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Kiwanis donates $40K to 2 local youth projects
kiwanis check Heizer park 2025
Great Bend Kiwanis members join city officials and others at Heizer Park to celebrate the club’s donation of $30,000 to build a new pavilion. Holding up the big check are City Administrator Logan Burns, left, and Kiwanis President Barry Bowers, right. - photo by photos by Susan Thacker/Great Bend Tribune
pavilion 2025
People check out the soccer courts and other new features at Heizer Park.

The Great Bend Kiwanis Club members visited Heizer Park on Friday to celebrate their $30,000 donation to the City of Great Bend to build a pavilion at the park located at 8th and Heizer Streets.

Club President Barry Bowers presented City Administrator Logan Burns with a large facsimile check to represent the donation. Also on hand was Chris Umphres, director of the Great Bend Recreation Commission. Thanks to money raised by its flag project, the Kiwanis Club is also donating $10,000 to the GBRC to help pay for the new basketball courts being added in the park next to Eisenhower School.

“We have some exciting things happening in the next couple of weeks,” club secretary Frankie Pelster said. 

On Saturday, Aug. 9, the Kiwanis will sponsor the annual Wet & Dry Parade at Party in the Park.

Great Bend Kiwanis will also celebrate its 85th anniversary on Aug. 20.

Burns said the pavilion at Heizer Park will be a 20 by 30 foot structure similar to the one at the Splash Pad in Veterans Park, which was also sponsored by the Kiwanis Club.

The $360,000 renovation project at Heizer Park is drawing to a close and should be done in the next month and a half. It includes a 55 by 80 yard soccer field with netting behind the goals, and two mini-pitch courts with lighting. There are new restrooms and the park will be irrigated.

Burns expressed appreciation to the Kiwanis Club as well as the City Council, which approved the park improvements. He noted that soccer tournaments are already taking place on weekends.

The Great Bend Kiwanis Club’s flag project allows businesses and individuals to sponsor U.S. flags, which are placed next to Veterans Memorial Park and in the Broadway Ave. islands on five federal holidays. Funds are used for community projects aimed at improving the lives of children. For more information, email gbkiwanisflags@gmail.com.