South Side Improvement Association looks for new members

Members of the South Side Improvement Association, the group known for its turtle soup fundraisers, have discussed whether to close the 92-year-old civic club. However, the president said the board of directors wants to stay open and seek new members.

“We decided we were going to make every effort in our power to keep the doors open,” Dan Willcutt said after a board meeting that lasted nearly three hours Thursday night. “The will is definitely there to do that. We’re looking for new, fresh members that are willing to work toward the cause.”

More than half of the 94 members have been involved for 25 years or longer, according to Willcutt.

“They’re in their 70s, and they just can’t be as active as they once were,” he said of current members. Willcutt is 34.

The bylaws of the group call for the members to bolster the economic and civic life of the south side of Belleville. The group has sponsored Khoury league teams and donated money toward the purchase of a van for disabled veterans.

Harley Quirin, 88, a member since 1977, said the South Side Improvement Association has a similar problem to other civic groups he has joined: It’s hard to attract new, younger members to keep the club going.

“They all have the same problem,” he said of civic groups. “We need workers.”

Quirin, a former president of the South Side group, said it is hard for him to do heavy lifting these days.

The next South Side fundraiser — a fish fry — is tentatively set for the third week of August.

Willcutt said the turtle soup fundraisers usually begin in September and go through the spring. They buy the turtle meat from a fish market in Alton, and the recipe is kept under “lock and key.”

The group’s hall, at 800 S. Sixth St., is available for rent for family reunions, weddings and anniversaries. A kickball tournament is being discussed. Also, the group has offered trivia nights. Ball fields and a fishing lake are located in a city park adjacent to the hall.

Willcutt, whose grandfather and father were previous presidents, said he hopes new members will want to “join something that’s traditional.”

This story was originally published July 24, 2015 at 12:21 PM with the headline "South Side Improvement Association looks for new members."