For 100 years, Chester has found resilience in Kiwanis
There are many words Delaware County residents no doubt could use to describe the city of Chester.
Resilience probably is not one of them.
Don’t try selling that to Will Richan. The longtime city resident and activist believes the city is once again on the cusp of great things. And it’s due to a persistent resilience demonstrated by the waterfront city and its residents, who have seen more than their share of hardships, but continue to bounce back.
“If there’s one word I would apply to Chester, it’s resilience,” Richan said. “I’ve seen it over and over again.”
And as president of the Chester Kiwanis Club, Richan hopes to be smack dab in the middle of the latest push as the city struggles to recover its past glory.
He could not have picked a more appropriate time.
The Chester Kiwanis this year are celebrating a century of service in the city. The group was founded Jan. 8, 1919, by a group of Chester businessmen and civic leaders in the historic Washington House in the 400 block of market Street.
The city has undergone massive change in these last 100 years. Too many county residents are only too glad to point out the negatives tied to the city.
Richan takes a different view. He’s lived the city’s history, both good and bad. But while appreciative of the past, and certainly aware of the struggles of the present, the Kiwanis instead are using this century milestone to instead look ahead to the next century in the city.
“The 100th anniversary is a time not just to look back and see where we’ve been, but to look forward and see where we’re heading,” said Richan’s wife, Ann Hubben.
Ironically, when the group convenes on Nov. 16 to mark their 100th anniversary, they will do so in the Phoenix Ballroom. The image of the ancient bird that rose from the ashes is not lost on the group. If there’s a town that could take the saga of the Phoenix to heart, Chester would be it.
The group will use it as their calling card, focusing on improving the community.
“The Phoenix was a bird that rose out of the ashes, and started a while new life,” Hubben commented. “That’s what Kiwanis Club of Chester is going to be doing.”
While looking at the future, the group will take a route firmly rooted in Chester’s past. That would be its rich tradition of neighborhoods. That’s where the Kiwanis plan to focus their efforts as they embark on a second century of service.
“As you know, Chester is a city of neighborhoods,” Hubben remarked. “And that’s where Kiwanis is going to focus. We want to work with folks within the neighborhoods on issues they’re dealing with, whether it’s trash littering the area, wanting better relations with police, or housing problems, we’ll be there to help.”
The group also will continue to focus on youth via the Chester High School Key Club, which was established in 1947 and each year honors the top students at Chester High School.
In addition, the city Kiwanis has been active in coat drives, an educational program on energy conservation, programs for families who have lost loved ones to violence, a job fair, and a suicide prevention and awareness 5K walk.
It’s doubtful the folks who met back in 1919 ever could have imagined the explosive growth of the city, which was a manufacturing powerhouse during the war years, or the dramatic decline when industry fled the city postWorld War II.
There is a new war going on in Chester. It’s a battle to reclaim the city’s great heritage. It will be fought at the community level, and groups like the Kiwanis, just as they have for 100 years, will play a key part.
Richan is well aware of the city’s struggles. And he’s willing to meet them head-on.
“We found a way to come back,” Richan said of his group, as well as his city. “It may be an individual who was written off or something, and he says, ‘I’m, not going to do that.’ Families lose a member (to a shooting), those family members are not going to give up. That to me is one of the heartening things.”
Resilience is something Chester knows all about.
They’ll find plenty of it in the Chester Kiwanis Club.
Just as they have for 100 years. And we hope for at least 100 more.