LAGRANGE â Not all that many years ago, any motorists arriving in any number of small towns around northeast Indiana to communities such as LaGrange or Howe or Wolcottville, would have been greeted when they entered those towns by a welcome sign that included the names of most of the civic and fraternal organizations that also called that community home.
From the Lions clubs to the Jaycees to Rotary, Kiwanis, Eagles, and Moose, many of those organizations once dominated the local philanthropic landscape. In the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, local social, civic and philanthropic organizations and clubs were at the heart of most communities, but many have disappeared, and most of those that remain are struggling to survive.