The Newcastle Kinsmen Club was founded in 1952 and later changed its name to the Miramichi Kinsmen Club. The 14 original founding members of the club were: Bud Palmer,
Louis Legere, Murray Bolan, Brooke Young, William Bates, Jack Steeves, Lou Bursay, Edgar White, Willis Dickison, William Morrison,
Cecil Stymiest, Lawrence Donahue, William Donahue and William Murray.
Brooke Young, Murray Bolan and Willis Dickison got together in 1952 to help establish a local Kinsmen Club here on
the Miramichi. The three men approached other Miramichi men about setting up
a club and 14 agreed to apply for a charter.
The late Judge Richard Miller, then president of the Moncton Kinsmen Club came to Newcastle and
gave a presentation to our group on the role of Kinsmen. Later the Moncton Kinsmen
Club became our sponsor for a charter. On May 4, 1952 the National Association
presented the charter of the ‘Kinsmen Club of Newcastle' and Brooke Young was elected the first president of the club
The first few years of existence were not easy years for the new club. From
1954-58 the club was nearly inactive, doing little fundraising and meeting rarely. During
that time the National Association had strict membership and meeting requirements and these obligations were not being met. Rupert Kethro who joined in 1954 was instrumental in keeping the clubs charter active
during these years. He forwarded meeting minutes to the appropriate officials,
filled out the necessary paperwork and even paid the clubs dues to the Association.
When the members met, the meetings were held in the basement of the old United
Church hall in Newcastle. The reasons for the near demise of the club were never revealed but Rupert Kethro
refused to give in. He was asked by the other three remaining members to turn
the charter in and fold the club. He at first said he would and then arranged
for the Moncton Kinsmen Club to come to give a presentation on what Kin is about. They
agreed and the remaining members were able to gather 10 other men to meet with the Moncton
club at the skating and curling rink on George Street. After the meeting the new and old members decided to start a new and another meeting
was scheduled at the Miramichi Hotel for September, 1958 with Hal Mann elected as the President and members were Rupert Kethro,
John Dupuis, Sterling Bell, Ken Parnell, Mike Mitchell, Bill Siddall, Bob Dickson, James Stevens, Don Cleland, Lou Bursay
and Willis Dickison. There were still tough times ahead, but with a strong group
of members and wise decisions, the club flourished and was able to make an incredible impact on the lives of Miramichiers.
In the 1950’s and ‘60’s fundraising projects really
consisted of selling light bulbs, selling Christmas wreaths and collecting pop and beer bottles from families at their homes. Many a senior citizen hearing that the Kinsmen needed bottles called members to collect
their bottles but the bottles were so old they couldn’t be sold, but as good Kinsmen they were collected to help out
the seniors.
The club started off doing a number of minor projects such as giving out Christmas baskets to the needy, and making
donations to various recreation groups and other organizations. The club also
built a wading pool, named for Edgar White, and provided park equipment for it as well, but the first major project organized
by the Newcastle Kinsmen was the building of the school for the mentally challenged from 1966 to 1967. These children really had no place to study. Members felt
that one of our community’s greatest needs was for us to build and establish a school for mentally challenged children
here on the river.
The Newcastle Kinsmen was also instrumental in the chartering of the Kinsmen Club of Bathurst in the late ‘60’s.
Club fellowship central to being a Kinsmen – Friendships that grow while working on projects for the community
are a key factor in keeping members active.
“Having been a Kinsmen for the past 50 years, I must say that for me the greatest part of being a member of the
Kinsmen Club is the fellowship one experiences with fellow club members while working on projects as well as socially,”
says Charter and Life Member Willis Dickison.
Even today, I still enjoy the fellowship and still wholeheartedly support the ideals of the Kinsmen Club and of course
the K-40 Club as well,” Dickison added.
There are a series of various awards that Kinsmen Clubs give to their members but Life Membership is the highest honour.
In honour of his efforts to rejuvenate and save the club Rupert Kethro
was elected the clubs first Life Member. To further honour him the club sponsors
the District’s Public Speaking Competition and named the award in honour of Rupert, as well the club's meeting room
in the Beaverbrook Kin Centre is named the “Rupert Kethro Memorial Room”.
