The men of the Kiwanis Club of LaGrange originally started a club in Downers Grove in 1947 which met in the evening. That club grew and prospered until it was decided in 1978 to further serve the needs of the community by starting a second club which would meet in the mornings. At this time we had a small core of younger members who found that a morning schedule was better for them and allowed them more time with their families. The original Kiwanis Club was then called the evening club while the new Kiwanis Club was called the breakfast club.

The first president of the Breakfast Kiwanis Club of Downers Grove was Barry Crawley, who was a general contractor and was instrumental in making the club a success. Bill White, who was the Senior Pastor at First United Methodist Church and an avid golfer was our second president. Barry returned to the scene in 1980 to again be president before he went on to be Lieutenant governor in 1981. During this time, our secretary W. Lockwood Martling, Jr., who served as architectural consultant for the Downers Grove Historical Society, competed work on the "Maple Avenue Historic Walk" booklet which you may link too.

A long line of presidents followed leading up to our first woman member in 1988. Agnus Burman, an interior designer, was also the first woman to join Kiwanis in the Eastern Illinois-Iowa District. The presidents up through 1988 were Frank DuFour, assistant principle; Len Sukut, another Methodist Minister; Tim McJoynt, attorney; Dean Gregory, store owner; Charles Olson, accountant; LeRoy James, store clerk; Tom Michel, real estate agent, and finally Herb Jacobs, store clerk. Our main fund raiser was the collection of scrap metal. We used the equipment of Barry Crawley, to hold annual scrap metal drives where we would go around Downers Grove collecting scrap metal. This activity stopped when the value of scrap fell too low.

The presidents who followed in 1989 when Tom Michel went on to be our second Lieutenant Governor, were: Curtis Frank, an engineer; Herb Jacobs and Frank DuFour for second terms; Boneta Morris who became our first woman president in 1991. Agnus Burman followed Boneta's lead followed by Waring Webb before Boneta took up the reins again in 1994 to also go on to be our third Lieutenant Governor in 1995 when Phil Keller became president. From 1996 to 2003 the presidents were Vaughn Nelson, Keith Hoffman, George Dan Dan, Patrick Smith, Lisa Rasin, Peter Babich, Lorie Pilster and Becky Anderson.

During this later period the Evening Kiwanis Club membership was dwindling. The two Kiwanis Clubs were then combined to the Kiwanis Club of Downers Grove in 2003. As a result of the merger, the Kiwanis Club of Downers Grove continues on as a very strong foundation of people dedicated to serving Downers Grove. Part of the success of having the combined clubs work and strive together falls once again to Boneta who was elected in 2004 for her third term. Our current president, Gloria Caracello, a banker, continues in that support and growth