A call to service

Elia Powers

Times were different when Shorty Scheafer was in charge.

Fraternal pride filled the banquet room where the Costa

Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club gathered each week. Voices crackled

under a dense layer of cigar smoke as members swapped military

stories and traded business tales.

This was a group that valued camaraderie and good conversation.

Most of the 120 male members came to the meetings to visit with

friends and get a brief respite from the routine at home.

This was a place where serious community business took place. Club

members discussed details of the annual Fish Fry fundraiser, a

signature event then in its heyday. Shorty shared his benediction as

club president, committee chairs delivered their reports, and

everyone reaffirmed his commitment to service.

That was 1976.

Mike Scheafer remembers it well. His father, Shorty, brought him

to every meeting.

“I knew where I’d be on Wednesday nights,” Scheafer said. “It was

a part of my schedule I never questioned.”

Scheafer joined the club on his own volition more than 10 years

later. He has since become the first second-generation president in

chapter history; in the club’s 80 years of existence, Scheafer is the

only repeat president; and in July, he will begin his fourth term.

Scheafer, a former member of the Costa Mesa City Council, is once

again serving as club president largely because no one else will.

Scheafer, also a Newport Harbor Elks Lodge member, serves on

multiple Lions Club International boards and is involved with the

Costa Mesa Boys & Girls Club.

But he seems to be an exception.

Under his watch, membership at the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions

Club is leaner. In fact, it’s down to 40 people, many of whom can’t

commit to attending a meeting every week. Several years ago, the Fish

Fry was put on a two-year hiatus because of a lawsuit. The second

year of the revamped event is scheduled for June 4 and 5.

Many members are well into retirement, and there is concern that

when they are gone, there will be no replacements.

“I think it’s a generational issue,” Scheafer said. “A lot of

younger people in their late 20s and 30s have so much else going on

in their lives. They don’t seem to have time for us anymore.”

A STEADY DECLINE

Scheafer’s concerns mimic those of service club leaders worldwide.

The numbers point to a prolonged membership recession, and thus far,

few clubs have been able to develop a viable recruiting model.

Dane LaJoye, Lions Club International spokesman, said that from

1994 to 2003, the organization lost anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000

people per year.

Kiwanis International, an organization devoted to serving

children’s causes, had grown incrementally each decade since the

1920s until the period between 1990 and 2000, when it lost almost

30,000 members.

And the current membership profile raises further concerns for the

long-term health of service clubs. The average Kiwanis member is 57.

Twenty-eight percent of members are over 60, and fewer than one-fifth

are under 35, according to 2002 data provided by the McMahon Group, a

St. Louis firm that consults with service organizations.

“When you walk into our meeting, one thing hits you in the face --

they are all old guys,” Scheafer said.

Less than 10% of Newport-Balboa Rotary Club members are under 40,

member Arthur Walton estimates.

Nate White is one of them. The soft-spoken 24-year-old is an

anomaly sitting amid a sea of white-haired members at the group’s

weekly meeting in Newport Beach.

He joined the club in late 2003 because he wanted to reconnect

with the community. Club members already have nominated him to the

board of directors.

A Newport Harbor High School graduate and a Costa Mesa resident,

White said he is comfortable talking to club members who are much

older.

He still chuckles at an amusing, yet telling, moment that occurred

at a Rotary Club-sponsored youth-vocalist contest before he became a

member.

“I walked up to the president at the time to introduce myself, and

he said, ‘Thanks for singing in our contest.’” White said. “I look

pretty young, and there aren’t too many people joining Rotary clubs

at my age.”

The club’s current president, 50-year-old Kim DeBroux, is

concerned about that trend. Her chapter, one of six in the region,

has fewer than 50 members -- about half of what the membership total

was a few decades ago.

Service organizations aren’t alone in seeing a decline in

membership. Country clubs and fraternal organizations have seen

substantial decreases during the 1980s and 1990s, according to

McMahon Group studies.

“If you broaden the lens, it’s church attendance and family

dinners and voting and lots of domains where we’ve seen a decline,”

said Thomas Sander, executive director of Harvard University’s

Saguaro Seminar, which focuses on civic engagement in America.

A SHIFT IN SOCIETY

So, what has caused the decline in club membership?

Some point to changes in societal norms. Attorney Richard Taylor,

49, a member of the Newport Harbor Exchange Club, said it’s the

emergence of a “me generation.”

“People my age are more wrapped up in themselves and don’t think

volunteering is necessary,” said Taylor, who ran for Newport Beach

City Council two years ago. “I admire the older generation. We’ve

lost our sense of community and need to get that back.”

