A crowd of about 75 students and Kiwanis Club members, parents and community members gathered at Valentini's Restaurant on Sunday, Oct. 26 to celebrate the Denfeld Key Club's 30th anniversary.
"It's pretty amazing that it's been going on here for 30 years. It's really hard work to keep a club up and running," said key club publicist Christine LeGarde.
The "key" in key club stands for Kiwanis Educates Youth. It is the oldest and largest service leadership organization for teens internationally. The international club has 267,000 members in 5,000 clubs in 30 nations in around the world. Students perform 12 million service hours every year.
In Duluth, the volunteer service program started at Denfeld in 1984. The key club at Central High school formed in 1985. The two high school clubs merged in 2011 when the schools combined.
"For me, the best part of the club is the volunteering aspect. I'm a very volunteer-orientated person. It's fun to do and we're like one big happy family," LeGarde said.
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The club participates in a number of community service programs such as blood drives, highway cleanups, walk/runs for charities, Bentleyville, bell-ringing and Toyland Express for the Salvation Army.
Superintendent Bill Gronseth addressed the crowd to share his experiences in the club in the 1980s.
"Key club has so much to offer. I had fun with really good friends, but it was so much more than that. We were building memories and even more than that, the value of service was being instilled in me. I learned so much about leadership, compassion, and commitment. And today key club has grown far, far beyond a handful of kids that were involved back in my time," Gronseth said.
Gronseth said he had no idea that the Denfeld club was in its beginning stages when he was club president in 1987. The club consisted of 16 members when it formed. Today over 80 students are members, which Gronseth takes as a good sign.
"I have no doubt that my early experiences with service organizations really lead me to a career in the human services. As a teacher, as an assistant principal, as a principal, as assistant superintendent, as superintendent I used those skills that I learned in service everyday," Gronseth said.
"These students do all kinds of community service and really step up when the community needs something. I hope it continues to grow and strengthen," said Judy Berntson, the key club advisor from the Kiwanis Club of Port of Duluth. "I'm already planning the 35th anniversary."
