I've been invited to join the Kiwanis. Should I?

One thing's for sure: If you work for a newspaper, you cannot join the Optimists.

 

Shiners.

 

Is Shiners an inside joke somehow?

 

I want to join the group Pete did the story on that brought in the strippers with club money.

 

No, just a typo from earlier.

 

I stopped reading here, because that was EXACTLY what I was going to say. Word for word.

 

Not exactly, Buck. My brother-in-law is big in the NJ Elks and he's involved in two or three charity/service events events month.

 

My only recollection of Kiwanis was my grandpa and his friends. They all became Kiwanis members in their 50s and never moved up to the Sr. Kiwanis. Decades later, nobody would join the Kiwanis because it was just a bunch of 80 and 90-year-olds hawking peanuts at busy intersections.

 

I'm an Elk. We do a lot of charitable/service projects.
I was trying to distinguish. The Elks has a strong fraternal tradition, whereas Rotary and Kiwanis tend to be only service clubs.
Of course, that said, my Rotary club has several social functions every year.
A person can really dictate his or her level of involvement in either case. I attend Elks' functions, but I have not been very active as a volunteer. With Rotary, I have headed the scholarship comittee, built bikes for kids and serve on the board.
It's really up to each person.

 

Water Buffalo Lodge

 

Royal Order of the Water Buffalo.

I think that, perhaps, Fred was once Grand Poobah.