History

The History of the Student Speakers Foundation
by PID Dwight Stanford

When District 4 was split into five sub-districts in 1937, Fred Smith (later International President) became the first District Governor of District 4-C. His district ran from Stockton down to the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and included the coast area from Paso Robles through Oxnard. He realized that the clubs in his new district had nothing more in common than they did with the clubs in San Francisco or San Diego. He expressed this thought to the other officers in his district and asked for suggestions. One of his Deputy District Governors, Frank Colston, Superintendent of Schools in Oxnard, suggested a Student Speakers Contest for high school students in the district. The idea was approved as something that would give all the clubs in the district something in common and hopefully, would bring them closer together as a unit. From what we are told, the contest was a great success.

The following year, James Hodges, District Governor from Covina, proposed to the Council of Governors that Fred's speech contest become a project for all of District 4. The proposal was adopted and the contest has been one of our district's principal projects ever since. During the past sixty years, many groups and clubs have followed our lead by engaging in joint service activities. It is one of the stars in our MD-4 crown.

The Student Speakers Foundation was organized in 1960. Its father is Don Snyder, District Governor of 4-A3, 1958-59. He asked PIP Fred Smith and then International Director Dwight Stanford to join him as the organizers and first directors of the Foundation. Don did all the work getting IRS and California taxing authorities approval. He is now a lifetime, honorary Director of the Foundation, as is Dwight Stanford.

The Foundation's first cash came from the profits of the Lions Goods Store at the next MD-4 convention. District Governor Al Mendel of Apple Valley, 1961-62, ran the store and suggested the gift. The first few years of the Foundation were a bit thorny. It was hard for the organization to collect money when it had very little prestige. Gradually the situation changed and the Foundation began to supplement the prizes which heretofore had been paid for entirely out of the MD-4 budget. Foundation funds come entirely from voluntary donations and income from the accumulated assets.

Past International President Fred Smith was the first president of the Foundation, followed by Past International Directors Dwight Stanford and Robert E. Anderson. Past District Governors Seeley J. Kondris and George "Jake" Jacobssen served between 1994 and 2002. The current president is PDG Gordon Wellman.

For the 2005 contest, the Foundation provided all of the prizes above the region level, as it has now for many years. Each of the 16 district winners received a $4,000 scholarship. The four area winners each received an additional $6,500 and the final MD-4 winner another $10,000. For the latter, the total accumulated scholarships were $20,500 and the other three area winners had $10,500 each. Total scholarships awarded in the contest amounted to $100,000 all from the Foundation.

Each year, the district chairmen are invited to attend the August council of governors meeting to participate in the selection of the contest topic for the year. In addition, the MD-4 committee reviews all of the materials used for the contests and welcomes suggestions from the district chairmen as to any revisions that should be made.

The district chairmen are encouraged to bring suggestions for topics to the August meeting. Detailed information on the meeting is sent to everyone in July.

The district chairmen are responsible for distributing all the contest materials to their zone and region chairmen. A box with all the material is sent to each district chairman in October.