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The West side nut club is a part of Evansville.

We are West Siders, but we're part of Evansville.

And what we do in everything that we do is we want to have some fun, We want to provide something to pay, pay back the community.

and it's our way.

It's not clubbers as the West side to give something back to everybody in this community.

And that's what it's all about.

It's, Root Boost or Scoot.

root for the west side of the club and the whole city as a whole.

Boost it, or basically, you know, make room for another member.

I laugh when I think about my buddies that are nut clubs and the goofy.

I mean, they're goofy and they have a lot of fun.

I think that's why they are able to get so much done.

they have fun, but they get the job done and they, they give back to the community in a, in a big way.

I think that's the whole secret.

The success of this club is really just a hands on organization.

And I don't think that has ever changed in 104 years.

And I hope it never changes because that's what makes us what we are.

I was surprised how rich the history was with what I was discovering with the Nut Club.

As part of Evansville City Growth, because yes, it was geared to the West Side neighborhood, that culture, that, logistics.

And on the West side, but the whole city's history, you could track by reading the history of the Nut Club.

the west side of Evansville was always sort of been its own place, its own entity if you will.

It west of Pigeon Creek was part of that original Lamasco plat from the 1830s.

Lamasco was founded as sort of a rival town to Evansville.

Evansville was first and along the river.

Lamasco was was platted along Pigeon Creek, so the streets run north, south, east, and west, so when Lamasco was annexed by the city in 1857, they only annexed over to Pigeon Creek, so that left the west side or the independent section and sort of as its own community.

So the West Side grew up kind of independent from Evansville and was known as independence until 1884, when it was annexed.

So Franklin Streets, the Independence Main Street and Wabash Avenue is the independence, residential district for the owners and the businessmen and and all those side streets on Michigan and Indiana and Illinois have rows and rows of great homes that housed the working class of Evansville.

So Evansville was sort of the West Side was sort of its own little city.

And and I think that's where a lot of our independence today comes from, that period when we were literally independence.

yeah, it does make you wonder if the whole, West side and versus East side thing kind of is an extension of that over all these years.

You know, Evansville kind of stole the Lamasco city, stole its identity a little bit, and then independence really, really kind of, you know, wanted to remain its own thing.

Lamasco becomes part of Evansville in 1857.

But when you talk to West Siders there, it was like it happened, you know, within the last year or two kind of thing.

But they got taken over like that.

And, they look at that as a negative.

But you also get the, the disagreements on the west side of where the West side is there.

If you go back to the Lamasco, the separate town from Evansville, that comes all the way over to First Avenue you get the other, part of it, Fulton Avenue.

People consider that But you do see a lot of people that are like, you know, Pigeon Creek, that's where the west side is defined.

Now current day presently, Main Street is where the road switch.

So you have, you know, East East Franklin Street, West Franklin Street at that point.

Now, that's where you would say it is now, but I don't think you'll talk to anybody that lives just right by Main Street.

That's considered a West Sider.

Yeah.

the story I've always heard about the creation of the nightclub was it was a group of guys that got together at Horny's Tavern, and they would meet for lunch, and and they were civic minded, was a small group of 5 or 6 businessmen that that lived and worked on the West Side, and they used to get together for lunch, and we would now call it networking.

It didn't have that name at the time, So naturally, they got to know each other pretty well.

And there was a dentist across the street called Doctor Insinger, and there was a man that had a machine shop called, Joe Moutou And there was another man that ran a, flower store.

And, Mr.

Stinson, William Stinson ran a dry goods store, and Carl Wolflin ran the, lumber yards down on Saint Joe Avenue.

And while they were there, they just enjoyed each other, talking and kibitzing and talking about their fishing trip.

And they had such a good time.

They said, you know, we really ought to have some kind of organization, a club.

They ended up calling themselves the West Side epic Epicure, which I had to look that up.

I didn't know what Epicure was, but it's, people who appreciate fine dining and wine.

So the Epicure West Side Epicure got formed, and this was like 1910 to 1912, and they loosely got together and then approached the West Side Business Association, which was in existence, and pitched the idea of let's have a fall festival of some kind.

So they had what I call, kind of testing ones in the teens.

1914.

They were mostly, I think, agricultural type things, to bring the farmers and the West side and let the, let the people that lived in the outskirts of town let them see what was happening here on the west side and what where they could buy stuff, because it was kind of hard getting here to, to the West Side.

they had such a good time.

They said, you know, we really ought to have some kind of organization, a club.

And because they acted so silly, they'd throw napkins at one another.

And, Mr.

Stinson said we ought to call it a bunch of nuts.

So they named it the West Side Nut Club.

And that was organized in 1921. and they had their first fall festival that year on October 31st, Well, 1920 Evansville was a really exciting place.

Evansville was growing.

Lots of industry, lots of development.

Mayor Bosse.

Benjamin Bosse was just a he was.

