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Kiwanis approaches 100 years as organization
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Kiwanis International is approaching its 100th anniversary. Located in 80 nations, the organization’s focus is on helping children learn, experience, dream, grow, succeed and thrive.
“It’s a big deal for us to reach 100 years,” said Loyce McGregor, who is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Warren County. “That’s 100 years of service, which is the heart of every Kiwanis Club.”
Recently, Raven Dixon was the recipient of the local club’s focus. A Warren County High School graduate, she was given $300 from the Richard McGregor Memorial Scholarship fund.
“Dixon is a Key Club member,” said McGregor. “We select a member to award a scholarship. This year, our recipient was Raven.”
Kiwanis got its start in Michigan in 1914 with Allen S. Browne. He was a Detroit native who graduated from the Detroit School of Law in 1905. At the time, service clubs were very popular and he worked for both the Loyal Order of Moose and the Loyal Home Fraternity.
In 1914, Browne started his own outfit he called the Benevolent Order of Brothers. He saw it as less of a service club and more of a business club, a mutual back-scratching society, where moguls could talk business and little else. Approximately 35 members held their inaugural meeting in November and discussed a name change. Participants worried members of the Benevolent Order of Brothers would inevitably come to be known as the BOBs. Kiwanis was selected and on Jan. 21, 1915, and the club received its charter from the state of Michigan.
Membership climbed quickly and soon the club had 200 members. Browne, who made his living by keeping the membership fees, was granted the right to form new clubs. He marketed the club by emphasizing the potential to forge contacts and transact business. The promise worked to increase membership. However, it caused friction – newcomers were disappointed membership didn’t provide immediate business results and existing members wanted to move away from strictly conducting business and become involved in community service.
In July 1915, members rejected the business intent of the club and turned the group into an organization focused on community service. Browne, as well as most of its members, left. Almost immediately, the revamped club started attracting recruits. By 1920, there were 267 clubs and 20,000 members. By 1929, there were 1,811 clubs and 101,465 members.
Today, Kiwanis clubs stage nearly 150,000 service projects, devote more than 6 million hours of service and raise nearly $100 million every year for communities, families and projects.
The next fundraiser for the local Kiwanis Club is a pancake breakfast at Applebee’s on Oct. 11 from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Tickets are $5. Tickets can be purchased from any Kiwanis Club member or by calling McGregor at 668-8403.

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community