TISDALE— The Tisdale Kinsmen and Kinettes celebrated Kin Canada’s 100th anniversary with a flag raising at the town square where the club looked back on the work that they had done within the community.
Kin Canada was started on Feb. 20 1920 by Hal Rogers in Ontario. The Kinsmen Club of Tisdale was charted in 1958, followed by the Kinettes in 1959.
“They had many projects throughout town, as you can be aware of,” said Jessica Steadman, Tisdale Kinette for over 14 years. “If you can drive around Tisdale you can see many things labeled Kinsmen or Kinettes.”
The first major project Kin Canada worked on in the community was the playground equipment at Memorial Park.
“The original equipment is no longer there as we replaced it recently, but that was there first major project,” Steadman said.
Other projects include the Kinsmen McKay Park; scoreboards for the old rink; rink framing, boards and glassfor the RECplex arena; the shale rock at the baseball diamonds at Kinsmen Park; Rae’s Action Sports Park; and various pieces of playground equipment throughout the community.
“It’s been interesting, as I’ve gone through a bit of the history just to see the different projects and support that the Kinsmen clubs have given to our community,” she said.
“The original outdoor rink was in 1992, and I heard the story that in one day they had a huge building bee with the help of Lions, Legion and other community volunteers and they built that rink in one day.”
The completion of the outdoor rink caused the Kin Clubs to receive Hal Rogers National Service Award from Kin Canada.
“Everybody sees volunteer service groups like this as fundraising and community service— which is a huge part of what we are, but Kin also provides that opportunity for personal development, leadership skills, educational opportunities and lasting friendships,” Steadman said
The anniversary was celebrated on Feb. 20.
Steadman said one of the next major projects for the Kin clubs is the revitalization of the Kinsmen McKay Park.
“Lots of the playground equipment needs some repair and replacement, so we have a five year plan to accomplish those goals.”
