HISTORY OF THE PWWA by Jim O'LoughlinThe first meeting of the Peninsula Water Works Association was held shortly before World War II on June 30th 1939 at San Jose's Hawaiian Gardens with twenty-four members present. Mr E W Green of the San Jose Water Works was the first president of the Peninsula Water Works. Some World War II topics of discussion were Civil Defense Preparedness, planting of Victory Gardens, and special water rates for these gardens. For those who may be too young to know what a Victory Garden was, it was a patriotic effort by individuals to plant their own vegetables in their back yards where today we have swimming pools and hot tubs. Prices for the dinners from 1939 through 1941 were stable at one dollar per person. But by the end of WWII in 1945 prices had escalated to over $2.50. This high cost brought many complaints from our members. This is quite a contrast to 1979 when we broke the $10.00 mark and 1983 when $15.00 was reached for the first time. 1988 saw $20.00 for dinner passed, 1996 broke $30.00 & and the high so far was $35.00 in 2001. Frank Kukuk (president in 1964) told me that in the days prior to collecting the dinner moneys before the meeting, they occasionally would have to pass the hat to have enough money to pay the dinner tab. The first BBQ was held in 1941 in the old Fredericksburg brewery in San Jose. In 1980 we reinstated the BBQ for our September meetings which were held at Pillarcitos in the San Francisco watershed. In 1993 when Pillarcitos became unavailable we moved to the Blackberry Farm in Cupertino. This is basically a social gathering although we do have occasional topics of interest presented. In the mid '50s, golf tournaments became a big part of the September pre dinner activities. Lake Merced GC, Crystal Springs CC, San Jose CC, Peninsula CC, SF Presidio, Los Altos CC, Cypress Hills, and Half Moon Bay were some of the courses played. In 1999 Cinnabar Hills became the course of choice. In the mid '60s bowling was added as an alternate choice, Although bowling lasted less than ten years, golf has remained the number one sport of the Association. A few other firsts of interest were: in 1972 when annual dues of $3.00 were established; in 1973 a set of bylaws was adopted by the Association; in 1981 we increased the dues to $4.00; in 1980 we elected Sonia Day our first woman to the board, and she became our first woman president in 1985. In 1983 active retirees were granted life membership, and this includes all future retirees. Also in 1983 the position of Historian was created and filled by Jim O'Loughlin. In 1984 as an important
part of our history, we introduced the eighteen active members who were past
presidents of the Peninsula Water Works. Starting with the most recent and
going backwards they were: In 1985 Dave Archer became our first athletic chairman. Dues went to $5.00 the next year. Del Rio designed the first (and only) logo in 1988. In 1992 engraved nametags were issued to all members. Reed Mack created the first newsletter in 1998; the same year dues were increased to $10.00. Several people in 1984 requested that we have a photo album made available at the meetings and Jim O'Loughlin did that. There are historical binders and photo albums available for viewing at the head table for every meeting containing interesting information of the Peninsula Water Works, such as where meetings were held, how much meals cost, topics of speeches, bylaws, lists of board members and presidents, and copies of the invitations and newsletters mailed to each member. Speakers are part of the
March and June meetings with topics of interest for the water industry as
well as occasional sports figures such as RC Owens, or entertainers such as
Crazy George. Pre meeting tours are usually included with the June meetings.
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