Our History
Boys Girls Club of Easton - TIME LINE
1974 ‘Boys Club of Easton’ was incorporated on December 12, 1974 and used a 7,085 square foot facility leased to it by the Easton Housing Authority at 508-A Charles Street. Boys Club of Easton’s original financial support was a $20,000 contract for tenant services through the City of Easton Housing Authority. Predominantly the emerging Club served a low income population, both boys and girls, and the programs offered were primarily athletic, with some arts and crafts.
1974 The 1st Board President, Thomas L. Walters, & 1st Executive Director, Harold Smith.
1977 Club membership reached 404 (277 boys and 127 girls)
Operating expenses were $34,656. (2006 projected expenses are over $500,000)
1979 The first Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the Boys Club of Easton and the United Way of Northampton and Warren Counties.
April 23, 1979, 1st Run with the Champ, Larry Holmes, 5K Run.
1980 The Club received its first United Way allocation in the amount of $29,000. (Since 1980 this important partnership has yielded over $1.5 million in support to the Club)
1984 Future Stars Academic Incentive Program began.
1985 Bradley Carter, 1st Future Stars Award Winner. (Bradley is now Assistant Principal in the Allentown School District)
1st President of the Boys Club of Easton’s Keystone Club
Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay Contest created by Future Stars Program.
It is now a collaborative effort between the Club and area schools.
Herbert Snyder Music and Dance Program created.
1986 G. Dean Young, Acting Director, received Easton’s NAACP Man of the Year Award for Community Service, June 1986.
1987 Club Teens attended their 1st Keystone National Conference in Tennessee
1987 Boys Club of Easton’s 1st Easton Jazz Festival, Friday, December 11: the Count Basie Orchestra & Kevin Eubanks
1988 November 5, 1988, Easton Art Mural created on the railway embankment at the junction of Rt. 611, an historic painting depicting current and past events in Easton.
1990 Dean Young, Club Executive Director received The United Way Leadership Award
1991 Boys Club of Easton National Prevention Program: ‘SMART Moves’ began at Club.
Boys Club of Easton changed its name to ‘Boys & Girls Club of Easton’, on April 21, 1991.
1992 SMART Moves Players Performing Arts Ensemble began, July.
1st production, “Stop! Before You Start.” debuted, October 1992.
1992 1st Community Walk for Peace took place in May.
1993 February 3, 1993, the first addition to the Club facility, a weight room, was completed.
Attorney Theresa Hogan named 1st Woman Board President of the B&GCE
SMART Moves Players Performing Arts Ensemble received the President’s National Commission on Arts and Humanities Award.
1996 B&GCE 1st Teen Summit Planning Committee began, April.
Saturday, September 28, 1996 — 1st Annual Teen Summit held at Easton Area Middle School
October 15, 1996 the new addition to the Club, was completed
1997 B&GCE's new addition, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, was dedicated, January 25, 1997. B&GCE’s Teen Summit named “Top Youth Program in the Nation” by Colgate-Palmolive Company; B&GCE’s Teen Summit named “Top Pennsylvania Youth Program” by Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Began collaboration with FBI to help promote law enforcement as profession for youth members.
1998 Membership reached 1720.
Club received Northampton Community College Community Fabric Award
1999 B&GCE budget tops $300,000. Development Office begins operations February 1st, thanks to the support of community and business leaders.
Along with other Easton member agencies, the B&GCE received the 1999 United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley’s Agencies’ Leadership Award, May 12. B&GCE initiates United States Tennis Association Tennis Program. B&GCE receives the FBI Community Director’s Award.
The Club in its first 25 years saw a shift in focus from being primarily being athletic in nature to our current focus on Education and Prevention Programs.
2000 Club’s SMART Moves Creative Experiences Program honored with National Community Education Award by the Bravo Cable Network.
1st Annual Scramble For Kids Golf Tournament and 1st Annual Scramble With Kids Jr. Golf Programs Tee-Off.
2001 Easton Jazz Festival Celebrates 15th Anniversary with Wynton Marsalis at the State Theatre!
2002 B&GCE a ‘Safe Haven’ for youth - Outdoor security lighting and indoor security cameras installed through CDBG funding
2003 ImageMakers National Photography Contest – Club members Stacy Melise and Keisha Webster win 2 National Photography categories, and Stacy wins ‘Best in Show’ at award ceremony in San Diego, CA.
‘Spirit of Partnership’ Award received from Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lehigh Valley. TourTurf astro-turf multipurpose sports field and golf chipping and putting area installed.
2005 B&GCE became an official chapter of The First Tee Golf national program targeting over 450 youth each year with golf and life skills.
2006 B&GCE received a grant from Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley and United Way to provide Youth Activities in the underserved West Ward area of Easton.
2007 B&GCE opens a new facility in Easton’s West Ward – the Easton Teen Center, a.k.a. THE CLUB, serving teens ages 13 to 19 years.
2008 B&GCE is relocated from the Delaware Terrace Public Housing development because of the HUD redevelopment plans. Programs continue on the Southside at Cheston Elementary School, Administration takes place at City Hall, 1 South 3rd Street, and programs continue at the Easton Teen Center in the West Ward. 
2011 B&GCE Re-Opened after remodeling
2014 Started Istation Reading supported by CAI 
2016 Became part of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) in partnership with EASD 
2017 Started DreamBox Learning Math supported by CAI 
2018  Started Lexia Reading supported by CAI
2019   Playground Opens
2020  Community Garden Opens

Fact: There were two women in 1860 in Hartford, CT who decided to begin the first Boys Club because of their concern for the young men hanging out on the streets of Hartford. They called it the Dashaway Club, “but we always refer to it as the first Boys Club. In wasn’t until 1990 that National office changed our name to reflect the inclusion of Girls. When the Boys & Girls Club of Easton’s doors open for the first time (Dec., 1974), both boys & girls were served, therefore, the B&GCE is proud to be one of the first clubs in the country to serve both boys and girls.

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