Kiwanis - Downey Los Amigos

06/04/2026

Another fun filled breakfast meeting with our fellow Downey Los Amigos Kiwanians. Our resident tenor Steve Roberson led us in a very patriotic song this morning. Although Kenny Ferraro was not there to serve as back up, nonetheless it was a fine performance.

Mike Murray was the mystery greeter today. Senior member Joe Lumsdaine and Jim Rodriguez “forgot” to shake his hand.

We had a special guest speaker today. Downey City Manager Roger Bradley provided a lot of insightful information and valuable City updates.

If you are interested in joining a group of service-minded individuals, please reach out to any one of our members. Our club meets every Wednesday morning at 7 am for breakfast. Hail Kiwanis!!

05/01/2026

And they are off!! The 2026 Downey Kiwanis Los Amigos Pathfinders leadership conference for high school students has officially begun. Students from Downey, Warren, St. Pius Mathias and St. John Bosco high schools have departed to Big Bear for a fun-filled weekend where they will learn valuable leadership skills.

Thank you to our many Kiwanis members who volunteered and have been working hard for months to prepare for this important weekend to help shape our future leaders. Hail Kiwanis!!!!

04/29/2026

Former member Willie Gutierrez returned as guest speaker today. It was great to see an old friend.

Elvira and Kenny were in attendance as special guests.

03/25/2026

Our past president Hector Sosa had a great time reading to kids as part of Read Across America.

03/11/2026

There is no better way to start a Wednesday morning, than meeting with our fellow Kiwanians for breakfast and our weekly meeting at Rio Hondo Golf Club. Our in-house tenor, Steve Roberson, and his junior assistant/intern Jeremy Fitzl led us in the patriotic song. Speaking of Jeremy, he was fined for “forgetting” to shake our mystery greeters hand, Elvira. Past President Claude Bilodeau provided everyone a copy of our local paper, The Downey Patriot, which proudly had our lifetime member Ron Kolar, on its front page this week, recognizing him for his generosity to the community and a dedication of a bench in the Civic Center by our club in his honor. In addition, the cover also featured Maria Lilley, another special Kiwanis member for being inducted as president of the Greater Downey Association of Realtors. We are so proud of Ron and Maria and all of our Kiwanis members who change lives every single day and do so much for our community. Claude wanted to make sure Jeremy didn’t feel bad so he brought an old copy of Jeremy on the front cover of the paper from a few years back. Jeremy said no need for that because he always keeps a copy in his car “just in case”. Our guest speaker today was
Daniel Terrazas who spoke to us about the building permit process in the city of LA and the expansion of ADU’s. He was very informative and we appreciate his visit. If you are interested in joining The Downey Los Amigos Kiwanis Club and want to make a difference, please reach out to any of our members. All are welcome. Hail Kiwanis!!

03/05/2026

Ron Kolar is a pillar of our community and we are so fortunate to have him in our club.

DOWNEY – Members of the Downey Los Amigos Kiwanis Club, city officials and community leaders gathered Wednesday at the Downey Civic Center to honor longtime community supporter Ron Kolar with a commemorative bench placed between Downey City Hall and the Downey City Library. The bench was purchased

02/14/2026

02/11/2026

We had another amazing Downey Los Amigos Kiwanis meeting this morning with a packed house at Rio Hondo despite the rain.

Our young future Kiwanian Alexander Saab let us in the Pledge of Allegiance. A happy birthday was celebrated for our long time members Bob Belcher and Kenny Ferraro. Immediate past president Claude provided a short display of noteworthy pictures of our super member Roy Beard during his wild motorcycle days in celebration of national motorcycle day. He also provided rate footage of our very own Steve Roberson, who was recently highlighted during a rodeo in Texas on the big screen in front of thousands of people. Steve was caught on camera dancing to the rhythm of the horses all caught on screen.

We had an amazing presentation by Julie Garcia, executive Director of What’s Up crew!! What’s Up Crew is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit, founded by Julie, which focuses on providing resources for students students to overcome barriers and create a foundation for them to thrive and be productive members of the community. Julie has been doing amazing things helping these students thrive at Columbus high school and eventually.

She was accompanied by the school principal Dr. Xochitl Ortiz and and teacher of the year, Bianca Farina. All three were very inspirational and meticulously described amazing things happening at Columbus high school including an increase in graduation rate and great programs to help the students. What’s Up Crew! will be doing a first ever inaugural prom specifically for Columbus HS students in May with the support of the community.

Little by little, Kiwanians change the world and make it a better place for all of our children. Hail Kiwanis!

01/07/2026

It’s always a great morning when our Kiwanis Los Amigos members gather again for a fun filled breakfast meeting.

There were lots of confessions today, as many of our members were fortunate enough to travel over the holidays. Jorge Somoano visited family in Australia to babysit his two granddaughters. Our fearless Treasurer Jeremy Fitzl toured the country in search of the best football stadium. Steve Roberson discovered a lake on his property in Texas, thanks to the rains and a small leak.

Our patriotic song was led by our in-house tenor, Kenny Ferraro and Steve. They also sang a special happy birthday to our president Michael Calvert and our super member/former President Claude Bilodeau.

Our speaker today was our very own Steve Roberson, who provided many informative updates on the progress of the Kolar Family Downey YMCA construction project. The project will include two new pools, pickle ball courts, updated basketball gym, and of course it continue and commitment to serve the community. Downey is fortunate to have a YMCA thanks to the efforts of Steve Roberson and so many others in our club and in our community who raised millions to build a new facility. But that’s what Kiwanians do. They serve. Hail Kiwanis!!

01/06/2026

Happy belated birthday to our president Michael Calvert