Chartered on October 27, 1949, the Levittown Kiwanis Club celebrated 50 years of community service last Friday night at the Memorare Council Knights of Columbus Hall in Seaford.

The Anniversary Dinner Dance on Friday was just one part of a year-long celebration of the anniversary that began with a champagne toast at midnight on Oct. 27, 1999 and will continue on May 13 at the Kiwanis Club's Community Pride Day and with a planned trip to the racetrack and a dinner cruise during the summer. Steve Haller, who has the longest continuous tenure in the club, 22 years, is serving as the 50th Anniversary Chairman and has facilitated the planning of these events and others to recognize what the club has contributed to the Levittown community in the last five decades. Kevin Regan, who is currently serving his third term as Levittown Kiwanis President, said of Haller's work as chairman of the committee, "We would not have had the success we have had without him."

Many of those who attended the anniversary celebration last week have been members for a number of those 50 years and several of those members have served the club as presidents. The journal which was at each place setting was dedicated to the memory of those members of the club who have passed away.

The anniversary celebration recognized the 26 men who chartered the club as well as the 52 men and women who presently make up the club. On hand to congratulate the club on its anniversary were New York State Assemblymembers Kathleen Murray and Marc Herbst, Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta, County Comptroller Frederick Parola and Nassau County Legislator Dennis Dunne. The family and friends of Levittown Kiwanis members past and present as well as representatives from other Kiwanis Clubs around Long Island also celebrated the success of the club.

Not to be forgotten was the memory of Lester Smith, who was part of a generational Kiwanis legacy. Since his father was a member of the Hicksville Kiwanis, Lester could not join that club because back in the '40s the Kiwanis International by-laws still prohibited either members from the same profession or same family from being members of the same club. Lester and his father, besides being family were also both pharmacists. After Lester and his wife Meta opened up their own Smith's Pharmacy in Levittown, this situation was remedied and Lester became one of the charter members of the Levittown Kiwanis Club. The Levittown club then went on to sponsor Lester's son Neal's Kiwanis Club of the Three Villages. This is the only known situation in New York, and possibly internationally where the club of one generation helped charter the club of the next generation, which then in turn helped charter the club of a third generation.

Also remembered were the many good deeds done by the Levittown Kiwanis over the decades. Food drives, scholarships and fund raisers are just part of what the club provides for the community. The Levittown Kiwanis Club also sponsors clubs at each school level in the Levittown and Island Trees districts, from K Kids in the elementary schools to Builder's Club in the middle schools and the Key Club in the high schools, the children in the Levittown community are taught at an early age how good it feels to be able to help others.

It was this legacy of community service and fellowship that was joyfully celebrated at the Levittown Kiwanis Club's 50th Anniversary Celebration. Howard Freeman, who served as the president of the Levittown Kiwanis Club President in 1966 summed up the sentiment of the evening with his toast, where he stated, "Nothing succeeds like success and we've had success. The Levittown Kiwanis Club has had thousands of successes and will have thousands and thousands more successes from here to eternity."