April 29, 1943 (Graduation Day!)

April 29 marks the day in 1943 that Sergeant Dorance Alquist became Lieutenant Dorance Alquist. His graduation from Fort Sill also marks the beginning of his 10-day furlough.

He took a train back to Minneapolis and took a well-deserved break with his mom and dad (Edna and Oscar Alquist) and his sister Dorothy Jordan, her husband Arlo and their young daughter Nancy. I’m sure he visited others but I only have photos with his family.

I think now would be a good time to dive a little deeper into The Kins Club, the social club that Dip and his closest friends organized. We have heard from some of the members directly, with letters from Bob Coll, Ralph “Sykes” Peterson and Rolie Iverson. And others will continue to be referenced in future letters.

The club formed in late 1939 and continued to meet for almost 20 years. I recently found the ledger with all the club documents and meeting minutes and I thought I would share some here. Here is the first official meeting:

October 13, 1939

The meeting was called to order by President Rollie Iverson. Dues of ten cents were collected. Discussion of time of meeting was held and agreed that the member at whose house the meeting was held would set the time of meeting, otherwise, the meeting would be called at 7:30 P.M.

Work was resumed on the constitution of the club, several additions were made. Dorothy Alquist submitted a copy of the constitution of the Alpha-Betz club to assist in drafting the constitution.

Ralph Peterson submitted his resignation as Secretary-Treasurer inasmuch as he felt that he could not handle the position with the present construction of the club. An article was added to the constitution regarding resignation of office holders. A drawing was held to determine the person to assume the vacancy. George Werdick’s name was drawn and he assumed the position of Secretary-Treasurer. A new amendment was entered into the constitution regarding dissolution of the club and disbursement of money held in the treasury at that time.

A discussion was carried on regarding a name for the club. Names discussed were: Centurians, Partners, and Kins. Robert Swanson proposed that the meeting would be adjourned, Lee Stensrud seconded the motion, and the motion was carried. The next meeting to be at Robert Cole’s home on October 25, 1939, at 7:30 P.M.

With that formal start they quickly moved on to planning parties and getting together with other clubs (women’s clubs, of course).

November 28, 1939

Meeting called to order by President Roland Iverson. Minutes of previous meeting read and accepted. Dues were collected. A report on a location for a New Year’s Eve party was made by Dorance Alquist. Discussion of a New Year’s Eve party was held and a tentative list of persons to be invited was made. A decision was made to hold a special meetin[g] of all persons to attend party on December 11 at the Y.M.C.A.

A suggestion was made by Dorance Alquist to exchange gifts within the club, voted on and accepted by all members and the price of gift was set at $1.00. A suggestion for a Christmas party was made by Roland Iverson, voted on and accepted. A committee was appointed to handle the Christmas party. Committee members are Roland Iverson, George Werdick, and Dorance Alquist.

Discussion of a joint meeting with the Maggie Murphs Club was held. Meeting to be at Marian Lueck’s home at 9:00 P.M. on December 3, 1939.

Roland Iverson brought up the subject of a barn dance sometime during January or February, no decision was reached.

A vote was called for the purpose of having a skiing, skating, or toboganning party at least once a month and passed.

A motion was made and seconded to close the meeting at 9:05 P.M.

Next meeting to be held at Roland Iverson’s home on December 20, 1939 at 8:00 P.M.

The following year went on much the same way, eventually they considered adding members but that idea was not always met with open arms.

October 1, 1940

The last meeting was held at Bob Swanson’s house. Although many of the members came later than the scheduled time, there still was enough time left in the evening to permit us to finish our business.

Our main topic of the evening was the discussion of a weiner roast and the following things were agreed upon:

1. Each member or person is to pay fifty cents towards the buying and paying for the various food items.

2. Beverages will be entirely up the whims of each individual.

3. The weiner roast party will meet at “the point” at 8:30p.m. and from there drive in a body to Woldsfeldts field where the big doings will be held.

Dick Benis and Paul Samuelson were brought up as prospective members but no final decision was reached or a vote taken because of the negative convictions of fellow members. With this the meeting was adjourned and an announcement made that the next will be held at the Werdick brothers, October 16, at 8 p.m.

Early in 1941, Art Jones made the club official by registering it with the State of Minnesota!

Shortly after that, though, members started getting drafted. Eventually the meetings stopped and were not resumed again until 1946. Here is the last recorded meeting from before the war, if you remember the beginning of this project, Dip reported for duty in July of 1941.

April 23 – 1941

Meeting called to order at 9 P.M. at Art Jones house. The minutes for the last meeting were read and a motion was brought up about drawing money for presents for draftees. The meeting was interrupted by the arrival of Lee to say a last minute goodbye. The meeting was resumed and a vote was taken and passed that money shall be taken out of treasury and a limit of $2.00 to be spent, it was voted upon and passed. A discussion was carried on about changing our present system of election but the discussion was dropped and will be carried on at a future meeting. A new member was brought up and voted upon. The vote was unanimous and the member is invited to our next meeting. A motion was made to adjourn the meeting. It was seconded. We then had a topic on how to find and follow you career prepared by Dorance Alquist.

I will revisit this club after the war. The boys seem to have really grown-up during the war and the club meetings take on a joyful tone afterwards. They seem genuinely relieved to be home and ready to build their lives during that period of peace.