BY JIM REAGEN

OGDENSBURG — A little over 75 years ago, Ogdensburg’s Kiwanis Club members began raising money to make life better in the Maple City, flipping pancakes with locally produced Maple Syrup.

The historical springtime tradition is scheduled to take place again on Saturday, April 1, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. when the Kiwanians hold their annual Pancake Day Breakfast.

This year's event will be held at the Ogdensburg Moose Lodge at the corner of The Crescent and Montgomery Street. Donation is $7 a person.

This year, the Ogdensburg Kiwanis Club is celebrating over 90 years of service to the Greater Ogdensburg community. They will be joined by members of the Ogdensburg Free Academy Key Club, which celebrated its 52nd year of service to the community last year.

Come celebrate an important part of Ogdensburg’s civic history and an annual rite of spring by supporting one of Ogdensburg’s oldest service clubs.

Kevin Kendall is the club’s current president. The club meets twice a month at the Ogdensburg Freighthouse Restaurant on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays. A social hour is held at 5 p.m.at the Tuesday meetings with business held at 6 p.m. The club is looking for Ogdensburg area residents who want to become more involved in helping the community. Dues are $50 a year. You can obtain information on joining at Pancake Day, attending a regular meeting or by contacting any Kiwanian.

Kiwanis is an international volunteer service organization dedicated to bringing community members together to help children and improve the community. It was founded in 1915 and today has almost 600,000 members in 80 nations around the world. Just 16 years after it was first organized in Detroit, Michigan, a group of civic minded Ogdensburg residents decided to bring the club to Ogdensburg under the leadership of Harry B. Proctor, one of the city’s leading businessmen and owner of the Proctor Lumber Co. on River Street.

Over the years, the Ogdensburg Kiwanis Club has expanded its service activities to include an extensive youth athletic program that includes Kiwanis Baseball, T-Ball, Softball and Soccer programs that help introduce young people to organized sports and the ideals of sportsmanship. The club is always looking for team sponsors and coaches.

The Ogdensburg Kiwanis Club’s extensive service programs also includes the award winning Ogdensburg Free Academy Key Club, OFA Middle School Builders Club and elementary school K-Kids.

The Ogdensburg Kiwanis Club donates a children’s book to every child born at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center. It sponsors a one-on-one reading program at the Ogdensburg Boys and Girls Club.

The Kiwanis Club’s membership built and maintains an extensive athletic complex with baseball and soccer fields at Montroy Park at the corner of Gate Street and Jefferson Avenue.

The Ogdensburg Kiwanis Club also provides scholarships to graduating seniors at Ogdensburg Free Academy, Heuvelton Central School, Lisbon Central School and Morristown Central School.

Kiwanis Baseball celebrated its 75th anniversary in Ogdensburg two years ago.