The charter was presented on Monday, August 22, 1949 at the  Nancy Hart Hotel in Hartwell by District Governor Lawrence Shadgett.  Seventh Divison Lieutenant Governor B. C. Hill from the Winder Club acted as master of ceremonies and introduced James Page, the first president of the new club.  There were thirty charter members inducted into membership that night.

 

The new club immediately became involved in the civic life of the community as the sponsor of a Boy Scout Troop and later organized a Key Club at the high school.  Several of members of the scout troop and the Key Club have served as presidents of today's Hartwell Kiwanis.  The club has furnished Hugh Maret, Bob Wages, George Rooks, Harold Burgess, Bill Griggs, Steve Smith and Randy Daniel as Lieutenant Governors of the 7th Division.  Harold Burgess also served as a trustee of the Georgia Kiwanis Foundation and George Rooks was Georgia District Chairman of the Committee in Support of Churches.

 

While the club was the first to offer a meal (barbeque chicken) before the high school football games, its most outstanding program has been and is the Challenge of The Centuries, a 100 mile, 100 kilometer, fun bicycle tour of the surrounding area held annually.  Funds from this event support many of the child oriented programs of the Kiwanis community.

                                                                                George Rooks, Club Historian