By Jennifer L. Johnson - news@onlineathens.com
Published Sunday, December 13, 2009
WINTERVILLE - Fifty-six years ago, the Winterville Civitan Club bought land next to Pittard Park and constructed a small building that soon became home to the local Boy Scout troop.
More than five decades later, the club spruced up the building and replaced its roof, and last year, became the official sponsor of Boy Scout Troop 44.
When the Civitan Club makes a commitment, the group sticks to it, and the city of Winterville is recognizing that continuity as the club celebrates 65 years this month.
"With the change in agriculture and demise of the railroad, Winterville could have easily disappeared," said Mary Quinn, who gave a presentation about the history of the city during the annual Founder's Day banquet Thursday. "People like these, supporting this community, are the reason we're still here."
In Winterville, the civic group has about 30 active members, but there are hundreds of Civitan chapters and more than 40,000 members across the world. Each club - Georgia has 42 - picks which service projects best suit that community, though the organization emphasizes assisting people with developmental disabilities.
The Winterville Civitan Club builds wheelchair ramps and sends two kids to Camp Big Heart, a summer camp for children and adults with mild to moderate mental disabilities at Fort Yargo State park in Winder.
"We go and take refreshments to one of their night parties, too, and that's always fun because they just swarm us," said Shawn Kotch, Winterville chapter president. "We're happy to do things like that because it means a lot to them, and to us."
Longtime member Betty Jo Cape gets a sense of community through the club.
"We do handicap ramps, sponsor the Boy Scout troop, and we give a scholarship to a high school student every year, which are great things," Cape said. "It's also about fellowship."
The club extended that sense of fellowship last year when it helped set up a club in Oconee County. The Winterville chapter was chartered in 1944 by the Watkinsville Civitan Club, which folded in 2000, and Winterville members thought the area needed an organization that could enable citizens to give back to their community.
"We knew we wanted to extend the group beyond Watkinsville, and we knew a lot of individuals in Oconee County," Kotch said. "But a lot of people that we cold-called are really happy to be involved (now), and are some of the most active members."
The club also puts on events like the annual auction and chicken barbecue fundraiser that last year shared the spotlight with the return of the city's popular Marigold Festival.
"We recognize a need in the community and go out and meet that specific need," said Ray Marden, governor of the Georgia District of Civitan International.
Civitan clubs across the state are branching out from the traditional fruitcake sales to host motorcycle rides, wine tastings, chili cook-offs and bowling tournaments to raise money for disability research at the Civitan International Research Center in Birmingham, Marden said.
Although the local club picks up litter along Main Street four times a year and has candy boxes to raise money for disability research at places like Agua Linda, Taco Stand and Bel-Jean, its real impact can be seen in Winterville itself.
"We put up the 60-foot flagpole in the square, and another at Wesley Whitehead Park last year," said George Chandler, a former president and son of one of the charter members. "We're a presence in the community even if you don't know it's us."
Civitan members were particularly proud of the $2,000 they recently spent to put up bulletin boards in the halls of the new Winterville Elementary School so students could see their work displayed.
Those kids are the future of the Civitan club, said Kotch.
"We're made up of a lot of older people right now, and that's one of the things we're trying to change," Marden said. "We need to be advertised a little better to younger people because we're doing good things for people."
He's hoping that the "Civitan rocks!" slogan might attract the attention of younger members, since the membership is mostly 50 and above right now.
Membership organization-wide is open to anyone at least 18 years old and of good character. The local club has an open invitation for citizens to come out to the Winterville Depot at 7 p.m. every second and fourth Thursday to see if Civitan is right for them and get a free meal on the first visit.
To find out more about the Winterville Civitan Club, log on to www.wintervillecivitan.com or visit the Georgia District Civitan International at www.georgiacivitan.org.
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