Kiwanis International president visits Findlay

Kiwanis International President Katrina Baranko offered a helping hand to fellow Kiwanians as they spruced up Bruchlacher Memorial Park last week. Baranko, who is from Georgia, represents the 200,000 Kiwanis members in 80 countries or regions. Project work on Thursday included refreshing landscape mulch at the park. Baranko also helped members of the Kiwanis Club of Findlay plant a tree at the playground in recognition of her visit. The club celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2020 by developing Brucklacher Park beside the Little Red Schoolhouse on County Road 236. The project was held in conjunction with the Hancock Historical Museum at the former site of the Riverside Train that was moved to Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation on County Road 99 in 2015. The 10,000-square-foot park includes a playground, child-oriented sculptures, landscaping and a timber-frame picnic shelter. The Hancock Leadership Class of 2021 took on the history walk project at the site. The walk is similar to the StoryWalk at Riverside Park expect each of the 13 signs highlight various historical events in both Findlay and Hancock County's history. The park honors the late Jim Brucklacher, a past president of the Findlay Kiwanis Club and a trustee of the club's foundation, as well as a founder, past president and longtime trustee of the museum. He died in 2018 at age 94. Earlier in the day, Baranko participated in a morning service project and noon meeting with the Bowling Green Kiwanis Club.