than it is.

Howard Austin gave a historic overview of the club, talking about how it formed the first Little League in the area, and noting other accomplishments.

But the main purpose of the day, other than to celebrate the club’s 75th anniversary, was to recognize two local heroes – Terry and Julie Oliver. Rose said these two are involved in a lot of things in the city and volunteer as much as they can.