A key Kiwanis Club of Chatham tradition continued recently, as the club honoured Bob Fletcher with the 2022 Syd Kemsley Community Service Award.
Fletcher is a long-time member and elder at First Presbyterian Church. He has been one of the people on whom the minister can always count to help when situations and challenges arise.
He is quick to help and offer solutions. Fletcher is generous both with his time and financial support of the ministry.
Fletcher is a mainstay with the Saturday Breakfast program at the church, which serves people in need in our community. Now in its 20th year, the Saturday Breakfast has served well over 150,000 free meals and continued to do so during the pandemic.
Another important contribution to the community by Fletcher has been in his involvement in establishing the health teams in Chatham-Kent. He spent a great deal of time on the road in various cities stressing the need for doctors in our area.
As well, with his technical expertise, Fletcher was able to introduce a computer voice-recognition system whereby medical staff could bypass handwritten health reports by having their oral reports printed directly, thus saving much time.
The award Fletcher received is named in honour of the late Syd Kemsley, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 97. He joined the Kiwanis Club of Chatham in 1948 and transferred to Kiwanis Golden K in 1997 as a charter member.
Kemsley received the Kiwanis 65-year Legion of Honour award in 2013, having served the community and the children of the world throughout his long career. He was a true believer in the objects of Kiwanis. His daytime career was also serving the public as the owner of Syd Kemsley Florists.
It is with great admiration that the Kiwanis Club of Chatham-Kent offers an annual award in Kemsley and his late wife Barbara to a deserving citizen who serves this community in a like way.
