DONALD ALLERTON JOHNSTON
Posted by: 
Hard Oiler
N 42° 39.326 W 082° 07.563
17T E 407705 N 4723166
The birthplace, in Rutherford Ontario, of D A Johnston, co-founder of the Kiwanis in 1914 and their first president.
Waymark Code: WMAHZ
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 04/15/2006
Views: 31
The Kiwanis were founded in downtown Detroit in 1914 by a group of businessmen including Don Johnston, born here in Rutherford, Ontario in 1874 and who emigrated to Detroit in 1892. Don Johnston was elected the first President.
The group was initially called the “Benevolent Order of Brothers,” but this was soon changed to "Nunc-Keewanis" (from the Otchipew Indian language). Roughly translated, the phrase means "to express one's self." Now the third-largest service organization in the world with chapters in 93 countries. Membership in Kiwanis International in 2005 stood at 275,000.
Rutherford is a small farming community in Southwestern Ontario. At the time of my visit the only visible population were two llamas in a field across the road from the plaque.
