Downey Kiwanis Club reaches centennial mark with community celebration

DOWNEY — The Kiwanis Club of Downey took a deep dive into their past while looking forward to the future last week, celebrating its 100th anniversary.

The grand celebration was held at the Rio Hondo Event Center.

Mayor Mario Trujillo, a past president of the Downey Kiwanis Club, served as master of ceremonies.

“Our motto is serving children of the world one child, one community at a time. November 6, 100 years ago, we chartered our first Kiwanis club. This is a celebration of that milestone; the Downey Kiwanis Club was chartered even before the city was founded,” said Trujillo.

The evening was keynoted by Doug Frost, the Governor of California-Nevada-Hawaii District of Kiwanis International. Frost was congratulatory in his remarks.

“I’ve been astounded to see the kind of community leaders, look around here tonight to see who has been a part of this club. You should all be proud to be a part of this celebration,” said Frost.

He said that the Downey club was “just one example of the fact that Kiwanis makes a difference.”

“We are part of an organization serving children in our communities. We have opportunities for more achievement,” said Frost. “For us to reach more people in our community, we need more members.

“I am asking all of you here tonight to help build California-Nevada-Hawaii District; build its membership. We want to help support the Kiwanis Club of Downey; we want to build their membership.”

He closed,

“We want the legacy of the Kiwanis Club of Downey to continue, just as we want the legacy of the Kiwanis organization to continue. With your help, we can make that happen.”

Ed Schneeberger, who was largely in charge for the festivities, described the evening as “perfect.”

“It had to be done; that’s how I approached it. This centennial had to be done,” said Schneeberger. “I’ve seen so many of these [clubs] just kind of gloss over it, they have a reception or something and that’s it. I just wanted to be bigger than that.

“The whole year, the people wearing their pins and wearing their polos, it’s wonderful.”

Club president Jesse Padilla said the celebration was about “commitment to service” in the community.

“It is such a great organization with such a great history of giving that we’re so excited to give for the next 100 years,” said Padilla. “What’s next for Downey Kiwanis is to get to 100 members to start this next century.”