He was a cheerleader and a salesman for the city.

He was involved in everything.

And he was part owner of everything, it seemed.

Evansville was a can do city, and there was a can do spirit.

And Evansville was really, in a, in a really growing phase.

Prior to 1921, we'd seen, Reitz, high school built Bosse Field was built, what would become Bosse High School was being built, Washington Middle School.

So there's a lot of civic development.

And there's a lot of pride in the city and, and an excitement, I think, about Evansville growing industrial city.

Most of the growth in town was to like the north and to the east, and it was kind of hampered somewhat by, the creek.

You know, they had a huge, you know, they finally started developing a few more things on that side of town.

Right.

Hill gets developed.

You get a, exponential growth not only in all parts of town, but especially on the west side.

That's when a lot of these organizations were developed to help foster the growth of that side of town.

You had the north side one, had some, the west side, I think, had a West Side Improvement Association, I think, still around.

And then the Nut Club was another one that came out of that.

When you're talking 19, 21 to start a new group, most people didn't even have cars.

And, the West Side Nut Club.

Yes.

Wanted to have things that would better the West Side.

Their goal was to be there.

One of their slogans was, you can find it on the west side.

They wanted to expand people's shopping area and business area that it did not have to all be downtown on the riverfront.

So they were trying to establish a bit of independence and more options for people who were more rural.

West Side was a largely working class neighborhood, largely German, descendants A lot of them there were involved in, furniture, which was really big on the West Side there.

On the west side also, there's underground coal mines there, which also changed neighborhoods because that that put some African-Americans who were miners in in the West Side then, it was really miraculous how they formed, because they actually started in March of 1921.

And by the end of May of 1921, they had, the slogan and the, logo, and they had all the bylaws and they incorporated and they had everything done between March of that year and the end of May.

So they really they really put their minds and thoughts to it and did a lot of a lot of stuff through, through just the first few months of 21. there was a, mechanical net that was the actual first logo that the club used.

And then they switched over to, I think, more of like a chestnut.

And then the acorn and all that was, done in a matter of months.

they were isolated for so long that they had to work together to, to make ends meet and get to keep things go on.

So I think that and it turned into right now, like I say, our everybody kind of when somebody asks about the club, everybody talks about the camaraderie.

And I think it was just all that, just that, camaraderie of the whole, area and everything that, it was it was starting to grow and, they they just worked their tail off was different than going to city council meetings and, and different, boards, city boards, and working on those people to, to get the, get it and get it in front of an ad and, and get it done.

there's always discussion of, okay, this is all men in this club and yes, that's that's, set up right now.

But it was interesting with the formation of the West Side Nut Club in 1921.

They had a lot of applications to start out with, and one of the early applications included a mrs.

Celia Mohr M-O-H-R, and she owned a millinery, shop.

So she ran a hat shop.

So I had documentation that she had put in an application to become a member.

And then she's not mentioned again.

So, obviously she didn't make the cut.

But beyond that, I, you know, I know they aren't set up as, not accepting women, but at this point, there has not been any membership from women.

It is what it is.

and they had their first fall festival that year on October 31st, and it was West Side Nut Club, Fall Festival and Mardi Gras.

And it is evolved over the years.

But it started out one day, then it crept up to 3 or 4 days and went back and forth and eventually settled on a full week.

And it's always now.

The first week of October.

And it it started out with more of a country feel I believe there were six booths at the very first one and they had more farm animals like poultry and cows.

So it had a bit of a fair each fair feel.

And so that's how they started.

I think one of their contest had a prize of a thousand, pounds of chicken feed.

So it's evolved over the years.

you know, because a lot of these things were held on for years.

Pet Parade started in the 30s and, amateur Hour started and, 48 or 49 and, the main parade, of course, it's been going on off and on since since we began.

It was began as a Halloween thing and masquerade part masquerade, parade.

And that mainly was the first year and everything.

A couple of different models we use, from small acorns, large oaks grow.

One of the early newspaper clippings that I've read, talked about a man, Mara Wilson.

He was the club's first honorary member.

Very well known Kiwanis member and insurance local insurance agent.

You know, he gave a speech at one of the first early meetings they had in 1921 talking about, you know, from, you know, small, acorns, large oaks will grow.

And that's held true today.

Well, that's what the club was mainly farm for, is for the betterment of the West Side Evansville.

And later on, they said that included in the whole of Evansville.

But mainly it started out as west side of Evansville, and they had to use our influence to, their names and their perseverance to get things done.

They helped with they helped, with the zoo getting Mesker Park Zoo, they, they, met with the city council for quite a few times, and that and actually to get the, golf course, hell free golf course in place, things like that.

They just use their influence and use their persistence to, meet with the councilman and people that, were involved on, on doing things because, like I said, we didn't have any money really, to start with.

There was there was no treasurer at that time.

So, they just said, use our influence and our perseverance to, get these things done.

