The South Boston, VA Kiwanis Club was organized at a meeting held April 6, 1923, with International Field Representative Joe Bowles in charge and a delegation from the Danville Kiwanis Club. At this meeting the following officers were elected: J W Hardy, President; T A Crowell, Vice-President; E C Garard, Secretary; T W Wright, Assistant Secretary; E A Blackard, Treasurer, and J T Lacy, Jr, District Trustee Board of Directors was composed of R C Overby, J D Evans, F L Hunt, C B Lacy, R E Ingram, T K Singleton, and Rev T R Sanford The initial membership was 50.

The first regular meeting of the club was April 19, with the officers of the Parent-Teachers Association and the Young Men's Business Club as guests, the program feature Courtesy Week On May 8, Charter Night was celebrated, with Ladies' Night as an added attraction The charter was presented by District Governor E W Lintner, and there were guests from Danville, Lynchburg, Norfolk, and Roanoke In addition to Governor Lintner, addresses were made by Congressman J MHooker of Patrick County, District SecretaryTreasurer R E Turner of Norfolk, LtGov Frank Talbott of Danville, Dick Barksdale of Lynchburg, and William M Tack, of this city W B Settle was toastmaster.

Meetings have been held regularly on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month, except just before Christmas, when the routine was varied so as not to conflict with the holiday season.

On June 12 the club received a report of the delegates to the Atlanta Convention, John Hardy, Tyree Wright, Jimmie Lacy, and Francis Hunt On June 26 a clever sketch, A Kiwanis Clinic, written by Kiwanian Phelps, was given by several members and created much favorable comment.

On July 4 the club had a handsome float in the parade which was held in connection with the celebration held here that day under the auspices of the Parent Teachers Association, the Young men's Business Club and the Kiwanis Club On July 24 Ladies' Night was celebrated at Buffalo Lithis, Springs, about 20 miles from this city A special supper was served the Kiwanians and their guests after the regular supper hour and a fine entertainment was given by the Program Committee during and after the meal.

At the meeting on August 14 several members of the Board of Supervisors were guests A short memorial service was held for the late President Harding, at which the speaker was Kiwanian Charles G Evans of Danville On August 28 the club launched its campaign for the bond issue for state roads, the speaker being the Commonwealth Attorney, James S Easley, of Halifax George P Coleman, President of the Virginia Good Roads Association, of Richmond, also spoke on roads at the September 11th meeting, at the October 9 meeting the road question was once more discussed by State Senator Holman Willis, of Roanoke.

On September 20 a delegation from this club attended an interim part of the program club meeting in Danville and contributed as the a stunt which was enthusiastically received by the other Kiwanian At the meeting October 23, the report of the delegates to the Baltimore Convention, John Hardy and John McRae, was received Ladies' Night was again celebration November 20, while at the December 4 meeting an interesting talk on law was delivered by James S Easley.

The club has at present a membership of seventy-four and only one member has been lost, by death, Walter D Blair Among the club activities: Donated $250 to purchasing the cemetery for the town Subscribed to an town advertisement in the Manufacturer's Record Sponsored and defrayed the expenses of a nutrition class of 13 members in the public school; sent a committee to Petersburg to get data regarding a Kiwanis bazaar approved the idea of an industrial survey for the town; marked all roads leading into town with Kiwanis signs The club has an average attendance of 75% and its membership comprises practically one hundred per cent of the leading business and professional men of the town.

Alternating meetings are held in the Baptist and Presbyterian churches at 6:10.

Officers for the ensuing year (1924) were elected on December 15, all the old officers being re-elected excepting the Vice-President, A V Lawson succeeding T A Crowell for this office Only two changes were made in the Board of Directors, James S Easley and R M Felton succeeding T A Crowell and Rev T R Sanford.

Had John Powell, the noted pianist, give a concert for the benefit of the Orthopedic Fund.

Marked all the roads leading into South Boston with Kiwanis signs Sponsored a movement to get a concrete road between South Boston Virginia and Roxboro, North Carolina.

The main objective was the Underprivileged Child On this subject we did a great deal of work We sponsored a monthly clinic for crippled children under the supervision of Dr Thomas Wheeldon, of Richmond, Virginia A report of the Orthopedic Committee for the year 1924, showed 683 cases examined, 32 cases in hospital, 47 operations, and 149 pieces of apparatus applied We defrayed the expenses of the thirty-two children to Richmond and sponsored a class of thirteen underfed children at the Nutrition Club of the High School.

In spite of unsettled local conditions, business and otherwise, the club functioned at perhaps its highest efficiency during the year 1925.

