Chapter 7 DECADE SEVEN 1990 - 1999

The 90's proved to be very active for the Club with regards to Canadian unity and spirit. In 1992 Kinsmen & Kinettes Clubs, starting at each end of the country, took Canadian and community flags from town to town joining together in Ottawa for a celebration of Canada Day with Queen Elizabeth II in attendance. Early in the 90's, as a result of this Kin project, "RAISE THE FLAG" was started by the Mayor of Ottawa, Jacquie Holtzman. Each Kin club across the country was invited to send their community or city flag to Ottawa where fellow Kin, their families and friends in the official opening ceremonies on Canada Day, would carry them. This tradition, the "Parade of Flags" project, is still carried on today (flags now number over 400) and everyone is invited each year to join in.

Starting in 1995, the club supported a joint project of the Association and the National Capital Commission. The Celebrate Canada in the Capital contest brought a family of four from each province and territory to Ottawa for a few days centered on Canada Day. Each visiting family stayed with a host family, most members of local Kin Clubs, including Ottawa. Visiting families and host families toured many local attractions and had prime seats for Canada Day entertainment.

The Association and the visitors started off the festivities each year with the Parade of Flags. Canadian, provincial and municipal flags were carried along Wellington Street onto the lawn in front of Parliament Hill. The club also sponsored and manned a barbecue supper one of the days before Canada Day.

Bingo was important to the club financially but also socially. The main social occasions were at the restaurants following Bingo at the Carling Bingo Palace. Bingo then moved to Club 175 for a few months. It stopped when a denied zoning change prevented them moving to a new location. After a couple of years off, bingo resumed at Topaz on Tuesday Midnight Madness. These were marginal operations. We then moved to Club 90, which was split, into smoking and non-smoking sections. This made Bingo much more comfortable to work. Eventually, the hall closed following the workplace-smoking ban.

The club took over the operation of the Terry Fox Run in 1996. Along with other community volunteers, the run was organized and held to raise money for cancer research. A few thousand participants raised around $200,000 each year. The run site was moved from the Western Parkway to Carleton University in 1999.

Skate-a-thon continued to the present day with the Ottawa Girl Guides only real participants. Attendance plummeted following a postponement in 1994 and a double postponement in 1995. The badges purchased for those years lasted through 2004. The event has moved around Lansdowne Park since leaving the coliseum. First was the registration trailer plus the South Side change rooms. Then the Sprung structure was used for a couple of years. The McElroy building was used for a couple of years before it was condemned. The South Side change rooms have been used for the last several years.

Oysterfest suffered declining attendance. This was likely due to the tightening of licensing laws and competition. Oysterfest moved to Lakeside Gardens for the last two years.

1996 saw the establishment of our Clubhouse. Many hours were put into the renovation of a somewhat dilapidated dwelling on the back of a local strip mall. The Kinsmen, Kinettes and K-40 used the Kin Clubhouse for meetings for five years. Many a memorable function was held there as well as official activities such as Awards & Installations Nights. It also provided a place where one could bring a prospective member to enjoy a beverage and view the many years of history hanging on the walls and on display. But as many projects do, financial concerns became evident and in the spring of 1999 the club decided that it could no longer support the monthly costs involved with running it.

Another strong tradition continued through into the next decade: the Annual Kin Grey Cup Challenge. Each year The Ottawa Kinsmen took on our counterparts from Orleans & District on Grey Cup Sunday.

The Kinsmen and Kinettes met jointly in 1998/99 for half of the Kinsmen meetings and half of the Kinette meetings. The higher enjoyment level of the joint meetings led to the merger of the clubs in 1999.

Presidents - Decade Seven

* Kinsmen and Kinettes joined forces for Kin Year. ** The National Capital Kin Club formed by merger of the Kinsmen and Kinettes.

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