Even the postal service, they started the club in 1921 and 1923.

There was no post office other than downtown.

Yeah, but this fell.

There was nothing on the west side.

So they talked to the powers that be.

Did influence, attended meetings, and in six months time they had a postal office, a US postal office on Franklin Street.

And, actually was in the back of this building, where our offices and I was the first post office.

And, Mrs.

Currey was actually the first postmaster.

But the Nut Club worked with the government to get the post office, get a post office down here on Franklin.

And they were big in throughout the years to get to one.

There was one over on the Brown Street.

Then they moved over to Wabash Avenue is and Nut Club was involved, basically with those first 2 or 3 anyway that to get them, updated and get them approved the growth of the city from the West Side and that club, has been extensive.

And like I said, it's evolved over the years.

What I think of even in the 1950s and 60s, we talked about them being golden years.

because they did a whole lot with very little, like I say, they, they just, they just did so much stuff and that, like I say, with the expressways they were a big support of the for East-West bridges, Columbia, Delaware, Pennsylvania Expressway, even mount.

There was a mount Vernon Bridge involved.

initially when, when Evansville was growing, you know, there's a lot of foot traffic walking these places.

So people live near where they walk.

That's why there was a lot of, businesses, along Franklin Street, people who live in the houses just off of Franklin and walk there.

they were working at, at you know the West side industries, Bucyrus, Erie, at the, at the brewery, you know, and you go down the list of things like that.

They didn't go out east and stuff, did, you know, to other jobs, you know, whirlpool and you know, Alcoa later and stuff there that, you know, you stayed more on the West Side at that time there were large businesses then like that on the West Side, you know, the pre mall shopping center, I mean, Franklin Street there had everything, you know, you could, you know, you needed there the more those businesses grew.

They needed more people to work there.

You know, that's when that growth happened.

And a lot of times if, if something like, say, Bucyrus Erie has b on the West Side, there would be a lot of houses around there for it.

most people again, can stay on their side of town.

But I think to make that interconnection and to develop the the area Evans are really focused on, you know, working on some of these, bridges across to try and, you know, help transportation and help the cities grow jointly and not just separately.

one other thing that grew out was the West Side Expressway.

Most people know now is the Lloyd Expressway, but initially it only went from First Avenue all the way west about Barker Avenue, maybe a little farther.

And then they they overlaid a huge bridge over the creek.

Then that helped foster a lot of travel between, you know, as automobiles were getting more popular, these older bridges couldn't handle that traffic, that volume.

So they built that bridge.

And that helped, again, connect the two sides of town.

Now, they talked about running it all the way to the East side.

But that didn't happen for like 25, 30 years, really.

The whole project got finished.

But but you know, when you put the, you know, the larger bridge, you know, with multiple lanes over Pigeon Creek that opened up the west side, you know, a whole lot for things.

getting that and they actually went to the state House several times and, met with, people, the senators and congressmen and that in the, at the state House.

And Johnson actually flew them in his plane one time, flew a whole group of them up there to, just to show their strength and that and, and get that done.

So So that opened up Evansville.

And along the same time they worked with the some of the state people and the city people also to get the Columbia Delaware overpass.

And so that all occurred right around the same time, within a couple years of each other now.

So that was that really opened up the West Side down, because before the overpass came, you know, everything was blocked by the trains on Ohio Street, Franklin Street and, Maryland Street.

So those were two of the major things, I think that really opened up the West Side.

The Columbia Street overpass was an important connection between Evansville and the west side.

Pigeon Creek has always been a geographical boundary that sort of helped the west side stay its own entity.

But, you know, getting across Pigeon Creek, having good bridges, good roads, it's something that that you need to connect your city, your part of the city to the rest of the city for business.

And, and so they were instrumental in getting that built.

you had on the east side, Columbia Street, and And then on the other side, you had Delaware Street, which is a major road, the thoroughfare there.

And if you ever look, they don't connect.

So.

So it was kind of a challenge to try to, you know, you talking about building a bridge, not having connect in the middle.

They did a fantastic job of making those those, bridges line up that way.

It actually jumps over a block, But then if you look that also blocked a few houses, I found an old photo not too long ago where they actually had houses staring at the abutment of the bridge.

And they finally have been torn down since.

But that was probably not a pretty view because they were in a nice residential area.

they really wanted to connect those two sides of town, and they really had to dodge a lot of obstacles making that bridge happen.

There was a, riverboat that came through Evansville and then that club actually set up tour busses that they would have their busses meet at the riverfront in Evansville, meet the Delta Queen, and they would take the tourist off the Delta Queen, put them in busses and give them a tour of Evansville.

Now they gave them their tour of all of Evansville.

Naturally, they they saw more of the West Side, but they did that for five years.

Delta Queen used to dock here going north, and we would take two busses downtown and give them a tour of the city.

History of the city.

