NEW TROY — Two renovated rooms inside the New Troy Community Center were celebrated during a May 10 Harbor Country Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting ceremony and a Friends of New Troy open house.
“This is a culmination of two years work, and it could nit have been done without the financial support of so many people in this room tonight,” said Lorraine Hanover of the Friends of New Troy. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”
The Community Center’s newly renovated Activities Room (formerly the library) and Meeting Room were unveiled to a festive audience.
According to the non-profit Friends of New Troy, The Activities Room has been fully modernized. “Here, you can check out books from a curated collection; play board games or air hockey; collaborate on Legos or jigsaw puzzles; or just meet a friend for a cup of coffee. Chromebooks may be checked out for use at home or in-house. A dedicated preschool area with wall-mounted toys, a toddlers’ Legos table, and children’s iPads, makes the Activities Room a great place for parents to bring kids for play dates, year-round.”
The Meeting Room is now equipped with multiple Chromebooks, a large-screen Macintosh computer, Bluetooth, wall-mounted television, and black-out blinds. The room may be rented for meetings and movie screenings but is also freely available to those in need of a quiet place for work or study.
The Friends said the renovation was accomplished thanks to the generosity of many donors and grantors, including Michael and Barbara Pries, Lakeland Community Wellness Endowment, Berrien Community Foundation for Good, Frederick S. Upton Foundation, Victoria and Michael Hamilton, Pat Yuzawa-Rubin, Beverly and Gerald Kohn, Nancy and Jerry Koegel, Margaret Spears, Kevin Kutsch, Marie Wester, Mary Coupe, Linda Graham, John and Brenda Edwards, Hannah and Brad Anderson, Peggie Fanning, Shawn Krieger, Robin Chalmers, Dale and Carolyn Zombory, Susan Phelan, Jim Long, Carol Gittler, Victoria Petroff, Linda Anderson, David and Patricia Kramer, Brenda and Lawrence Kittleson, Garry and Elizabeth Lange, Victor Ruppert, Elaine Thomopoulos, Victor Ruppert, Terry and Lorraine Hanover, FONT fundraising events, and other anonymous donors.
“Hundreds of hours were contributed by FONT volunteers including: Robin Carroll, Ann Cilla, Olivia and Scott Schutze, Sherry Brenner, Ollie Jane Rosenthal, Peggie Fanning, Kristy Good, Jenny Gabbard, Victoria and Ollie Petroff, Martha Franklin, Sue Nuti, and Terry and Lorraine Hanover.”
Dan Collison of Long Haul Productions said he and Elizabeth Meister plan to tell the story of how the Community Center began by interviewing people and recoding events.