The tenth anniversary of Kiwartis was observed in January At the second meeting in January, Dr Thomas Wheeldon, of Richmond, who was in charge of the monthly orthopedic clinic held under our auspices, made an interesting talk on his work A most eloquent talk on Kiwanis Ideals was made by Rev Marshall Craig, of Petersburg The occasion was a Ladies' Night.

James S Easley, J W Hardy, A V Lawson, and J D Evans were elected delegates to the St Paul Convention Resolutions of respect to the memory of the late Lieutenant-Governor A T Lincoln, of Marion, were passed and a copy ordered sent to his widow A Good Roads plan was endorsed.

The club endorsed the newly organized Chamber of Commerce We held a Fathers and Sons Night with about fifty boys as guests Prizes were given the youngsters and an interesting talk given by a member of the club Secretary Wright offered a prize of $250 for the best bird house made by a boy.

We were represented by 21 members at the Inter-Club Meeting in Martins-ville We had the faculties and graduating classes of the high schools of South Boston and Halifax, the county seat, numbering about fifty, as our guests A burlesque commencement program was staged by sev-eral members We also held a meeting at Turbeville, a village about ten miles from here, as guests of the Men's Social Club of that place A ball game and other sports were indulged in before dinner, which was served by the ladies of the community.

The eighteenth orthopedic clinic was held in May with 66 patients in attendance, 18 of whom were new A baseball game was played between the Kiwanis team and a nine from Halifax, the proceeds from which went to the clinic fund This fund also received an anonymous contribution of fifty dollars The club sponsored a scheme of uniform decorations for the town streets and sold more than one hundred flags to local merchants.

On June 12, a joint meeting was held with the Lynchburg Club at Brookneal, midway between the two towns The purpose was to strengthen friendly relations between the three places, and a most enjoyable meeting resulted It was a Ladies' Night with a splendid program All Kiwanis Night was observed.

The June clinic was attended by seventy-four patients.

A meeting was held in July at Clusber Sprin gs, a summer resort about six miles from town Another meeting was held at Halifax, and a Ladies' Night was held there in October At this last meeting, the faculties of the schools of that place and of South Boston were also guests.

All the roads leading into South Boston were properly marked through the efforts of the Kiwanis Club and the Chamber of Commerce Constitution Week was suitably observed.

A committee was appointed to confer with the Lynchburg Club in reference to Patrick Henry's old home, which is near here Observed Armistice Day with Col Chambers, of Durham, North Carolina, as the speaker.

Dr T R Sanford, a charter member of the club, who was leaving South Boston, was presented with a handsome traveling bag.

We staged the Kiwanis Revue for the benefit of the clinic fund. We played Santa Claus to 25 children, distributing toys, clothing, books, and candy.

The Orthopedic Committee reported a very successful year Twelve clinics were held and seven hundred and seventy-two patients examined and treated Of these two hundred and fifteen were new cases Operations were performed either at the local hospital or at Sheltering Arms Hospital in Richmond Colored patients were sent to St PhilliVs Hospital at Richmond During the year, eight patients were given vocational training by the State Rehabilitation Bureau.

We put on a musical entertainment at Roxboro, North Carolina, for the benefit of our underprivileged child work A delegation of twenty-seven attended the Anniversary Meeting and Ladies' Night at Chase City We were host to Chase City, Danville and Martinsville on Inter-Club Day, when one hundred and ten were present.

Undertook part of the expense of maintaining a town rest room Entertained the high school baseball team Held an indoor circus for the benefit of our crippled children clinic It netted us $375.

United with other city organizations in a big Fourth of July celebration Held several meetings in neighboring communities.

Invited all the doctors of the county to a meeting The doctors highly praised the orthopedic work being carried on by the club We held a Ladies Night.

Our Past President, John W Hardy, was elected LTG A committee worked with other citizens on a project to get a new hotel in South Boston.

The work of our clinic was carried on during the year A special meeting was held with Dr Thomas Wheeldon in charge at which demonstrations of the work of the clinic were shown.

We worked on the project of securing a play ground for the school children and obtained an option on the necessary ground A musicale was given for the benefit of our underprivileged child work.

We continued work to get a new hotel and a hospital for the town We formed a corporation to build the hotel Our Roads Committee worked on better State highways.

We had as our guests the men who had in charge the establishment of airports on the Richmond to Atlantic Air Mail Route and appointed a committee to co-operate in the location of such a port in South Boston In the interests of this airport we had a meeting with the Airport Commission of the Lions Club as our guests.

We entertained Bert Acosta, Byrd's pilot on his transatlantic flight He and his companion on a flight from New York to Richmond spent a night with us and were royally entertained by the Kiwanians We had as our guests the Tobacco Board of Trade and the Tobacco Warehousemen of South Boston Aid was given to the city library.

