Kiwanis Club picks up tools to help community center

Members of the Noon Kiwanis Club of La Cañada teamed up on Oct. 16 to build another addition to the Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge. Members of the club have been involved in providing labor for many projects in the past for the center.

Led by Dr. Joel Smith, who is the past chairman of the center’s board and past president of the Kiwanis Club, Kiwanians erected the new storage building. The new building is adjacent to a shed built by the Boy Scouts.

Smith said that despite all the labors of love contributed by volunteers, the community center is inadequate for the needs of the public. He notes that drawings and a model sit waiting for a future fundraising effort to build what is projected to be a new $20 million center.

“We keep hoping that we can rally the community to help construct a modern, state-of-the-art community center worthy of our great city. We now serve over 2,000 people a week, 1,000 from La Cañada Flintridge alone,” Smith said.

He is optimistic that the current center, built by volunteers and opened in 1951, can be replaced by a center that will serve the growing need. Smith served two terms on the board of directors, which is now headed by Tom Reynolds. Two other members of the Noon Kiwanis Club, Dr. Carl Christianson and Jim Smith, serve on the board.