Lochiel Kiwanis Community Centre
Lochiel Kiwanis Community CentreDick Felton had no idea what he was getting himself into when he accepted the voluntary position of acting executive director at the Lochiel Kiwanis Community Centre in 2020. Felton, 77, has been a member of the Kiwanis Club since 2011. "I came in here figuring it would be a couple of months before I got things straightened out, but it turned out the hole was much deeper than I originally thought," Dick says. "When I came in, we were only about 60 percent rented, which makes the job even harder, but we now have full rent with people waiting to get in."
The Lochiel Kiwanis Community Centre, located at 180 College Ave. N Sarnia, is an operating branch of the Sarnia Kiwanis Foundation (SKF) and the SKF is a production of the Sarnia-Lambton Kiwanis Golden K. "We are a true community Centre," Dick boasts. "But we focus on not-for-profit organizations. It is a city-owned building, and we pay a dollar a year for it. We are charged with maintaining the building from a day-to-day maintenance standpoint and its operation, but the city is deeply involved in keeping the building up to standards." 
Among those currently renting space at the Lochiel Kiwanis Community Centre are Hashtag Charitable Foundation, Community Living Sarnia Foundation, Leeds Employment Services, Literacy Lambton, Boys and Girls Club, St. Clair Child and Youth Programs, Sarnia Donor Awareness, Super Ninja OCR Racing Club and St. Cecilia's Conservatory of Music. "We service between 400-700 kids a week," Dick says. "We keep up the building by charging rent to those groups. Our intent is to be as reasonable as possible. We are a not-for-profit operation as well, so we're not trying to make money. What we want to do is provide better than a standard commercial space for those other not-for-profits to rent. The more we get the building up to speed, my intent is to try to reduce the rental cost to those groups."
The building, which was designated a historical building in 2000, is 25,000 square feet and was constructed in 1916. "Since I came in, the biggest thing we have concentrated on is safety," Dick says. "We have made it so only people in programs can get into the building. Also, we have new lighting outside and we have installed 18 cameras to make sure kids are safe in the building." 
In addition to weekly programming, the Kiwanis room can be rented out for birthdays, weddings, business meetings, etc. "I think it is Sarnia's best-kept secret," Dick claims. "We have modernized the room so anybody can come in here and use our audio-visual stuff and broadcast their meeting anywhere in the world." Prior to retiring 22 years ago, Dick Felton started his work life at Shell Oil and Dow Chemical, but eventually wound up running four of his own companies. Now he finds himself as busy as ever. "I hadn't expected to do this full-time, but this is really worthwhile and satisfying," Dick says. "When you see kids having a good time and you see not-for-profits flourishing, that's a good thing."
Related Stories
De Sena Law Office
Francis De Sena Law Firm is celebrating twenty years in business. De Sena opened the practice in 1997. He knew first-hand what it meant to own your own business. His parents had started De Sena Home Hardware in Bright’s Grove in t...
Paradox Images
Born and raised in Sarnia, Matt Dochstader went to Mohawk College, in Hamilton, to study broadcasting. After graduating, he landed a job with a visual effects company in Toronto. "I did a lot of commercial work for national brands like Dove, Home Hardware, KIA, and Telus. Visual effects is the last"
Great Pretenders
It was never Joyce Keelan's plan to go it alone, and start her own company, but due to gender discrimination in the engineering world of the 1980s, she became a corporate refugee. And consequently, her own boss. Step one on Joyce's road to independence began when she took a job with Magna Internati
Lambton Shores Phragmites Community Group
You could be looking the enemy right in the eye and not know it is there. Such is the life of those who are fighting to eliminate phragmites (pronounced frag-migh-tees). Nobody knows this better than Nancy Vidler, chairperson of the Lambton Shores Phragmites Community Group (LSPCG). It is invasive
Related Stories
The Woods Hair Salon
When stylist Tyler Smith and his wife Ashley decided to open their salon, The Woods, they wanted a more natural, modern rustic environment. When choosing a name, they wanted something that would represent that. Ashley had suggested the name The Woods. This name was inspired by an album of the same n
Lambton Elderly Outreach
Lambton Elderly Outreach (LEO) began in 1970 with a group of community members operating a Meals on Wheels service. Over 50 years later, LEO has increased its services and supports to include adults over 60 and adults with disabilities. As an organization, we are committed to community support se
Paulina's Flower Shoppe
On May 8th, 2017 Paulinas Flower Shoppe opened its doors for business at 1018 Murphy Road. When you drive up to the location, you immediately realize that this has always been a flower shop. Since 1953 the building was known to the city of Sarnia as Buchners Flowers. We purchased the e
The Cheese Wedge
The Cheese Store was founded in 2011, then purchased by Kirby and Jason Harris and Pam and Marty Raaymakers in 2013. "It was a good fit for us because we all love food, cheese, and entertaining," shares Kirby. The partners each br...
Own a local business in Sarnia-Lambton?
Your customers, your link, your revenue. We do the rest.
Become a #local Partner and we pay you 100% of every gift card members spend with you. It costs you nothing to join.
Free. Takes about three minutes.