Early in the year we held a joint meeting with the newly organized Lions Club as our guests We attended the meeting at Lynchburg on Inter-Club Day A meeting was held on August 9 at Oak Level with the Men's Social Club of that community.

On August 25 a meeting was held at Catawba, Virginia, with the Lions of South Boston and Men's Social Clubs of North Staunton and Clays Mill We held two Ladies' Nights, one in June and the other in December Jules Brazil was the entertainer on the latter occasion.

We held a series of basketball games with Lions for the benefit of Crippled Child.

Fund and the Blind Fund of Lions We also put on a big indoor circus, running for 5 nights, for our fund It realized $1000.

Committee on Airports started conditioning work at the local air port under the leadership of Tyree C Wright We attened the Division meeting at Lynchburg The Lions were our guests at a meeting at which Governor Byrd of Virginia was the speaker A Ladies' Night was held in July, at the parish house, followed by a dance at Halifax Another one was held in November at the new John Randolph Hotel The last meeting in October was held at Cluster Springs.

We delivered 25 Christmas baskets to the poor and contributed $25 to buy clothing Lieutenant-Governor Adams paid us an official visit.

The South Boston Club fostered and vigorously supported our Orthopedic Clinic under the medical and advisory direction of a clinic committee from the club and Dr Thomas A Wheeldon, of Richmond.

Eleven clinics were held in co-operation with Kiwanian Kolbe Curtice, who is the Director of the Halifax County Health Department and in whose offices the clinics are held without cost to the club The total cases handled by the clinic during the year 1929 were:

More cases could have been handled had there been more funds available for the purpose, but with a membership of from forty to forty-five it was necessary to limit the appropriation to $600 per year The cost of the clinic is from twelve to fifteen hundred dollars each year We get an appropriation from the Halifax County Board of Supervisors of three hundred dollars, and raise the balance through ball games, shows, bazaars, etc Among the cases handled by the club this year was that of a young man who was sent to the Blue Ridge Industrial School, at Bristol, Virginia By reason of this schooling, he is now self-supporting.

A report from the secretary of the Health Department on the work of the Kiwanis, Clinic contained the following:

There are outstanding cases that should be mentioned, first, because of the very seriously handicapped condition in which they first came in the clinic; second, because of the effort they have put forth to carry out every instruction; and lastly, because of the wonderful improvement they have shown.

One girl from the northern part of the county came to the clinic about four years ago She was absolutely helpless and had to be carried upstairs to the office, and at home had to be lifted from place to place, requiring almost the entire time of another person Her mother is a widow in poor circumstances with a farm to run and a family to take care of, and a child in that condition certainly added a great deal to her burden.

This girl was given hospital treatment and operated on twice very successfully and for three years she has been able to walk with the aid of braces and a cane She has been attending school regularly and expects to graduate from one of the county high schools next June Arrangements have been made to give her a secretarial course at a business college in Richmond.

In April, 1924, we had a boy eighteen years of age, brought to the clinic on a stretcher He was sent to Sheltering Arm Richmond, operated upon and treated there, and at the clinic for several years, and later given a business course by the Bureau of Rehabilitation This boy now holds a very good position in Raleigh and is helping his father educate his younger brothers and sisters.

Another case is that of a girl who came to the first clinic ever held here She was sixteen years of age at the time and was afflicted with what is known as claw foot, this condition making it possible to touch the ground only with her toes on that foot She has been successfully operated on twice and now no one outside of the medical profession would ever detect any difference in her two feet This girl is taking a course at William and Mary College, preparing herself to teach.

Last May, we had a tiny baby, one week old, brought in with two club feet By manipulations and the application of plasters each month, this condition is being rapidly improved, and Dr Wheeldon feels sure that in time this condition will be entirely corrected, as was the case of a colored baby we had under treatment several years ago.

We met 24 times during the year with an average attendance of 78%.

At times when elections or primaries were approaching, the club selected its best speakers to talk on the importance of getting out the vote and being certain that all members were registered and voted themselves Papers dealing with better citizenship were read at various times.

There are in Halifax County six County Men's Social Clubs with a combined membership of about two hundred and fifty of the best farmers of the county Our Kiwanis Club has made the presidents of these six clubs honorary members for the purpose of creating closer relations with the county interests We expect during the summer months to meet with these county clubs at their respective meeting places.

We petitioned the Town Council, owners of the property, to make certain betterments at Oak Ridge Cemetery, which resulted in the work done Our committee aroused enough community interest to secure needed apparatus for the fire department We agreed to raise $1,000 for a children's playground The Public Affairs Committee joined with other town interests in combating an increase of freight rates.

With the Lions Club and committees from the town at large, we raised $3,000 and it was expended in advertising South Boston and its facilities as a tobacco market.

