Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RICHARD JENKINS
Ironwood — The effort to launch a Boys and Girls Club of America chapter in the area continues as a group of residents met Monday at the Ironwood Public Safety Department to discuss moving forward.
The group touted surveys filled out by parents of local students indicating their interest in participating in the club.
“Our community actually thought we lost contact with the Boys and Girls Club, that (forming a local chapter) was a dead issue, because of events leading up to this point. So then I thought, ‘OK, how are we going to get our community interested again? How are they really going to know the Boys and Girls Club is still very active?’ ... we did surveys and we got very, very positive feedback from the community,” said Tammy Vilgos, one of the people attempting to organize the club.
According to Vilgos, the group used Facebook surveys, as well as those sent home with students, to gauge interest.
The surveys sent home to students resulted in the parents of 134 kids from the Ironwood, Wakefield and Bessemer school districts indicating they would send their children to a potential Boys and Girls Club in the area.
The Facebook survey asked a range of questions, including whether there were enough activities for young people in the community, would the person support a Boys and Girls Club and would they be interested in joining the organizing committee.
Again the group said they received positive results from the surveys.
The effort to establish the club began in approximately December 2014 and has met varying degrees of success in getting off the ground.
The organizing group will continue to meet at 6:30 p.m. in the Public Safety Department on the first Monday of every month — with the exception of July and September as the meeting dates fall on holidays.
Another upcoming planning event the group talked about was the July 25 visit by Boys and Girls Club Regional Service Director Wally Graffen. According to information presented, Graffen will visit the area to discuss the benefits of forming the club and how to move forward.
While a final location for the club hasn’t been set, it was reported at the meeting that the city of Ironwood had applied for a grant to repair portions of the Memorial Building, which would enable it to be used as a potential home for the club.
There are other steps that need to be accomplished before the club can launch Vilgos said, including raising funds, recruiting additional committee members and increasing public support.
Those interested in the group can call 715-802-0802.