During the war past, most people, so on and so forth.

and go through the whole city and showcase the city, not just in just the West Side.

And what was always interesting, the end of the tour, we always stopped at Sterling Cellar Those who were too young to remember Sterling below their office had a big party room, and they had some of the coldest beverage in town, and we would stop the bus there and offer the people a chance to come down and have a beer, or if they'd like, we would take them downtown to go shopping.

Very few people seem to want to go shopping on a hot summer day.

And then, I mean, it was just something we've done did for several years.

And we just, you know, showcase the city.

And so they had thousands of tourists come through and and learn to appreciate, what was happening in Evansville.

Well, they were the only community that gave a tour for that entire route along the Ohio River.

that was part of the growth and the pride again, coming in.

the mayor talked to the night club and said, hey, we're putting a university on the west side of town.

Can you find us some good ground?

Indiana State University, Evansville, or what's now a USI, they were instrumental in acquiring the land.

There was a group put together.

So when we were founded in 1965, we had 412 students in Centennial School, which was a former elementary school down by the former Mead Johnson.

one of the first West Side schools.

Once they got annexed by once independence had gotten annexed by Evansville.

That was one of the things that grew out of it is you started getting a lot of the, the benefit of the Evansville schools were starting to come to that, West Side.

at the time, you're talking about the 1960s, the only school, the only higher education in town was Evansville College.

On the east side.

And, there was a push at that point to try and get another facility in town.

You then that club knew, okay, we talked to these people, this farmer, this acreage.

And, they were very much a part of getting that, campus started.

They pledged $15,000 toward the nearly 1 million that was raised in 1967.

So in 1968 is when the first shovels were turned and the ground was broken.

And we have some actually historic visuals of that.

One of the folks who was in the sign, there's really kind of iconic, in fact, is in our timeline, from our 50th anniversary is the gentleman who was the head of the West Side nightclub, Mr.

Emgee.

And he stood next to a variety of our, our compatriots.

And you'll see in the sign it says it was donated by the West Side nightclub that served as the backdrop for the groundbreaking.

we have 1400 acres here now.

which has grown exponentially.

And we have 54,000 alumni who are around the nation.

It started small, but it has grown to be quite a successful and enterprise.

I don't know if they were aware that the train downtown was brought in by the nightclub.

I was in service at that time, so I did not get to participate.

But down the old and depot, which was where motor gravel is now, what they did, they brought the train down and they brought tracks and they leapfrogged it.

They take it down and doing it overnight.

So the nightclub members spent a night on a train.

So there is no vandalism.

So that's a project we've done, that people I don't think really we know about or happened way back in the 60s.

the nut clubs always been more than just, you know, doing projects in the park.

They they do big ideas stuff, too.

They're they really, are civic minded business people.

cleaning up the Pigeon Creek, chanty boats, they, you know, there used to be people that lived in, in real crushing poverty on Pigeon Creek, in boats, houseboats that were sort of shacks on barrels that would float up when the river came up.

No running water, no electricity.

I mean, my dad, my aunts and uncles went to elementary school with, with kids that lived on those boats.

And they talk about the poverty that those kids lived in.

If you look, you know, down there all you seen was one little household after another sitting down there on the water.

Because to be in house boats, I guess there was some kind of regulation that they were they could stay.

But, you know, it was a blight on the area and they really wanted to clean it up.

And I think the city got involved.

But I think the nightclub was really heavy on pushing for it because, was kind of getting to the point where it almost too many people there, you know, too many houses that it wasn't just 1 or 2.

It was a lot.

And I think they really had a, a citywide push, you know, at, at the nightclubs request to try and really drive a lot of that and clean it up.

that was in 1957.

There the nut clubs started and then they got the city involved then, and that's the year then where they finally came in and, you know, the boats were cleaned out of the river there, all the shacks on both sides of the creek there, you know, were, you know, destroyed, eliminated there, you know, to try and make it more of, you know, a, you know, beautified spot, by today's standards, we look at it.

And they went in and they evicted all these people, and they burned these boats and cleaned them out.

And and they did.

But they also helped those people find places to live.

And we my students have actually interviewed some of the people that grew up on those boats as kids.

And they talk about going and getting in an apartment that had running water.

And what a great thing that was.

And and they had fond memories of living in the, in the Chanty boat community on Pigeon Creek.

But they also understood that being in an apartment with electricity and running water was a lot better place to be.

And the nightclub was instrumental and in that project to to beautify the city, get those people in a better living situation and clean up Pigeon Creek.

it was involved a little bit into politics were not, but it was not involved.

And a political situation where it was used to promote ourself.

It was to betterment of the West side.

You know, everybody thinks the Duck Club was successful.

We have had our downs, too.

back in the 68, the Nut Club decided they were gonna get involved in a rodeo.

And he did not make money.

And typical of our club and how we have fun and camaraderie, they gave a reward called the Fred Guipe Award because he was a man.

