From 1961-1987, a Kiwanis dinner club had operated in Keene but it could not sustain itself and folded. In the fall of 1988, three individuals from different Kiwanis backgrounds came together to bring Kiwanis back to life in Keene. The three were past Lt. Governor Fred Bishop from the Manchester, NH, Kiwanis club, former Kiwanian George Fellendorf who had recently relocated to Keene from Wheaton, MD, and Police Chief Tom Powers, past president of the Kiwanis Club of Exeter, NH.  Along with 10 members from the Kiwanis Club of Manchester, they hit the streets to recruit a new club nucleus. Within 6 weeks they had assembled the minimum 25 members needed to officially organize a new club. By the time the club was organized on January 11, 1989, it had 27 members. Four of these were members from the original Keene Kiwanis Club which held evening meetings from 1961 to 1987 who wanted to continue their Kiwanis experience: Peter Espiefs. Phin Chamberlin, Jimmy Ballas and Billy Bergevin.