Nearly a millennium of collective service was honored in Sarnia Saturday, as Kiwanis clubs from the region gathered in Canatara Park.
“Those that are being recognized today and what they have done in their communities to make the community a better place to live, a safer place to live … that’s really what this is all about – the service work,” said Jim Scott, governor of the service club’s district that includes 14 Caribbean countries and eastern Canada.
Seven clubs from Sarnia, Windsor, Chatham-Kent, Leamington, Petrolia and Forest make up division three in that district, and 30 members from among those clubs were receiving Legion of Honor pins and certificates Saturday, honoring at least 25 years of service.
The Leamington club’s Bill Hutchinson was receiving two awards, for 60 and 65 years, a list provided by the clubs says.
Collectively, the award recipients’ service in Kiwanis adds up to 950 years dedicated to helping improve communities and helping children, officials said.
“And that’s only those who are being recognized,” said Scott.
“If we put everyone together, it is way more than that.”
Division three lieutenant governor Dick Carpani, with Sarnia’s Golden K Kiwanis club, was among the 17 club members honored for a quarter-century of service. He called the recognition “pretty special.”
The day included a meeting at the club’s flagship project in Sarnia, the Lochiel Kiwanis Community Centre, and the awards presented at the pavilion in Canatara Park, one of the enduring contributions of the Seaway Kiwanis Club of Sarnia-Lambton, Carpani said.
There’s no prescribed time for how often or when Legion of Honor ceremonies are held, he said.
But ceremonies happens fairly frequently across the expansive district, Scott said, noting again Kiwanis’ emphasis is on programs to help children.
“That’s what this organization is known for,” he said.