He got involved with us at the end of the year.

Whoever had a project, it didn't work the best.

He received a friendship award and we took it in stride.

We took it as a very smart learning lesson.

Just because we do something doesn't make a successful.

but most things we do, we've been very, very successful.

They estimated that first 1 in 1921.

They have about 25,000 people attending.

So it was a success right off the bat.

As far as attendance, it took a while to, moneywise make it profitable enough to have won the next year because the first one was in 1921.

And in order to put that first one on, the Nut Club had to assess each member $10 to put it on.

They ended up spending $340.98 on that very first, fall festival.

And, they persevered because it was 1947 before they actually saw a profit.

And the profit I thought was very fitting.

It was also $340 and some change.

So they were determined that they did not have a fall festival in 1922.

And I think part of that was they had to get their their feet established a little more because they needed to not have to assess every member to put it on.

But that takes a lot of, fortitude to do that over and over for 26 years, thinking one of these days we'll be able to pay for it.

They were constantly expanding.

They've always wanted to make each fall festival better each year.

So I admire that The Nut Club was committed to doing that.

Yeah, it was, a great period of growth and improvements.

And yes, they were coming off the war years from the early 40s, and they had three years during World War two where they did not have a fall festival, 1943, 44 and 45. you say they did a whole lot of things like that with, with very little money on everything.

But shortly after that things exploded.

So they had things like, the big name entertainers.

Well, when I was little, I can remember where they used to bring name people in here last.

People.

People won't remember.

They had Homer and Jethro, which was a comedy team, Hopalong Cassidy, which hardly anybody knows anymore, was a, a cowboy star on TV and, and, the movies and that and, and they said it was the first time they drew 10,000 people for a parade and everything.

and Minnie Pearl.

So those were three big names that they had in the mid 50s that were performing at the Fall Festival.

I know that that drew a large crowd in and, you know, kind of, I think helped take, the festival to the next level at that time.

Used to have a few high wire act.

So we we came in and then and there again over time, these stops.

But most of it is, you know, it's basically the same, but it's growing.

the first booth, I think, I got documented was like 52, but I think there was a couple other smaller novelty booths on Franklin Street.

But first food booth that I got documented was like 1952.

And, they start to expand on that as years one on.

So then people started, coming down and eat and there were like two beside just, the carnival games and that cause those, those, rides and that day didn't expand too much till the late 40s So it was the golden years, like Dick said of, things exploding and growth and expansion.

So there was a lot of that happening in the 50s, and it carried on into the 60s.

And like I say, in 71, finally made $20,000, thought we were rich and that and we were able to do a few things.

And we started, like I say, on 73, doing some spring projects, it just I think so 1970 on, it just kind of started, started mushrooming But we even do just small projects.

You know, we do a spring project that, you know, we go to different organizations that ask for it, and it's picked by that year's president where they want to see what's the biggest impact that's going to happen.

We've done projects at the zoo.

We've done projects at, you know, Massacre Park at Twin Towers, different, you know, Edgefield on the west side, where anything they need, we'll have a day.

We'll get, you know, guys that come out and it's we it's it's a good work event.

So I mean the the West side has benefited greatly from the West Side nightclub, a great combination of people and effort and money.

I mean, our spring projects, we used to have probably at least 100 people, involved in that.

And a lot of the men, that have, equipment they'll bring in back, they'll bring in our back holes, and we got a project where we have to make some foundation or some pour some slabs or something.

You can have a work project and maybe you only need, you know, you know, ten guys to pull off this project.

However, you got 50 or 60 guys that show up to participate and be involved in a part of that process.

It's kind of amazing where other groups, you know, their volunteer base is declining.

You know, hours are still still going very strong.

We still have a waitlist of members.

We have a closed membership at 300 active members.

If a member has been in the club, for a certain number of years, or they reach a certain age, they can take more of a lifetime, status, opening up spots for younger members.

So, you know, at any given time, you know, we have not only our 300 active members, but we, you know, we have 100 other guys, you know, who are who are a lot of times participating and just as involved as those active, members that are new to the club.

There's a national trend of of people don't join clubs.

They don't do bowling leagues anymore.

But that club has no problem filling their vacancies for new members.

And the new members that come in are active.

There's very few people that sit on the sideline.

In fact, you can't sit on the sideline either.

It's a lot of peer pressure.

You got to be involved.

You gotta do your duty.

We got carpenters, we got painters.

We got grants.

Like maybe that, just just help out where we can, no, no real skills, but, a little bit of everything.

And, consider the West Side kind of that way.

I mean, it's not just knucklehead, but I mean, it's, German.

Irish community is basically how it is.

Oh, I mean, there's a lot of other ethnic groups in are now and, but basically, I mean, it started out as a German, Irish, community and, I think they're all hard workers.

And a lot of that is handed down from family to family, You know, we we realized that, you know, as you know, a group of 3 to 400 men, you know, this would not be possible without our without our wives, without our significant others.