The club invited Governor Harry Byrd to stop at the South Boston airport on his tour of the State Sixteen planes with about twenty-five passengers accepted the invitation and stopped for more than two hours during which time they were entertained by a committee from the club and several speeches were made from a platform erected at the airport.

Fathers' and Sons' Night was observed LG Charles G Evans was present on this occasion Our Sixth Anniverysary was celebrated in May In June, 25 members attended an Inter-Club Meeting at Danville.

Constitution Week was observed, using the program suggested by International Fire Prevention Week was celebrated with an addresses by the mayor and chief of the fire department The club joined in the Welfare or Community Chest Drive and helped reach the quota necessary to take care of three hundred and fifty children who were in need of relief.

Our clinic continued under the direction of Dr Thomas Wheeldon of Richmond The clinic had the following record for the year 1930:

Total cases handled ---------------- 672
Cases sent to hospital --------------- 49
Operations performed --------------- 54
X-rays obtained -------------------- 143
Rehabilitation, cases ----------------19
Cases prescribed for --------------- 657
Home visits ---------------------------70

For the first time in the history of the club, since its inception in 1923, the affairs of the clinic were transferred to the 1931officers without any debt and for this year we hope to stay within our means so there will never be a debt on the clinic This will not, however, impair the operations but they have been more systematized and budgeted

One of the methods used to raise fund for this clinic was a bathing beauty contest raised $235 Later we entertained the 19 entrants

The 15th anniversary of Kiwanis was observed and included addresses on Kiwanis, its objectives, and a history of our club prepared by Secretary Wright

A committee went to Richmond in the interest of appropriations for crippled child work in the state, and as State Senator James S Easley said, was responsible for an appropriation of $10,000 for that purpose

We cooperated in the matter of tobacco taxes with other service clubs of Halifax County We endorsed the establishment of a bus line from Norfolk to Danville and sent resolutions to the State Corporation Commission Twelve members attended an inter-club meeting at Danville

Addresses at the high school on Vocational Guidance were made by some of our members Mr C J Hyslup, of the State Board of Education, delivered a fine address on Vocational Guidance in the presence of a large number of distinguished guests

The Committee on Kiwanis Education had charge of a meeting at which time the members were given 30 questions on Kiwanis to answer Ali-Kiwanis Night was observed when we heard, via radio, the proceedings of the International Convention

The club contributed toward sending a Girl Scout to camp

Meetings were held in the country during July and August At one, five civic clubs attended with a total attendance of 400 A delegation attended an inter-club meeting at Martinsville We played golf with the Lions club for the benefit of the charity work of the two clubs We also had a joint meeting with them Armistice Day was celebrated

Since the South Boston club was chartered it has always gained a most enviable record on its orthopedic clinic which is an important and major activity Because of the limited membership of the club, the clinic fund has always been in arrears and for the first time in seven years, the 1930 officers turned over their responsibilities to the 1931 officers without owing any clinic debt This is truly remarkable in view of the generally depressed conditions that particularly existed in this town and county

The club finances the clinic with an appropriation of $300 from the County Board of Supervisors and contributes out of its general income $550 per annum The above amounts supplemented with income raised in devious ways keeps us paid up which we are glad to report at this time Cases handled were as follows:

Cases at clinic 739
Cases sent to hospital 36
X-rays obtained 45
Cases prescribed for 725
Home visits during year 60

When such events as elections or pri-maries were approaching, stress was laid by the club's best speakers on the import-ance of getting out the vote Papers and articles on the above subject have been read to the club at various times

The club affiliated itself with five men's county clubs which have a membership of 750, composed of the very best farmers of Halifax County and serve the agricultural interests in the same manner as Kiwanis serves the towns and cities by promoting all things of current interest The club met at Cluster Springs, Virginia, in March and again in June Much goodwill results in tying in with the county interests as in the past there have always been many differences that now can be ironed out In September, a joint meeting was held with Lions and five civic clubs of the county

The club entertained the clubs from Lynchburg, Martinsville, Danville and Bassett at an inter-club meeting in May at the high school auditorium Carter Glass, Jr, was the principal speaker In September, ten members of the South Boston Kiwanis club visited at an inter-club meeting in Lynchburg

Anniversary Week was observed in January, with Senator James S Easley as the principal speaker A committee from the club was appointed to work with the United States Commission on the Washington Bi-Centennial Celebration

The club appointed a committee to confer with Government officials with reference to the location in Halifax County of war veterans' hospital The club endorsed "Clean up and Paint up Week," which obtained great results in beautifying the town Mayor J B Wilborn explained to the club new traffic regulations the town adopted and asked the cooperation of all members in educating the public and enforcing the new ordinance

H D Elliot, 1929 president of the club, was invited from the club to make an air tour of the state with state officials and he, along with Kiwanian J S McRae, made a report on the trip