06/03/2026
"My name is Beth Philo and I’m a member of the Jackson Kiwanis Club. Back in the '20s, our Kiwanis Club owned this property. Before there was a Jackson Parks Department, our club ran the summer programs, both here and at McCulloch Elementary School. After the Parks Department was created, the Jackson Kiwanis Club sold this land to Jackson for $1 with the agreement that it would stay named ‘Kiwanis Park’ and we would help maintain it.
Kiwanis gives in a lot of ways to the community. Every year, we give every third grader in Jackson a dictionary. We gave 96 bikes and helmets to elementary schools for reading month. Our lifelong project has been shoes and boots for kids. When we started in 1918, the Kiwanis businessmen saw that there were a lot of widows and children who had no shoes and boots. They talked to the local newspaper and asked if they could have the street corners and sell the newspapers one day a year, and that money would go for shoes and boots for widows and kids. We have done that project every year for the last 105 years, and we now give an average of $10,000 a year for shoes and boots for kids in the Jackson area.
A day like Community Impact Day is very important because this community wants to use this park, not just as a place for kids to play, but to have events like baby showers and other activities. We want it to look good and we want to be proud of our community, so we’re cleaned up the park.
We're open to membership at any time, to both men and women. Join Kiwanis!"
—Beth Philo, Jackson Kiwanis Club
