Hanover Kiwanis celebrating 100th birthday with Moul Field pavilion project

Updated, July 19: 

Through the middle of July, the Kiwanis Club of Hanover has raised just over $20,000 for one of its largest public projects to date.

The local service organization began fundraising earlier this year to build a pavilion at Hanover Borough's Moul Field, located in the 100 block of Moul Avenue. The group is currently over 80% of the way toward their goal of raising a total of $25,000 for the pavilion structure, walkway and picnic tables. On July 15, around a dozen Kiwanians joined Public Works Director A.J. Grimm in a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the project. 

The club is raising funds in three separate tiers and has already received four century sponsors and six picnic table sponsors. In addition, at least 55 individuals, clubs and businesses have committed to becoming paver sponsors. More information about donating can be found on their website at hanoverkiwanis.org. 

Century Sponsors ($2,000 each)

• Donald B. Smith, Inc.
• Kenworthy Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc.
• McSherrystown Home Association 
• Utz Brands, Inc.

Picnic Table Sponsors ($1,000 each)

• Garrick Jewelers 
• Keith D. Smith Concrete Contractor, Inc.
• Bill Ritter
• ELSEA Concrete Pumping
• Hanover Toyota
• PeoplesBank

Hanover Architectural Products is also donating all the pavers needed for the brick walkway, which spans an area of 187 square feet. 

This November, the Kiwanis will celebrate their 100th anniversary with a special banquet at Bay City in Hanover. 

Previously reported, April 21:

The oldest service organization in Hanover is celebrating its centennial birthday this year and in a big way.

The Kiwanis Club of Hanover, which was chartered in 1921, has started a $25,000 fundraising campaign to build a pavilion at Moul Field in Hanover Borough.

Construction plans call for the pavilion to be built on a 30-foot by 40-foot concrete slab approximately 25 feet away from the concession stand that is located on Moul Avenue. 

The pavilion will accommodate eight weatherproof picnic tables for seating and will also eventually be hooked up to electricity and feature dusk-to-dawn lighting, according to Public Works Director A.J. Grimm.

The Borough has already assisted in finding a low bidder for the project and will contribute an estimated $5,000 in labor costs. The Recreation Board will also chip in around $3,500 in endowment funds for the initiative. 

The bulk of the project's funds are being raised through the Hanover Kiwanis Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) organization that also holds seasonal fundraising drives throughout the year, including a blueberry sale that is starting up again in May.

For the pavilion project, the group is raising money in several tiers that allow donors to have their names engraved on individual brick pavers and picnic tables.

Any leftover funds from the Moul Field project would go toward a future endeavor — possibly to build a second pavilion in another park. More information about donating can be found on their website at hanoverkiwanis.org. 

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The Kiwanis had been looking to partner with the borough to work on a public project for the last two to three years. The list of possible locations was eventually narrowed to Moul Field, which is already home to athletic fields, horseshoe pits and a playground, but lacking a pavilion. 

“We're hoping it becomes a community asset where groups could reserve the pavilion for family reunions, birthday parties, just any kind of gathering," Grimm said.

"It just makes the park more attractive and is an added amenity as we continue to kind of start updating our parks here in Hanover."

The timing of the Kiwanis' 100th anniversary and the location of the pavilion hold a special meaning for board member David Zinn, who has lived in Hanover his whole life and has fond childhood memories of playing baseball at Moul Field.

“I've had nothing but good times...the fellowship as well as the community service. And then there's a lot of history - my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were all from Hanover, and so it's nice to be part of that,” he said.

"This is not Hanover Kiwanis Club's first venture into something like this," added longtime member Dan Davies. 

Davies, 86, has been in the club since 1972 and has organized the Memorial Day parade for the last four decades. Starting around 2000 he also helped spearhead a decades-long overseas mission to Bulgaria to support orphanages and provide food and medicine to children in the southeast European country.

And about two decades ago, several of the Hanover service organizations rallied together to build the tennis courts located at the intersection of Elm Street and Eichelberger Street.

However, the Moul Field project is the largest of its kind that Grimm has seen since he started in his role with the borough five years ago.

Project organizers hope to break ground by the end of the month and are targeting a summer 2021 completion date. 

Established just six years after Kiwanis International, the Hanover club donates thousands of dollars to the community each year and sponsors dozens of local groups, from youth sports teams to high school service clubs. The group currently has around 30 members and is open to all 18 years and over.

“We're always looking for new members with new ideas,” Zinn said.