You know, it it is a full family event to it.

And it takes on the family to to be a part of the club as well.

So we do want to honor our ladies every year.

We have a ladies night.

You know, where the wives are invited, you know, along with, the members just to to celebrate them and all that they do to help make this possible.

And for allowing, you know, the members to to take time away from, from home in their families to, to be a part of the club and, and put this on for the community.

So we definitely want to honor our ladies.

women are very involved in that.

If it's a married member, the wife really almost makes a commitment to be support of that West Side Nut Club because it takes so much work.

There's a lot of supportive services that, the female members of the families that belong has a member belonging, they participate.

the women are very much behind the support of whatever the husband commits to.

So there's a lot of women that are part of the success of the West Side Nut Club and the fall festivals, we've done several things over the years.

We've done, ozone, family shelter.

We did Hillcrest Youth Home a couple of years ago.

We did Metzger Park Amphitheater.

All the trees and shrubs, the bathroom.

We cleaned all of that up when it was really bad a few years ago.

And that's amazing because there's so much that goes into that that people never hear about, Tackling dummies, things like that went to okay, right in and modern day where the two schools in the West Side, they still are.

they pay for things like that and, facelifts for the zoo.

They did so much.

First, it was even developing Mascot Zoo because Mascot Zoo did not exist when they started in 1921.

They were very much a part of that happening.

And then if there's, an area like a wildlife area that needed a facelift, it might be one of those spring projects.

So there's so much sweat equity goes into this.

So, yeah, you might be talking millions of dollars that have been given back to the community, but there are millions of hours of work that does not have a monetary value.

So the philanthropy is far reaching for the whole community.

we do a lot of different things.

Last year we did Albian fellows complete redo of their inside facility.

And it's one of those things.

It means a lot to them.

And that makes it mean a lot to us.

But there's a lot of work that goes into those and in some cases, a lot of money.

But yeah, they are fun.

And once again, it's it's bringing the guys together to get something done.

Of course, sometimes there's news coverage on them, sometimes there's not.

But we're not necessarily too concerned about that.

We're more concerned about getting the job done, giving somebody what they need.

You know, we'll take all the media we can get for Fall Festival and we'll do all this stuff on the side.

That's fine with us.

a lot of people don't realize that the West Side nightclub sponsors a lot of other activities besides the fall festival.

You know, we have our, Easter egg hunt.

You know, which goes back to the, you know, late 40s, early 50s.

Well, I grew up a block away from near Franklin Street when I was really little.

I can remember the Easter egg hunt.

They actually gave away chickens and they would die.

Of course, you can't do that anymore than rabbits.

my mother, in the early 50s, you know, has has shared with me.

You know, how you know, she brought home a life bunny.

And, you know how I how excited she was to be able to to take that home on that Easter.

Then when I got into the club, they started doing actually hard boiled eggs, and, members would take home a case of eggs.

And I think, like, there was 24 dozen and you'd boil 24 dozen eggs and dime, and then we would take them down to Safeway Market, and then they'd.

And then we put actually hard boiled eggs out.

Now they've gotten smart.

I guess it's better, This is the 78th annual Easter egg hunt.

So, I mean, we've been doing this for a while.

I do know originally they used to dye eggs like real eggs back in the day.

Then we went to the plastic eggs and started out around like 8000.

Now we bumped it up to 15 over the course of, you know, the past 20 years or so.

Every year it gets bigger.

The year of covet, we ended up doing a drive through Easter egg hunt.

So we did, 50,000 eggs that day with huge prizes and stuff down at the Mid Johnson lot.

we do know for the community with it being a free event, whether it be in Nut Club, you know, everybody looks forward to it.

We all meet the morning of, what other organization could meet the morning of.

be able to have the the logistics worked out where the eggs are, are set and placed and ready to go, you know, by noon for for the local children all the way, from preschool all the way to third grade.

We also have a category, for special needs children as well, too, so that they can, partake of that event as well, at 12:00, the, horn sounds and in at, 12, and 45 seconds, the event will be over.

We say it's the fastest 45 seconds on the west side.

this was our first time.

I have a three and almost five year old and they each got plenty of eggs.

They had lots of room to run.

They had a blast.

And we will definitely be back.

think then that club means a lot to the community.

It makes me proud to be a West Sider, that we have a place where anybody can come and do something for free that's family friendly, and they had plenty of Easter eggs for everybody to get.

So my kids got lots of candy.

They even got prizes.

And, I think it's great that we have a space that's safe for kids to come and have fun.

They get a lot of candy, some stuffed animals, and they're happy.

And, you know, I think the Nut Club is more about that than anything.

it, we used to have a live nativity scene on Franklin Street.

This was on Friday nights, and that's when Franklin Street was busy.

People would come in payday, do their shopping stores, banks, whatever, and we would have choirs from the schools singing across the lodge, speakers of the, Franklin School.

