The Kiwanis Club of East Lansing held its 52nd annual Community Chicken Barbecue at Patriarche Park on Thursday. The event included chicken dinners, wagon rides and a performance by the East Lansing Kiwanis Community Band. The event went from 4:30-7:30 p.m. A ticket provided a meal of half a chicken, baked beans, baked potato, roll, lemonade and Melting Moments ice cream.

“We use it as a fundraiser for the service club and for the activities that we sponsor as a service club,” said Lou Hekhuis, a past president of the club and member of the State News Board of Directors.

The club is involved with a variety of community service programs including scouting organizations and the distribution of dictionaries and thesauruses to elementary school kids.

Bill McDavid and his son Jimmy McDavid regularly attend the barbecue. Bill McDavid figures that he has been attending the event for about 10 years.

“Well, we just come to this every year,” he said. “This is kind of a familiar ritual for the summer I guess.”

Jimmy McDavid said that he comes for the food.

“It’s good food … chicken’s good, grilled too,” Jimmy McDavid said.

Herb VanDyke has been playing the trumpet for 63 years and was first inspired to by musician Harry James. VanDyke began playing with the East Lansing Kiwanis Community Band about four years ago. He said that the band plays at special events, on the Fourth of July and at nursing homes.

“I’m glad to have the band, because the people need it, to play if nothing else,” VanDyke said.

One aspect of the barbecue was a drive through, allowing folks to get chicken dinners on the go.
East Lansing police Chief Tom Wibert, a Kiwanis club member for four years, said that most of the food served goes to the drive through. He said that he joined the club because it had goals similar to those of his department.

“One of the priorities of the police department is to serve children,” Wibert said. “That’s also the priority of Kiwanis, and so it just seemed like a perfect fit.”