Just what “that” is, author Robert Putnam says, is social capital,

a byproduct of participation in community, social and service

organizations.

In “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American

Community,” Putnam, a colleague of Sander’s, described the benefits

of and long decline in social capital.

Putnam points to a significant drop in bowling leagues, once a

staple of community life for the World War II generation, as evidence

that Americans are disengaged in society.

Those who grew up before 1945 are thought of as especially

civic-minded, whereas those in later generations haven’t lived up to

that billing, Sander said.

Scheafer places some of the blame on organization brass for not

adapting to a changing social landscape.

“Service clubs almost don’t get it,” Scheafer said. “They don’t

understand what they need to do to attract younger members.”

The first step, Scheafer said, is to put more power in the hands

of individual organizations. He pointed to Lions Club International’s

$170-million fundraising toward worldwide blindness causes. While

acknowledging the importance of the project, Scheafer said he would

like to see funds concentrated on local causes that directly affect

chapter members.

Sander said young people want control over planning their own

service projects.

Lions Club International’s LaJoye said the organization

understands the need for local decision-making and encourages

fundraising projects that serve the community.

Sander said part of the issue is a disconnect between the

structure of service clubs and the new structure of society.

People tend to live and work in different locales, which means

they aren’t as connected to their community and are less likely to

join a neighborhood organization. That’s particularly true in

California, where long commutes are the norm and transplants are

ubiquitous.

The decline in two-parent families has complicated evening

routines, making it difficult for working adults to set aside time

for regular weeknight meetings.

And the increasing prevalence of television and the Internet has

led to decreased civic engagement, Sander said. Rotary’s White said

members of his generation tend to be satisfied making connections

through the computer.

DeBroux has her own theory about decreasing membership.

“It has to do with apathy,” she said. “We’re in a fast-moving

society, for sure. But people get too busy with things that don’t

mean anything. People may volunteer once a year to feed their ego.

It’s the commitment that’s missing.”

TRYING TO REACH OUT

DeBroux made her commitment in 1989, the first year Rotary

International allowed women to join by order of the Supreme Court.

Service clubs historically have been behind the gender-equality

curve, as many chapters resisted court mandates.

But economic and social pressures have changed the landscape, and

women are now key players in their organizations.

DeJoye credits the influx of women this past year for the club’s

first membership spike in years.

Scheafer’s wife, Sandi, is president of the Harbor-Mesa Lions

Club, an organization comprising all female members. She said the

club increased its membership by 10 last year.

But Mike Scheafer said the good-old-boy image still haunts

organizations.

“There’s been a real push in the last few years to emphasize more

diversity within our clubs,” DeJoye said. “In the U.S., there is a

misconception that we are largely male” and white.

Mike Scheafer and DeBroux agree that service organizations need to

focus on publicity. DeBroux said it’s important for her club to

highlight the international effort to eradicate polio, for instance.

She is never shy about making a sales pitch. At a meeting

Wednesday to honor young Newport Beach track-and-field standouts,

DeBroux called on the audience to get involved.

“I tell people the only way you give back to your community is by

joining a service group,” DeBroux said.

She also highlights the professional perks.

“People want to do business with people they trust,” she said.

“And this is a way to interact in a social setting.”

Her club has put increasing resources into cultivating

relationships with younger Newport Beach residents.

Rotary’s Walton said the club is considering lowering dues for

younger members. Costs can climb above $1,000 per year.

The organization has partnered with the Newport Beach Jaycees in

an attempt to attract future business leaders.

Kiwanis International sponsors several college service clubs.

Lions sponsors a junior group called the Leo Club as a way to teach

teenagers the importance of service.

John Fornes, 62, president of the Exchange Club, sees a bright

future for service clubs.

“People who are younger naturally have to devote more time to

their jobs,” Fornes said. “This generation, now in their 20s and 30s,

will have time to give back to their community when they are in their

50s.”

Sander said a recent trend indicates that Fornes might be correct.

“Volunteering is up among the younger generation,” he said.

“Whether they’re fulfilling mandatory hours to graduate from high

school or whether they are doing it on their own time, we are seeing

a surge.”

And Sander said service clubs are beginning to respond to members’

lifestyle changes. They are allowing business travelers to attend

club meetings in any city and are encouraging members to bring their

families to events.

“Americans will always have a need for connections, and we’ve

historically gone through ebbs and flows [in civic participation],”

he said.

“The ultimate question is how well clubs will do meeting people’s

needs,” he said.

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

[email protected].