Our Story

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The Kiwanis Club of Ingersoll was founded in 1921 with the mission of Serving the Children of the World. For more than 100 years, the Kiwanis Club has been serving the community of Ingersoll, in particular youth and individuals with disabilities. Kiwanis International created their Service Leadership Programs, one being Key Club. In 2006, the Ingersoll club initiated the IDCI Key Club. Twice weekly Bill Martin would attend meetings at the high school, mentoring a young group of service leaders. In 2010, Ian Robertson had the idea of re-opening the Ingersoll Mini Putt with the IDCI Key Club members to provide a recreational activity within Ingersoll and to provide an additional mentoring and educational opportunity for the Key Club members. Both Ian and Bill along with Hugh Ponting and Ciff Martin worked with the students to have the course re-opened that season!

The IDCI Key Club has never been too large, but the impact the mentoring and support has had on those who have had the privilege of being a member, lasts a lifetime! Our community is very fortunate to have dedicated members of the Kiwanis Club of Ingersoll that volunteer their time to help students develop their ability to serve their homes, schools, and communities. In early 2010, students worked to fix hole boundaries, create obstacles, paint, design scorecards, stock the canteen, and develop a business plan. When Ingersoll Key Putt first opened, the members of the IDCI Key Club would staff the facility in a volunteer capacity with Kiwanis members filling in any gaps. It was an intergenerational activity that benefitted both groups and the entire community! The Key Club members have the opportunity each year to further develop entrepreneurial, communication, and leadership skills through this initiative.

As we celebrate 15 years of operating Ingersoll Key Putt, we can see an incredible amount of growth. Every year Ingersoll Key Putt gets busier, serving more of our community. We have not yet, increased our prices and it still remains $2/child, $3/adult, and $8/family of four. We are able to receive the Canada Summer Jobs funding so that we can employ two students for the majority of the summer, providing them with an income to support their postsecondary opportunities. We have started leagues, themed nights, and this year we will be planning our Car Show again in August. This year we are working to improve the experience at the mini putt. By the time we open on May 16th, we will have 10 new obstacles installed, more shaded seating, more colour, new activities, and themed nights. We are now able to provide additional training, including First Aid for the students working throughout the summer. We will continue adding more obstacles throughout the season. We are always appreciative of new sponsors to help support the facility. At best, we break even each season.