As the registration season continues for various sports teams, choirs and dance troupes, another area of the community has a hand out in hopeful welcome.
Service clubs are gearing up for a variety of projects and fundraising events to support their activities and they are looking for new members, for young blood, different ideas and a commitment to carry on the tradition of service to others.
Many service organizations struggle to operate with dwindling numbers of members. Tragically some are unable to sustain operations and are forced to close the books on years of dedication to community improvement projects.
A column I wrote in 2015 recalls some of the organizations that created an amazing legacy for Moose Jaw residents. Portions of that column are reprised this week.
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“As an emotional membership bid farewell to the Moose Jaw Kiwanis Club (in 2015), I couldn’t help but think to the days gone by and all the service clubs and community agencies that once provided Moose Jaw with a quality of life that was envied by cities much larger.
“The Kiwanis Club, because of a dwindling and aging membership, has officially disbanded and disbursed funding one final time to the numerous causes the club has supported over the years.
“Even before I settled in Moose Jaw, the work of the Kiwanis Club was known to me, and then suddenly I was drawing assignments to cover the weekly meetings, first at the Grant Hall and then at the Harwood Hotel.
“The Moose Jaw Rotary Club met Mondays at those same locations and that club received the fresh roast beef or chicken or roast pork. The Tuesday meal for the Kiwanis Club was beef stew from the leftover roast, potato salad made from the leftover baked potatoes or maybe the chicken became chicken pot pie.
"The cake from Monday was enhanced with pudding and whipped cream for a trifle for the Kiwanis Club. The Kiwanis members didn’t seem to be aware of the hand-me-down menu so they never complained.
“Thinking back on those years it seems much worthy business was conducted on a full stomach.
“The Consumers Association of Canada, Moose Jaw branch, was an active organization, providing information on new consumer products and issuing warnings when necessary. Once a year the group would meet in the cafeteria of the former Saskatchewan Technical Institute where the cooking class would produce one of the largest buffet suppers ever seen in the city.
Tickets for this event always sold out, most likely because of the quality and amount of food provided. Food consumerism was the topic of that occasion.
“Moose Jaw Council of Women met monthly in the board room of the former Board of Trade, and then in meeting rooms in city hall, the library and the downtown hotels.
This group, too, had an annual banquet on the Mezzanine Floor of the Grant Hall Hotel. It was a lavish affair with several courses, plate service provided by the classiest servers in the city. The number of pieces of cutlery was a challenge for the most civilized of us in attendance.
“Chinese food was frequently on the menu for the dinner meetings of the Moose Jaw Lions Club and certain caring members often sent hungry reporters home with a doggie bag of leftover food, just in case there was no service club meeting to cover the next day.
“The Legion Ladies Auxiliary, at least once a year, would gather the community for a tea, bake sale and penny parade. Everyone attended to take their tea in bone china cups and to sample the variety of dainty sandwiches, pinwheel peanut butter and banana slices, and a delightful choice of chocolate-dipped strawberries and other sweets.
Enjoying the food was more important than making certain the pinkie finger was extended in proper fashion.
“It was a special day when an invitation arrived to attend a function sponsored by the Moose Jaw Hadassah organization. From fashion shows to fundraising dinners, members of Hadassah had a special flair for putting together events that were talked about for days.
A close friend who was a member always kept me close to make sure I enjoyed the special menu that had been planned.
“And at the military base, it was the Officers’ Wives’ Club members who kept the community updated with ideas and menus from various postings across Canada and overseas.
“While it might seem that food was the main ingredient for those groups, the meals served and enjoyed were a mere sideline to the charitable work they completed on behalf of dozens of worthy causes in Moose Jaw and district.
“Sadly, most of the mentioned organizations no longer exist in Moose Jaw but their legacy of service will be remembered long into the future, simply by looking at the amenities that would not exist save for their efforts. Work well done on a full stomach amidst lasting friendships.”
Joyce Walter can be reached at [email protected].
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