So that that stopped after so many years.

And then we did Santaland.

So here again, it's it's a kid oriented project, area children able to come and see Santa, you know, get, you know, cookies and, and hot chocolate and be able to, you know, have that special time over the holidays with their families.

A lot of families make that part of their annual Christmas celebrations as well, too.

You know, for, for families to, to go to the mall and spend, you know, upwards of, you know, $50 to get their picture with Santa.

You know, that's not always feasible.

For a lot of families.

So, you know, being able to give, give back to the community.

So that way they can they can leave, Santa Land, having talked to Santa, shared, you know, what they want for Christmas.

You know, families can all enjoy free hot cookies and hot chocolate and get that free picture to take home and put on their frigerator.

There's a lot of kids that this means a lot to.

And you can see that.

And that means a lot.

It was so The cruise in in is an event that we have on the second Saturday of June every year.

We just kind of open it up.

The folks come in.

It doesn't start till 1:00 in the afternoon.

You'll have cars down there at 8:00.

They'll start pulling up in the library, claiming their spot.

You'll have some of them parking on the street.

It's a lot of fun, but there's a lot of neat cars to show off.

That's what these folks like to do.

They also like being around each other.

They enjoy each other's company.

The biggest thing with the Cruise Inn, I believe, is it emphasizes Franklin Street.

You know, our office is on Franklin Street.

Fall festival is on Franklin Street.

We have the Cruise Inn on Franklin Street, and it's to promote we want to help promote the businesses, because if that's where that's how the nightclub started.

So we want to continue that process of bringing people to Franklin Street.

It's it's it's a great place to come visit It's a community event to bring people together.

We have a scholarship fund of the night club.

instead of charging registration to put your car in it, we ask that if you don't want to pay the registration to at least donate to the scholarship fund so we can send young, talented people to college.

We love doing this.

If you're in this club, it's for the reason that you're just looking to make Evansville better in the West Side.

And, I mean, that's exactly what this is about.

And I guess one of the things that I've seen to grow would be the festival.

When I first came in, we didn't block the streets up to 5:00 in the evening, and they opened them up at 10:00 at night.

Now it's closed for the whole solid week because the books were not open, food booths were not open at noon.

And so the club was really expanded on our size and what we do.

And, I don't know if people realize they were voted two years in a row the last two years.

Best fall festival in the nation by USA today.

And I think that's quite an accomplishment.

And here we are in Evansville, Indiana.

It's not the biggest city, but, we have the second biggest fall festival in the U.S.

and, other than Mardi Gras, it's it's the next biggest street festival.

And that's quite an accomplishment.

we've got great partnerships with the Evansville Fire Department.

There was a police department, Vanderburgh County sheriff's, Homeland security.

There's all kinds of the alphabet soup, law enforcement agencies, that, that help us out.

And we plan for this.

We'll start planning for the next festival, next week.

I think the most visible thing is certainly the fall festival, but it's all the things that you don't see that come from the Fall Festival.

It's the millions of dollars that are raised, in each of those 100 plus booths.

It's the largest fundraiser, I'm sure, for most, if not all of those organizations in a given year.

And so the work that they do and the ripple effect that happens, from what they're raising and the moneys that the nightclub takes in them to give back and to other, it's incalculable.

to the nonprofit organizations?

The Fall Festival is is huge.

Some of them, it's it does set up their whole budget for the year.

And it's it's one of the key things and most important things to us is that it is nonprofits.

As president of the club, I get emails all the time, vendors wanting to come in and be part of the and it's like if you're not a not for profit.

We're sorry, but that's what it's all about.

And you know, that's that's a very important thing And recently we've found out how much of a financial impact it has on Evansville.

I would say it's easily over $5 million when it comes down to it, it could be more than that.

We did a little study.

One of the guys in the club has access to cell phones, and, or a group that does.

And we had a little study done, so it it means a lot to Evansville.

It means a lot to this whole tri state area.

The half part, you know, kind of came about right before Covid.

I think the first year we had to have part was 2019.

You know, a couple different members, heath rep, you know, standing out, kind of at the forefront of trying to, you know, push the, the board of directors at the time within the club to pursue, you know, exploring what that might look like for for the fall festival and for Franklin Street.

You know, during, the fall festival and, you know, really it, kind of started out small, and, you know, here, last year in 2024, the half pot grew over $2 million.

So, you know, with 1 million of that going to, to, you know, a local, local family all the money we raised from the half pot from the festival, it all goes back to in the community in one way, shape or form, through different donations, through different service projects that we do throughout the year.

We're able to, you know, give those funds and invest it back into the community and Tri-State as a whole.

since a half pot's been created, I. This might be the golden year of the West Side nightclub, because they're raising a heck of a lot more money now than they were able to back then.

Well, to me, I guess the most meaningful thing I've ever joined the club.

