The Kiwanis Club of Albert Lea (noon) was organized on August 19, 1922 with 50 members. It received its charter on October 23, 1922. The first board consisted of: President- B.O. Knudson; Vice-President- Frank Wells; Secretary- Lyman Nelson; Treasurer- Chet J. Leusman; District Trustee- L.W. Steckel; Directors- W.F. Behrends, W.W. Jones, John Farry, Burt Knatvold, Ralph Wedge, Dr. J.A. Thomas and S.A. Simonson. Charter night was held in the basement of the First Lutheran Church. District Governor John C. Pollock made the presentation speech. Singing was led by H.H. Hallin, known as “Fat”. The Rev. Martin Anderson of the First Lutheran Church gave the invocation. There were a number of visiting club presidents from North and South Dakota, as well as Minnesota. Toastmaster was Ben Knudson.

The Club’s first project was advertising Albert Lea at the North Dairy Show in September of 1922. In 1923 the Club organized a Drum and Bugle Corp which paraded on holidays, special events and Kiwanis celebrations. Also, in 1923, a Kitten Ball Team was organized.

Following are a number of interesting “Firsts”: First Farmers Night- April 1923; First Spouse’s Night- January 1923 (held at the former location of the Elks Club on the 5th Floor of the Lea Center Building); First mention of the Kiwa-Voix (Club Bulletin) in December 1924; First Lieutenant Governor- B.O. Knudson 1925; First Interclub Meeting, Division 1 at the Country Club- May 1926; First Annual Kids’ Christmas Party-December 1929; First Kiwanis Cabin at Camp Morraine- 1946; First Kid’s Day Peanut Sale- September 1953.

Albert Lea hosted the 30th Annual Minnesota-Dakotas District Convention on August 3-5, 1947. Roy Delaney was President of the Club at that time. Convention theme was “Build for Peace-Patriotism-Opportunity”. Sessions were held in the Rivoli Theatre (now Rivoli Mall) and the Armory (now the County Department of Human Service Building). There were 55 out of 68 clubs represented with a total of 659 registered. The local general chairman for the convention was Dr. W. Douglas Burns.

The Club celebrated its 50th anniversary on October 23, 1972, exactly 50 years to the day when it received its charter. This festive occasion was held at the Albert Lea Inn. The main speaker was Wes Bartlett, immediate Past President of Kiwanis International. Present were three of the original charter members- Robert Wedge, C.J. Leusman and Wilhelm Bratten. In charge of this special event was Club President, Mark S. Jones.

Albert Lea Kiwanis Club has sponsored several other Kiwanis Clubs in our division, and they include Wells in 1940; Albert Lea Day Breakers in 1976; Albert Lea Golden “K” I in 1981; Albert Lea Golden “K” II in 1984; and Owatonna Golden “K” in 1987. Ellis Christianson was responsible, with others, in the organization of seven (7) Kiwanis Clubs. We are proud to have provided one Kiwanis International President, Ben Knudson in 1939. He also served as our only District Governor in 1932. Ben, along with 14 others from our Club have served as Lieutenant Governors, and they were; Dr. C. Foster Palmer, Homer Chase, Rev. Richard R. Emery, Dr. Delbert Platt, Rev. Lloyd A. Peterson, Gay Hinthorn, Robert Bruce, Alva C. Jensen, Valdemar A. Xavier, Ellis Christianson, John Jurgensen, Wayne Broecker, Claire I. Vermedahl, and Kelly Callahan. Through the years we have received many District and International awards which are presently displayed on our banner.

While the Club has been involved in a number of different projects throughout the years, following are some of the projects and fund raising events conducted on an annual basis: Support of YM/YWCA, Boy Scouts, Salvation Army, Student ALHS, and Riverland Scholarships, Kid’s Day Peanut Sales, Student Representatives, Bowling Team, Waffle Breakfast, Highway Clean-up, Helping Children to Christmas shopping for families in need, Happy Dollar contributions, Pastor’s Day Luncheon, Bike-a-Thon, Inter Club Visiting, Farm Tours and Car Wash. One of our more recent projects and proudest moments was the dedication of the Frank Hall Park which the club played the major role in revitalizing. International President Steve Siemens was present to dedicate the park on July 22, 2006. In 2008 the park was further upgraded with new basketball courts sponsored by the clubThroughout the years we have met at several locations including the Lea Center Building at 139 East William; the Spanish Dining Room of Hotel Albert on the corner of South Broadway and East College Street; the American Legion Club Rooms, 142 North Broadway; Tom Bell’s Townhouse (the present site of Christian-Peterson Law Offices), 314 South Broadway; Albert Lea Inn on East Main Street, the Elks Club on Southeast Broadway until its closing, at the American Legion Club on North Broadway and currently at Main Street Restaurant. We meet every Monday at 12 o’clock noon.

In 1988 Kiwanis International approved the admission of women, and since then, several ladies have joined our organization.