Mr. Harvey Spaulding whose name adorns the banner of Saginaw Toastmasters Club 781 was and still is a mystery to all of us in many respects.
# # #
The late Bob Heft of
Saginaw MI, authored a document which he handed to Paul F. Arnhold, DTM who in
turn gave me a copy saying “do with it as see fit”. This document bears the date of October 1,
2009 and is titled: Report on Harvey Spaulding.
# # #
Before going any
further I have to mention who was Bob Heft.
Bob Heft was a member
of the Harvey Spaulding Toastmasters Club 781.
Bob Heft was – an American original – was the designer of the present
U.S. Flag with the 50 States. Hence –
the 50 stars flags. For this achievement
Bob Heft was honored in the White House by President Dwight Eisenhower and all
subsequent presidents up to George W. Bush. Bob Heft passed in 2010.
Bob Heft bequeathed the
Club 781 an original US flag autographed by him. However this is a separate story.
# # #
Harvey D. Spaulding Jr.,
was born sometime in 1896. The Spaulding family settled in the south side of
Saginaw County. Spaulding Township is named after these early settlers.
On August 1, 1915,
Harvey D. Spaulding Sr., drowned in the Cass River near Bridgeport MI, while
successfully rescuing Mrs. Joanna Hensler, who was a non-swimmer. Harvey Jr. was at the time a student at the
historical Arthur Hill High School and a member of the local Saginaw YMCA
chapter. In 1917 Harvey Spaulding entered
the service of the U.S army until the end of WWI.
Upon his return to
Saginaw he committed himself and his life work to the local YMCA Chapter. He taught every non-swimmer the basic skills
of swimming at the YMCA pool facility and Saginaw school system. He became a physical education
instructor. He designed classes for all
local schools to have swimming training. Harvey Spaulding Jr., was recognized
in 1933 by the YMCA Society of Physical Education Program Directors.
His local efforts in
physical education and swimming bore evidence when on September 26, 1946,
Harvey Spaulding Jr., was recognized by the Joint Navy and War Departments for
his life work. The citation was signed
by the Commanding General of the U.S. Fifth Army.
The immediate reason
for the citation narrates that -
“On the
Destroyer Escort vessel that was sunk by a Japanese diver bomber during action
in the South pacific, thirty-four of the sixty survivors were from
Saginaw. Thirty-two of those survivors
were taught the skills of swimming by Harvey D. Spaulding Jr.”
# # #
In 1920 he became the
head of physical education in the Y. In
1941 he became the associate general secretary of the Y.
In February 1950, seventy-four
years ago, Harvey Spaulding Jr. chartered the Toastmasters International Club
781 in the Saginaw YMCA.
On April 2, 1954,
Toastmasters club 781 conferred on Harvey Spaulding a life membership. Harvey
Spaulding passed at age seventy in October 6, 1966.
Shortly after his death
the swimming pool in the Saginaw Y was named after him.
# # #
This post was excerpted from a report by Bob Heft based on the book titled “A Century of Service” by Crittenden & Smith, pages 128-131.
All
dating errors are likely made by author of this blog.
© Mandy Lender 2015,
2024, 2025
www.mandylender.com www.mandylender.net www.attractome.com www.lendercombinations.com
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