Cosmo Park cleanup first partnership of Columbia service clubs since 1960s

The last time Columbia service clubs, including the Optimists, Kiwanis, Cosmopolitan International, Rotary and Lions clubs, worked together on one major project likely was in the 1960s.

That changed Saturday when all these groups joined for a park cleanup effort at Cosmo Park. The nearly 70-volunteer-strong effort focused on different areas of the park in which to pick up small trash items.

This included a playground area, the skate park and in the parking lots nears sports fields. Volunteers also worked to sanitize playground equipment.

Following the cleanup, participants gathered for fellowship time, an ice cream social and hot dog lunch at the Downtown Optimist Clubhouse on Grand Avenue.

It was the Columbia branch of Cosmopolitan International which helped establish Cosmo Park, which prior to 1947 was the location of the city's municipal airport. The Cosmopolitan Club also helped found what became Job Point.

The mutual effort started out-of-state, said Rick McKernan with the Columbia Downtown Optimist Club, who helped organize Saturday's service club partnership.

The international presidents have a meeting each year at the Rose Bowl, he said.

"They all said, 'We ought to do something together,' " McKernan said.

Unfortunately, that decision did not trickle down to local organizations, where service efforts likely would have occurred in 2021.

"All of our clubs do great things for the community. I don't think you could find a better example of us all having the same mission. We just do it in different directions," McKernan said.

A meeting in October with Optimist International President Patsy Garner is when the Downtown Optimists first heard of the collaborative service project plan.

"I called Rotary and all the other places and nobody else had heard (about it)," McKernan said. "We got the ball rolling."

The service project Saturday gave members in each of the organizations the chance to meet.

"This is a kind of a collective effort to try and get to know the other people better and the synergy we can have. We can accomplish more stuff (together)," McKernan said, adding there is a hope to create a centralized contact page for the service clubs.

"Everybody does a little bit of work, but collectively, we could move a mountain."

Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Please consider subscribing to support vital local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Columbia service clubs partner in Cosmo Park cleanup effort