From left, the new non-profit owners of the old Eastside Fellowship club building and (right) the sellers and remaining members of the Eastside Fellowship club pose for a picture prior to handing over the keys to the building. Submitted Photo

The Eastside Fellowship Club is closing shop after more than 75 years of service, fellowship and fun.

Owning its’ origins to returning World War II veterans on the east side of Jamestown, the Eastside Fellowship Club has been providing community services such as a free Easter egg hunt, feeding visiting Babe Ruth World Series teams as they arrive in town and partaking in a plethora of social service offerings for more than 75 years. Moreover, the club purchased an actual Army World War II barracks from a U.S. Army Center in Buffalo, for $570, unassembled it, shipped it to Jamestown and reassembled it to form the center fusion point and base of operations for this fledgling club after it purchased a lot on Woodlawn Street in 1948.

“Our entire club was built around this barracks,” said Dan Rickard, Eastside Fellowship Club president. “There’s just so much history in our building, we did all we could to keep the doors open, but it just got to much for us to handle.”

The too-much-to-handle consisted of rising insurance cost, rising cost for raw materials including food, beverage, rising property taxes, a lack of interest from the current generation for joining a social club, an aging and dying club population, rising costs for utilities and the loss of rental revenue because of insurance. It all added up in the decision to shutter operations.

However, at the height of the club’s existence it was considered by some to be elite and an honor when asked to join.

“Our bylaws only allowed for 40 members at a time, all the way up until 2002,” said Rickard. “Not only did we limit the number of club members, but you had to live on the east side of Jamestown to even be considered for membership.”

Beyond the actual club membership, the Eastside Fellowship placed a premium on serving the community.

“We started an Easter egg hunt, free of charge and open to the entire community,” said David Spitzer, Eastside Fellowship Club secretary and clerk. “This was started in 1961 and the last one we conducted was in 2022.”

Additionally, even though the club is closing its doors, the leadership team has put a plan in place to ensure there’s not one more empty building left in Jamestown.

“We didn’t want to leave another empty, falling apart building in our city,” added Rickard. “We sold the building to another non-profit and according to our bylaws, we must liquidate all assets and divide the proceeds amongst three other non-profits in Jamestown.”