Club History

---

The  Kiwanis Club of Ocean Beach began as the Beach Suburbs Kiwanis Club. It  was founded on April 6, 1928, with 45 charter members from all the  beach areas - not just Ocean Beach but also Point Loma, Pacific Beach,  and Mission Beach.

Of  the 45 original members, 31 were owners of their own business,  including the owners of Ocean Village Hotel, the Sunshine Service  Station, Strand Radio Company, a bakery, O.B. Cafe, a dry goods store, a  store called: "Feed and Fuel", two other groceries, two dentists, two  apartment hotels, a radio engineer, a barber, a doctor, a mason  contractor, a real estate operator, a lawyer, a local newspaper called  the Ocean Beach Program, and a "confectionary" owner. Fred E. Manning,  manager of The Bank of Italy (later Bank of America), was the first

President. 

From  its earliest days the Kiwanis Club of Ocean Beach contributed to civic  improvements such as the building of the Ocean Beach Library, and the  Ocean Beach Pier. 

When Kiwanis International voted in 1988 to accept women members for the first time, the OB Club was at the forefront. Marion Miller and Melanie Nickel, both of whom joined that first year, became instrumental leaders in the Club's continued growth and well-being. 

In  1947, with its 20th Anniversary drawing near, the Club held the first annual Ocean Beach Kite Festival. Sustained for decades by the hard work and dedication of Bill and Marion Miller, kites were originally made from scratch over two days from wooden dowels, butcher paper, and library paste. A parade from OB Elementary (where kites were built) to the beach at the end of Newport Street (where wind conditions were more favorable) was an event highlight for many years. 

After Marion Miller passed away in 2008, Club members Jim and Melanie Nickel stepped in to fill those very large shoes. The following two decades saw dramatic expansion of the event, as it finally outgrew OB Elementary and moved first to Dusty Rhodes Park and then to its current home at Robb Field. These years also marked new partnerships with the OB Woman's Club and the San Diego Kite Club.  

Now, the Kite Festival is the oldest and largest children's kite festival in the United States, with some 2000 kites made each year. 

Kiwanis  Club of Ocean Beach is part of Kiwanis International.   Kiwanis  empowers communities to improve the world by making lasting differences  in the lives of children.   Kiwanis clubs, like ours, focus on changing  the world by serving children, one child and one community at a time.