The Lucknow Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs are marking 50 years of serving the community.
To mark the milestone, Secretary of the club Joe Carter says they held an anniversary gathering at the Lucknow Community Centre on Nov. 18.
They welcomed past and present members, dignitaries including Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson, Huron-Kinloss Mayor Don Murray, and Huron Country Warden Glen McNeil, as well as representatives from other Kin Clubs.
During the event, Lyndon Johnston was awarded Kinsmen of the Year, while Callie Van Osch was awarded Kinette of the Year.
“For the last 50 years, the Lucknow Kinsmen and Kinette have been the cornerstone of the Lucknow community and most people know, in the last 15 years, they’ve developed Music in the Fields, which has been just a phenomenal contribution to the community not only physically and emotionally, but financially too,” says Carter.
He adds over the past 50 years, the Lucknow clubs have put around $1.4 million into the community, which has gone towards supporting regional hospitals, sports facilities, school programs, community centres and more.
“One of the biggest accomplishments that we were very proud to do, most people don’t know that the Kin Canada National Charity is Cystic Fibrosis Canada and the mandate of any Kinsman club in Canada is to raise money for CF research. We were quite honoured, thanks to the success and help from everybody who attended Music in the Fields, we were able to make a $50,000 donation to cystic fibrosis research in lieu of our 50th anniversary,” says Carter.
He says for the near future, they aim to eliminate cystic fibrosis by continuing to donate to research efforts.
Carter encourages people who are interested in joining a Kinsmen or Kinette Club to visit the Kin Canada website here.
