KEY CLUB 101 KEY CLUB 101 HISTORY OF THE JAMAICA DISTRICT

The Key Club of Kingston College, which was chartered by the Kiwanis Club of Kingston, is widely believed to have been the first Key Club in Jamaica, but this was not so. The first Key Club to be chartered in Jamaica was the Ocho Rios Junior Secondary School which was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Ocho Rios on September 21, 1970.

Soon after, the North Western Academy was chartered by the Kiwanis Club of Montego Bay (March 1971), Kingston College which was chartered by the Kiwanis Club of Kingston (March 1974) and Iona High School which was also chartered by the Kiwanis Club of Ocho Rios. By this time, Key Clubs in Jamaica were growing exponentially and these clubs were a part of the Eastern Canada and Caribbean District.

By 1984, the number of Key Clubs in Jamaica had grown to forty-five (45) with approximately 1,000 members. Because of this rapid growth, the Eastern Canada and Caribbean District Board and Governor believed it would have made it difficult to manage together the Key Clubs in Jamaica along with the clubs in the Caribbean and the Eastern Canada Districts, so the Governor visited Jamaica with a proposal to form a Caribbean District. Upon hearing this proposal, Jamaica made a counter proposal that they would enthusiastically agree to a Jamaica District, accepting the challenge of administering a Jamaica District only.

On a Saturday in October of 1975, an all island Key Club meeting was held at the Ocho Rios High School. The purpose of this meeting was to establish the new “Key Club District of Jamaica” and to adopt the following declarations:

The official name of the district “Key Club District of Jamaica”.

The By-laws of the District.

The District Dues of JMD $10.00 per member.

The District Governor Andrew Pairman of the Meadowbrook High School

The District Secretary–Treasurer Janet Walker of the St. Catherine High School. The District Administrator DLG Michael Henrique.