HISTORY The Kiwanis Club of Ramona is a member of Cal-Nev-Ha Division 37 and has proudly served Ramona’s children, seniors, and others since receiving our charter on November 7, 1959.  A joint celebration was held on December 12, 1959 at the Del Mar Hotel where Cal-Nev-Ha Governor Daniel L. Turner presented the charter to Ramona’s President Ralph Steven, Secretary James Halvarson, Treasurer Donald Conklin, and twenty four other charter members.  Governor Daniel also inducted Don D’Agostino of the Kearny Mesa club as Division 21 Lieutenant Governor for Kiwanis year 1960.  The Kiwanis Club of Escondido was our sponsoring club and the host club for the celebration was Kiwanis Club of Kearny Mesa.  Escondido President James P. Redington and Kearny Mesa President Edward T. Cramer were active participants in the events of the evening.  Other Division 21 clubs represented were Clairemont Hills, Coronado, Hillcrest, La Jolla, North Park, Ocean Beach, Old San Diego, Pacific Beach, San Dieguito District, andVista.

Division 21 soon become too large and was split into two divisions, thus the birth of Division 37 in 1965, with Terry Moore of Clairemont Hills as the first Lieutenant Governor.

We are very proud of our years of helping folks in Ramona and are equally proud of our club’s fun and sometimes colorful history. We have always been a Saturday morning breakfast club, having first met at the “Red Rooster Inn” during our first two years.  A letter addressed to James L. Halvarson, Secretary, Kiwanis Club of Ramona from the editor of the Kiwanis Magazine dated December 21, 1959, stated:  “It has come to our attention that your club is the only club in Kiwanis International to hold regular weekly meetings on Saturday morning.  That fact might make an interesting feature in the “News and Events” section of a future issue.”   (Many other clubs have since adopted Saturday mornings for their meetings.)

 

 

The celebrated “KiwaniKats” harmonica band was officially formed on January 29, 2000 by Larry Bazinet.  Larry was a dedicated Ramona Kiwanian and a well-known local musician.   Other Kiwanians of the original group included Darrell Beck, Gary Besaw, Ellen Deuel, Doug Frederick, Jeff Funk, Hub Lynch, Glae Mc Donald, Beverly Ragsdale, Jim Ward, Lee Weddington, and Gordon Zick. Most of the original players had never played the harmonica; however, Larry being a great teacher, soon changed that.  Sadly, Larry, Hub, Glae, Beverly and Lee have since passed away, and for one reason or another Ellen, Doug, Jim and Gordon are no longer with the band.   Chuck Hunt joined the band in late 2000 and played with us until his death in 2004.  Current band members include Walter Ainslie, Darrell Beck, Dotty Cronin, Jeff Funk, Tom Taylor, Richard Wade, and Dr. John Whiteman.  Dr. John, known as “The Harmonica Man,” is a well-known expert on the history of harmonicas and has collected well over 3000 of the instruments. This makes John the third largest harmonica collector in the world today.

  To schedule an appearance by the Kats call Darrell Beck at  760-789-2534