Navarre Community Center Fund

Goal: $5,000.00

Specific Need

The purpose of this endowed fund is to establish a long term investment avenue that will help provide for the on going maintenance and improvements to the Navarre Community Center. Through the renovation of the old school building into an up to date and active Community Center, we want to sustain this legacy well into the future. While we have current needs such as an aging roof over the Gym portion and have goals of adding AC in the Gym area, a donation to this fund would enable us to assure that this Community Center continues to be the "heart" of the southern Dickinson County activities for many years to come.

Mission

The mission of the Navarre Community Center is to provide a quality and convenient gatherng place to host programs to serve the Youth, Seniors and Families of the greater Navarre Community, to provide access to the EMTS as they serve southern Dickinson County and to be a place to display a collection of Navarre History and Navarre Grade School memorabilia.

Profile

The Navarre Lions Club acquired the Navarre Grade School building and assumed full responsibility for the ongoing maintenance and upkeep in 1972. In 2015, the Lions Club decided to seize the opportunity to renovate the building and revitalize it into a more useable Community Center. Many community volunteer hours have been put in to complete the transition and improve the interior and exterior of the facility. The renovated space has now hosted numerous Weddings, Celebration of Life events, Birthday parties, Family Reunions and Baby Showers. Organizations such as the Soil Conservation Service, the Dickinson County Historical Society, Agri Trails Coop, Harris Crop Insurance, and Rural Life group have held events there. The Community Center provides a home to the Navarre Boosters and the Holland Sunflower 4-H Clubs, where they can use the expansive kitchen to prepare cookies for their Christmas Cheer baskets, practice basketball in the gym preparing for the 4-H Basketball Tournament and use the meeting rooms to hold their monthly meetings and prepare for their model meeting competition. The Navarre Lions have partnered with the two 4-H Clubs to hold thier annual Pancake Day and Schnitzel Dinner events. For the past 3 years, the Navarre Lions joined with the 2 4-H Clubs and Agri Trails Coop to sponsor a CommunityFest in August featuring a Car Show, Pie Auction, Vendor displays, and Food which draws around 300 people. This past summer we incorporated an All School Reunion with approximately 76 former students attending from as far away as Colorado, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. A Stay Strong Stay Healthy exercise group for Seniors meets 3 mornings a week for exercise, conversation and coffee. The Dickinson County Emergency Medical Teams has 24 hour access to the facility and instruct lifesaving AED classes. The Navarre Community Center has become the central gathering place for collecting and displaying the History of Navarre and of the Navarre Grade School. It is a place where we can continue to remember the past while being thankful that new memories are still being made and this building remains vital in the community.