Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
From left, Carrie Hansel, Mayor Keith Prunty and Barry Fredericks representing the City of Kimball and the Park and Rec Board, accept a check for more than $90,000 from Jim O'Brien, Rob Waite and Michael Reuter of the Kimball Country Club.
This photo shows an aerial photograph that was taken of the current Kimball Recration Area in one of many stages of its early development.
December 31 marks the end of 2015 and the end of the Kimball Country Club, after nearly 90 years of association.
On Thursday, Dec. 31, Kimball Country Club board members presented Mayor Keith Prunty and Barry Fredericks, Chairman of the Park and Recreation Board, with check for $91,093.24 in the lobby of FirsTier Bank in Kimball.
Established in March 1926, the Kimball Country Club's purpose was to "promote the general health and welfare of its members, to stimulate social activity among its members and to maintain golf grounds or other sports usual in country clubs," according to a submission in "A History of Kimball County" by golf enthusiast Wilma Gilliland.
Headed by local banker Roland Rodman, the Kimball Country Club Articles of Association were signed by a group of fifty members.
Originally located south of Kimball along Highway 71, the clubhouse and nine-hole golf course was later threatened by the development of Interstate 80, which would take out a major part of four holes.
In 1965 a permanent Park and Recreation Board was appointed, consisting of county commissioners and city council members. These men were charged with finding a permanent location for a recreation site with adequate water.
That board purchased approximately 270 acres east of Kimball and developed the current recreation area.
The club grew through the years, adding nine additional holes, and included a tennis court, baseball and softball fields and a shooting and archery range, largely cared for by volunteers and members.
Membership waxed and waned with the population, as did the recreation at the club, but in March 2014, after 88 years of association, the club house was purchased at auction by R. F. Investments – a partnership between Michael and Kinnie Reuter, Mark Fornstrom and Justin Fornstrom.
The money presented to the local Park and Recreation Board were the proceeds from that auction, which will carry on the mission set by the Kimball Country Club board nearly 90 years ago – to promote general health, stimulate social activity and maintain grounds.
"It's kind of a mixed feeling," Kimball Country Club board member Jim O'Brien said, "We struggled for the past several years. Some of us have been on the board for ten or fifteen years. When we finally decided to close it down, we had an auction. Michael Reuter and his corporation purchased it, remodeled it and reopened privately. So, after closing out the Country Club Corporation – we will turn it over to the recreation board today."