This weeks guest speaker was Heather Munro (on left), a free lance
correspondent for the Macomb Eagle newspaper. She recently wrote an
article about Lustron Homes, of which there are five in Macomb.
In her story, she wrote that following World War Two,
there was a housing shortage
for returning veterans and their families. A company called Lustron
built over 2,000 unique homes in that time period. The homes were
unique in that they were all made of steel and metal on an assembly
line in a Ohio factory, then shipped to their destination on a truck
that delivered the home loaded in the exact order so that parts could
be unloaded and assembled in sequence.
Heather had her story published in December after
talking to Kiwanis member Ken Harp whose father and grandfather built
the homes in Macomb
located on South Edwards, South Dudley, West Jackson and East Franklin.
The homes are all the
two bedroom Westchester model with interlocking panels and about 1,000
square feet of living space.
Company records show that 2,680 homes were built. 395
are in Illinois.
Heather says there were over 30,000 parts in each home.
When assembled, every thing locked together like a giant erector set.
It took about 4-5 days to put the house together from the time it was
delivered.
She said the company failed because of production delays
at their factory and distribution problems in getting all the houses
out.
Since the The Lustron Company no longer exists, there's
no place to get service or parts other than the owners ingenuity.
Next week Suzan Nash from the Western Illinois Regional Council will
update us on their programs. State Senator John Sullivan will be our
guest speaker on the last Tuesday in January.
President Tim Moss presided, Chuck Nicholson gave the
invocation and John Moon led us in singing "When Kiwanis Calls."
Tim won the 50/50 Drawing and donated his share to the
Salvation Army.
This was our first meeting of 2009. Tim wished everyone
a Happy New Year then passed around copies of 2009 club calendars
prepared by Division Lt. Gov. Pat Stout showing different events in the
district and division:
The Abingdon Club is serving chili as part of the Great
Western Shootout at Abingdon High School all day January 24.
Divisional Midwinter Meeting, Saturday, January 31,
hosted by the Monmouth Club at the Jamieson Center, 325 E. 9th Ave.,
Monmouth.
Menu: Roast Beef, Spinich Salad, Peas, Cheesy Potatoes, Soft Pie and
Red Velvet Cake, Rolls, Coffee, Tea and Water.
The cost will be $10 per person. Please e-mail reservations to Club
Secretary Jan Sprout,
jrs1950@hotmail.com, or call her at 309-734-4251, by Friday,
January 23.
Midyear Convention and Board Meeting
February 13-15, 2009 - Decatur Hotel and Conference Center - Decatur,
IL
The Kiwanis hotel room rate of $90 per night plus tax expires Friday,
January 23, 2009. Call the hotel directly at 217-422-8800 for room
reservations. Don't forget to mention that you are with the Kiwanis
group!
The annual Spastic Paralysis Bowl-a-thon is Saturday,
February 21, at Abbe Lanes in Abingdon.
Bowl-a-thon Chair Jim Davis will contact clubs regarding lane times.
The Industry Club's Pancake Day is Saturday, February
28--serving 6-9
AM and 11 AM to 1 PM.
The Monmouth Club's Pancake Day is Saturday, March 7.
District Governor's Visit -- April 7 in Rock Island
(more details to come).
The Illeiowan has been published online. Click here to see the
latest edition.
Owen Thompson - Happy that The Salvation Army Red
Kettle campaign has raised over $51,000 so far, with more donations
coming in. Their goal was $60,000 and Owen says he's pleased with the
generosity of the community.
Owen had another one because The Salvation Army was
asked to help provide food at Olson Hall in December during an ice
storm that left many people without power. Owen said that ice storm
left a branch on his garage that he was able to cut down without
falling off the roof.
Pat Stout - Happy Tim passed out the calendar listing
upcoming meetings
"which are also good opportunities for Interclubs." Pat said that most
of the events are on a Saturday which may make it easier for members to
attend.
Jerry Carlson - Happy to give two Happy Buck$, one
for Susan Thompson and another for her son Ben and complimented them on
how efficient everything went for the Salvation Army gift baskets we
helped with in December.
Jeff Paisley - Happy he was able to participate in
the Jingle Bell Run in Quincy even though he was beaten by his daughter.
Joe Vandemark - Happy to announce, on behalf of
Debbie Vandemark, that former member Dennis Morrow was pronounced free
of cancer!
Susan Thompson - Happy for all the volunteers that
helped the Salvation
Army over the holidays and for accident free events even with that ice
storm.
Sue Dexter - Happy to salute John Moon who is
featured in the
latest edition of the Western Illinois University College of Fine Arts
and Sciences "Focus" publication.
John Moon - Happy for the recognition. He put
in $20 for the
story that appeared in the magazine.
Don Mathis - Happy to celebrate his 41st wedding
anniversary last Saturday.
Tim - Happy to have had a wonderful trip to New York
City over the holidays to
visit his son.
Happy Birthday greetings go out in January to Wayne Mounts, Herb Butler
and Waneen Stout. Waneen, who is one of our newest members, told
us a little about herself. She grew up in Devils Lake, North
Dakota and the last
time she and Pat were up there they had 35 inches of snow.
Check out previous Builder newsletters by clicking on a date below.
