Kiwanis’ Friday The 13th Club Holds Special Meeting to Make Fun of Superstitions

DOWNTOWN ZANESVILLE, Ohio- Have you felt down on your luck today? Maybe you noticed it was Friday the 13th, a notoriously unlucky day where people are extra cautious not to break any superstitions.

Typically the 13th of any month lands on a Friday twice a year, three times a year is rare, and so is one time a year; like this year. However a Kiwanis group in Zanesville has a longstanding tradition of disregarding all the superstitions, it started back in 1956 when Dale Tysinger, a local businessman, had a bright idea.

“So he got these 13 businessmen together, and said ‘Let’s make fun of Friday the 13th, nobody’s superstitious’ and so they did. They had sales for 13¢ off an item, or $13 or whatever they could come up with for thirteen. Then they would eat lunch at a local restaurant and kind of just have some comradery,” Larry Good, chair of the Friday the 13th club and Kiwanis member stated.

Nowadays the Kiwanis club keeps the tradition alive and tries to break as many of the superstitions as possible, showing that life goes on, and nothing bad will happen.

“Walking under ladders, we have umbrellas opened up, I have a horseshoe over there on the table, also have some glass that we’re going to break, we’ll break glass, then we have salt shakers tipped over. We’re just making fun of Friday the 13th, and not taking it real serious, but showing that you can still have a nice time,” Good said.

This club meeting only takes place on Friday the 13th, which means the next time the club meets will be May 13th, 2022.