Club History

The Kinsmen Club of Nashwaaksis, a not for profit organization comprised of all male volunteers, was chartered (created) on October 31, 1960 by the Kinsmen Club of Fredericton and was situate in the former Village of Nashwaaksis. The Kinsmen initially held their meetings at a local restaurant before moving to York Plaza where they started a Bingo as a fundraising project.

Another group, the Kinette Club of Nashwaaksis (all female), was chartered on February 20, 1969 and like the Kinsmen raised funds to help with many worthwhile causes in support of the Kin Motto, “Serving the Community’s Greatest Needs”.

In 1973 several communities amalgamated with the City of Fredericton and Nashwaaksis was one such community. Despite that amalgamation, the Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs of Nashwaaksis continued as independent organizations which is why Fredericton is unique in that it boasts 2 Kin organizations – the Kinsmen/Kinette Clubs of Fredericton (southside) and the Kinsmen/Kinette Clubs of Nashwaaksis (northside).

In 1980 the Kinsmen/Kinette Clubs of Nashwaaksis bought their own building called the Kinsmen Community Centre located at 141 School Street which gave us more space for holding Bingo and to become a home of Boys Scouts, a Boxing Club, an Adult Literacy classroom as well as 2 Seniors groups.

In 2008, the Kinsmen Club of Nashwaaksis and the Kinette Club of Nashwaaksis joined together to form one club, the Kin Club of Nashwaaksis, made up of both male and female members.

Our Logo

Our logo is an acknowledgement that the Kin Club of Nashwaaksis established in 1960 in Devon, N.B. is located on the traditional territory of Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet). This territory is covered by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship which the Wolastoqiyik, Mi’kmaq, Penobscot and Passamaquoddy peoples first signed with
the British Crown in 1725. The Saint John River is also known as Wolastoq, along which live the Wolastoqiyik – the people of the beautiful and bountiful river.

Who are our Members

We are made of a group of male and female volunteers of all ages and we come from all walks of life. We have had members as young as 19 (the minimum age to join) to people in their sixties and seventies although there is no upper age limit to be a member. Over the years we have had members representing just about any occupation you can name including laborer, police officer, banker, lawyer, politician, paramedic, store clerk, hospital worker, taxi driver, cleaner, office worker and stay at home Mom. The thing we all have in common is a desire for fellowship and to help make our community a better place.

History of the Kin Organization

The Kin Club of Nashwaaksis and all Kinsmen/Kinette and Kin Clubs trace their origin to a single man, Harold A. Rogers (“Founder Hal”).

Kinship was born in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, February 20th, 1920. It came about through an urgent desire of Founder Hal, just returned from the trenches of the first world war, for the friendship of his fellows.

Harold A. Rogers, in his early twenties, was encouraged by his father, a prominent Rotarian, to get together a few young men of his own age and as a result a small group gathered for a dinner meeting in a café. That became the first Club in the Kin Association – The Kinsmen Club of Hamilton.

In the thirties the wives of the Kinsmen began to get together to form social groups under various names. The Kinsmen Ladies Club of Hamilton was formed in 1932 and was the first to function as a properly organized club.

In 1935 other clubs began forming for those older Kinsmen and Kinettes who wished to stay involved in Kin being the K-40 for the Kinsmen and the K-ettes for the Kinettes.

In 1939 Miriam Sheridam of one of these social groups in Ottawa coined the term “Kinettes” and it was her club in Ottawa that was the original Kinette Club of Canada.

In 1994 the organization further evolved with clubs being given the option to be a Kinsmen or Kinette Club or a Kin Club having a mixture of both sexes. In the late nineties the upper age limit was abolished so that men and women of any age could become and remain members of Kin well into their senior years.

With the dawn of the new Millennium, the National organization, Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs of Canada, re-branded and became “Kin Canada”.

From the original group of a dozen earnest young men, determined to perpetuate the ideal of service to Canada then exemplified by young Canadians during the war years, has grown the Association of Kin which has spread throughout Canada to become the largest all Canadian service Club.

Founder Hal speaks with LM Joe
Currie at the re-dedication of the
Kinsmen Community Centre in
1990

Just what are the community’s greatest needs?

Serving the Community’s Greatest Needs is our motto as that is exactly what we do. the Kin Club of Nashwaaksis (and other Kinsme/Kinette/Kin clubs across Canada) raise money to help not only their local community but the community at large. The contributions made by Kinsmen/Kinette/Kin Clubs across Canada are too numerable to list but those needs have been international, national and local.

International

1945-1948 Founder Hal rallies Kin members across Canada to raise funds to send milk to school children in England. By the end of the campaign 3 million dollars was raised to send 50 million quarts of milk to Britain and Founder Hal was named an officer of the Order of the British Empire

Milk for Britain Campaign

       

Since its founding in 1920 up to 2015, Kin Canada through its many clubs has raised over 1 billion dollars and growing.

National

Since 1964 Kin Canada has partered with the Cystic Fibrosis (“CF”) Foundation to raise money to support research into finding a cure for this fatal disease. Kinsmen/Kinette/Kin Clubs across Canada (as of 2015 the total amount raised was 41 million dollars).

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) – LM John Sears (Sports Hall of Fame for golf), himself afflicted with MS, was instrumental in getting clubs axcross our District on board to raise funds for this worthy cause.

Cancer Scholarship Fund

Foundation of Kinsmen National Institute on Mental Retardation created through all clubs raising $400,000.00

Flood Relief

Local

Royal Road Park opened in 1962

       

Royal Road Park Pool opened in 1968

     

Outfitter of the Fredericton Minor Football League in 1970
Kinsmen Pace started in 1965
Doug King Memorial Tennis Court built behind Nashwaaksis Memorial School

      

Fredericton Indoor Pool
York Sunbury Search and Rescue
Gourley Park Improvements
Purchased Colposcope for Regent Street Medical Centre
Santa Claude Parade

   

Established Scott Maynard Bursary presented to deserving FHS student

Established the Kin Jim Wilson Memorial Award and Bursary presented to deserving LHHS student