by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Something Karen Nasrallah did on the way to a lunch appointment last week epitomized what the Uptown Civitan Club is all about.
Nasrallah, a past president of the organization, had to make a stop in the sandwich shop at Riverplace Tower. It only took a minute to pick up the donations diners had put in the Civitan candy box in exchange for a peppermint before she headed upstairs to the University Club for Uptown’s celebration of 25 years of service to the community. Coins in candy boxes are just a small part of the story.
In addition to it being the club’s silver anniversary, the day was also unique because there were a number of men in the room, which is rarely the case when Uptown Civitan meets. Founded in May 1983 when Civitan Clubs weren’t yet coed, the group got off to a fast start and they haven’t slowed down.
“The first meeting we had after we were chartered, we thought 30 women might attend. There were 53,” recalled former Circuit Judge Virginia Beverly, Uptown’s charter president.
“We wanted the business ladies in Jacksonville to know there was a place for them. I remember someone saying that first day that the club was just an acorn but one day it would be a mighty oak,” she added.
Over the years the club has sponsored fund raisers for a variety of organizations and agencies including Special Olympics, SeaMark Ranch, the PACE Center for Girls, The Bridge of Northeast Florida, Grove House of Jacksonville, Pine Castle, Inc. and many others.
“I know we have raised more than $500,000 in the past 25 years,” said past president Mattie Fraser.
Uptown has also founded Jr. Civitan Clubs at Episcopal High, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and Englewood, Lee, Ed White and Sandalwood high schools.
“We have always wanted the club to be cross-generational,” said Beverly.
Orlando Civitan member and attorney Robert Dietz delivered the keynote address at the anniversary luncheon and recounted some of Uptown’s accomplishments. In addition to the club’s outstanding fundraising performance, there is also an unusually high level of member retention, with 20 past presidents and five charter members currently active in the club.
The highest honor for a club in Civitan International is to be selected as the Dr. Courtney W. Shropshire Outstanding Civitan Club. Each year, more than 1,200 clubs in 24 countries work on projects that benefit their communities but only one receives the Shropshire Award. Uptown Civitan Club has been the recipient eight times since its founding.
“In 25 years Uptown Civitan has set a benchmark that will be hard to top,” said Dietz, who concluded his remarks by echoing something said by club chaplain Linda Hull when the program began.
“The best is yet to come.”