MAN-FOR-BOY CLUB

[Music] my name is James our mass the R stands for Robert most of my friends call me Bob I'm public relations director the Memphis works of International Harvester this is my story that's me you're looking at hello there [Music] this is the family that's Jane my wife holding Adrienne the baby Sheila the other girl is six and we think she's rather extraordinary yes it's a nice family and a good home and something to be happy about when I was a boy I went to Merrill school a few of the boys there had bikes gosh how I wanted a bike but none of the folks in our neighborhood had a lot of money just good hard-working folks there were the two men ellos the Adams is Brennan and the Grogan we didn't have a luxury and sometimes we didn't have quite falling necessities here comes the boy in the neighborhood I ended he had a bike and he could do all sorts of things like ride without using his hands but I was lucky too it was a good group of boys most of them are substantial citizens today we had nicknames like chili rabbit pie but they used to call me goggles we weren't bad but we had a lot of time on our hands [Applause] [Music] sometimes we had just a little too much time no we weren't what you would call bad boys just full of energy and looking for something to do to occupy time [Music] when we had games like this going on we had to keep a close look out for the principal but some other grown-up who might break it up [Music] we soon learn to scatter fast and some of the kids learn the hard way that the house was not high enough to hide under here you see me making my first call on mr. Dave jolly who is to be my Kiwanis sponsor and who grew to be one of my closest and best friends you see that is what a Kiwanis sponsor is a little boy's best friend [Music] while you're looking at the pictures of some of the Kewanee ins who are now serving as Kiwanis sponsors for little Kewanee ins I'd like to tell you how I happen to be a little kalanjiam I was over in Winchester park one day there's a place that has a lot of good memories for me I heard two boys talking their names were ray Woodard and Joe Clemens I'll never forget them they were talking about something called the little Kiwanis Club I'd never heard of it before they were just back from a week's trip through Kentucky and Tennessee which had been given them by the Kiwanis Club they not only told about this exciting trip but they said a member of the little Kiwanis Club to go swimming in the YMCA pool and best of all each member had a Kiwanis sponsor one of the big shots in town who took a personal interest in him I had been without a father for ten years and I couldn't imagine anything more wonderful than having a grown man that I could count on or a friend but I was a little suspicious about this little Kiwanis Club thought there must be a catch in it it sounded too good to be true however it was worth looking into so I went to the Kiwanis office and sure enough everything those two boys said was true and more I became a little Kewanee in' and got to know the kind of men who set the pattern for the kind of man I wanted to be when I got ready for a full-time job the Depression wasn't over and jobs were almost impossible to find but I wanted to do newspaper work and somehow I miss Gillis in the corners office persuaded captain nut-brown to give me a chance I'll always remember that break it was a real incentive to make good I couldn't let the Kewanee ins and miss Gillis down each month the local onions and their Kiwanis sponsors had a dinner meeting as they do now [Music] we had group singing [Music] any devotional service [Music] which was usually followed by a speaker on vocations and long duration of lines our Kiwanis sponsors played games with us and we all got to know each other better and don't think we weren't pleased and a little cocky when we hit the bullseye more than they did we elected our own officers [Music] and we conducted our own meetings it was a great honor to be on one of these programs and we each did the best we could when we were called out we always closed our program with the oath of allegiance and bowed our heads in prayer [Music] but the favorite party of the year the one we all like better than even the picnic parties was the Christmas party this is a group of Kiwanis sponsors who are having more fun at the party than anyone [Music] this is mr. left Lau if you don't know him that proves you aren't a boy we all know him as our best friend he originated the little Kiwanis Club in 1928 we had Christmas music and a Christmas devotional and a talk by an outstanding speaker [Music] we also had a number of prominent businessmen who came to this party every year because they'd like to come and we like to have them [Music] [Music] we brought our mothers and the Kewanee ins brought their wives [Music] [Music] there was always some good entertainment and our favorite was a magician [Music] and then of course came the distribution of fruits nuts candy and gifts I tell you this party really was the event of the Christmas season for all of us boys and I believe it was for the corn yinz too here is a picture of a group of men at a committee meeting this is the man for boy committee and while you watch some of the activities that the boys enjoy at the Y because of this committee I want to tell you how the manful boy club got started mr. Lau was determined that all the boys who had no place to play except the streets of Memphis should get a chance to swim and play games and perhaps get in the woods for at least one week or two each summer he found a large number of men in the city who were also interested in such a program and under his leadership the manful boy camping and recreational program was set out sponsored by the YMCA the press senator and the Kiwanis Club [Music] the camp scenes you're about to see we're taking a camp Pickwick the YMCA Camp at Pickwick dam more than 100 boys go there for two weeks of healthy constructive play each summer thanks to those of you who support the man for boy club they enjoy wholesome recreation and the opportunity to learn self-reliance and leadership in Christian surroundings the camp isn't operated for profit these weeks are something the lucky boys can remember with pleasure all their lives each year the ls Lao man Football Club reaches into the lives of almost 2,000 Memphis boys in addition to the boys it sends to camp Pickwick more than 1,000 other boys take part in a program of club activities gym classes swimming and bible study more than 200 yearly memberships are given and the boys division of the wide entitling them to all the pleasures and privileges which means so much to healthy young Americans the camp that home program encourages and interesting and wholesome recreational program for hundreds of boys in the summer months [Music] the boys we serve are boys who need a friend they're boys who frequently don't have much supervision from mom and pop because they have to go out making a living all we want to do is help them help them sell to stay on the right track physically mentally and spiritually they're our boys and we need them to help keep our community and our country strong [Music]