About Torch Club
Torch Club is a dinner/discussion group where professional and academic people meet socially for dinner, hear a presentation on exciting and provocative topics from members, enjoy a lively discussion of the paper presented, then we go home.
The Lincoln Torch Club celebrates our 60th year as a local chapter and affiliates with the International Association of Torch Clubs, an organization of some 45 clubs in the U.S.A. and Canada, including two clubs in Nebraska.
Our Meetings
Our chapter typically meets eight times a year, September through April, with summers off. Meetings are always on the third Monday of the month in The Hickory Room at Lazlo’s in the Lincoln Haymarket. They start with a social time at 6 p.m. and include an interactive Question and Answer session after the talk.
History
Foundation
Lincoln Torch Club (chartered in May 1963) has over 45 active members. Lincoln sponsored new clubs in Kearney and Hastings in 2012, and Southeast Nebraska in 2013.
Affiliation
locations, bylaws, and membership. IATC dues are $50 per year per member, with an
initial $10 initiation fee that includes an attractive membership pin. Each club determines
the price and location of dinners and any other incidental expenses. In Lincoln, dinners at The Hickory Room at Lazlo’s in the Lincoln Haymarket currently total $270 for nine meetings this year. The Lincoln Torch Club pays IATC membership dues (a $50 annual fee) per year.
Awards
The Torch Magazine
All members receive a copy of “The Torch,” a magazine published by the International Association.Paul Scott Stanfield, an English professor at Nebraska Wesleyan University and IATC 2018 Gold Award recipient, is the recent past editor of “The Torch.” This magazine publishes selected papers from local clubs three
times a year and goes to all International Torch members.
Mission and Values
Torch Club is not a service group as we do no fundraising events or missions outside the club, nor are we a social club, though we do a great deal of socializing. Instead, we talk— and listen. Presenters give their ideas on favorite topics, often outside their profession, in 20-30 minute talks, then open up to questions and answers/comments.