I was lucky enough to get involved with Special Kids Day when he got started and had kind of so place in my heart.

I think it's one of the better things his club has done.

It's, we take the kids out through the school, they get a free day of rides, games and food, and I think that's what we're about to give back to the community.

And I mean, there's other projects, too.

I think we've done it, but I think that's probably be my stand out project.

we give back to special kids because how can they come down enjoy the fall festival without the crowds.

Then we shut down the entire park for them to enjoy it for one day.

One day, 365 days.

We give them one day.

They should have more days than that.

But that's all we can provide right now and I hope in the future we could do more.

I've been in since 2009, and I've loved every year of members and volunteers who take the children around, take them on the rides, which are all courses free for them.

We take them through all the carnival games and the carnival people donate this himself.

The ride people donate the time to himself, and the kids are offered a free festival through the games, rides and food at no cost.

And it's strictly for the like I said, for the special needs.

And so do you have a chance to enjoy without the crowd of people being around where they can do it?

And the guys, if you come down during the festival especially come down on cleanup, the guys enjoy throwing trash.

It sounds funny, but I think that's the secret.

And when everybody comes in, they get into the fun part of it.

They enjoy it, they want to do it, and the West Side's a cleaner place the week after the fall Festival than it is the week before the fall festival, because they, I mean, they scrubbed the streets down.

They, they it's it's an amazing transformation.

The Sunday before the fall festival and the Sunday after the fall festival.

I think you could only do that with a special organization of volunteers.

I don't think you could pay people to do the work that well.

There's a lot of pride in having everything look good, to have safety and cleanliness as much as you can with such a big group of people.

I think that's the whole secret.

The success of this club is the hands on and, you know, really just a hands on organization.

And I don't think that has ever changed in 104 years.

And I hope it never changes because that's what makes us what we are.

I would say the Fall Festival is like the biggest homecoming family reunion.

For a community that you can imagine.

You see people at the fall festival that you haven't seen for decades.

You see family planning, my family plans, trips home because, oh, it's fall festival week, and we'll go to the fall festival.

I always every year I run into somebody I went to high school with that I haven't seen or now students that I had 20 years ago that I haven't seen forever.

I think that's what the Fall Festival is about, community.

And it's about seeing people that you that you knew a long time ago that maybe moved away.

But if they come home, they come home the week of the fall festival.

the philanthropic goal is strong with the West Side and that club because that's what's behind the fall festival.

Yes, it's for the community.

It's for building that sense of community and oneness because part of their purpose is, yes, to promote the West Side.

But in their purpose, they say.

And all of Evansville.

Well, a nonprofit organization and we have had millions of dollars come into here and millions of dollars go out to support the entire community.

We spend money not just on the West Side, but we spend it in all four corners.

We are here to help everybody, But I know when I wrote the book, they had given away over $8 million to the community, to high schools, to organization, so it's a long list of who has benefited from the fundraising that happens with the Fall festival.

So that just keeps growing and growing.

The half pot that was started in 2019.

I interviewed, the people behind that happening and that upped their, philanthropy a lot.

So I think they're probably very close to, 10 million now.

I'm an East sider and all these guys have brought me in like a brother.

it's not who you are.

It's what you can can give back to the community.

And as long as you're giving back, you're embraced.

it's a great feeling.

I would not have wouldn't have been born in any other part of the country but this place right here, it is a great place.

So to me, it almost makes me cry because it's real.

It's a camaraderie, it's a brotherhood.

It's a support and love for each other.

So I got that feeling of support and camaraderie with every member that I interviewed along the way, putting the book together no one takes themselves too seriously.

And the meetings are mostly fun meetings and everybody gets along.

Good food, good food and cold beverages keeps us all together.

That's it's definitely a brotherhood.

So much camaraderie.

you've got 3 to 400 guys that you can call on, whether you need something for the club or whether you need something within your own personal life.

You know, we've got each other's backs.

We're there to help each other.

And.

And it truly is a, group effort to pull, all of our events off throughout the year, too.

was a local city club started on Franklin Street by merchants.

And the purpose was to give back basically to the community.

And like I said, when I came in, they were probably less than 100 members.

We met based on the West Side Library.

We met at Hillcrest home.

They were such a small group.

Now we've grown where we can go.

The purpose is to, you know, to give, give and do with.

and the biggest thing is the first two letters of our club is we were a, we organization, not an eye organization.

we always say the hats are not comfortable to wear.

You get what you put into the club.

I love it because you're able to do so much for so many different people.

And it does help.

the giving back counts more than where you came from, you know?

And when you understand that, how much you give back makes you feel a lot better than what you take away.

if you don't think about it, you don't recognize it.

But if you think just for a moment, all the work that they've done over all the hundred plus years is, a pretty extraordinary they must be doing something right to have endured over 100 years and to have, accomplished so much with with what started out a group of half a dozen Epicure nuts.