DOWAGIAC — The Dowagiac Rotary Club’s Centennial Celebration is coming along with the help of a $3,000 grant from the Rotary District 6360 Foundation.

As the Rotary Club celebrates 100 years, its members are continuing to look at the future of the community and will use the funds towards construction of two “Welcome to Dowagiac” signs with the Dowagiac Rotary Club emblem. 

Karl Kincade, president of the Rotary District 6360 Foundation, which represents the 55 Rotary clubs in southwest Michigan, was at the Dowagiac’s weekly meeting. The Rotary District 6360 Foundation is a 501(c)(3), meaning when people donate to the foundation, it is a tax-deductible donation.

“Probably our major focus is grants,” Kincade said. “We have what we call a Karl Sandelin Grant Program. Clubs can apply for those grants. You have to fill out a form, and we raise funds for the grants by having an annual raffle.”

Kincade said the Dowagiac club has been a large supporter of the raffle every year and, in turn, has continually supported the foundation.

“I am so glad I could return the favor this year,” Kincade said, as he officially handed over a $3,000 check to Rotary Club President Melody Wallace, Rotary Foundation President Larry Schmidt and Dowagiac Rotarian and foundation board member Barbara Groner.

“We approved 10 grants for about $25,000 this year,” Kincade said. “The grant will be used towards your Centennial Celebration.”

As Wallace, Schmidt and Groner accepted the check, Schmidt said the Rotary Club has been working on its centennial project for the past year.

As he pointed to the renderings of a sign outlined on a board behind the group, he said the Rotary Club’s two “Welcome to Dowagiac” signs are a gift to the community.

“This is our gift to the city of Dowagiac, not just to city hall, but to the entire community,” Schmidt said.

The two signs will be stationed on what Schmidt called arguably the busiest street corner in Dowagiac, the corner of M-51 and M-62.

“We’ve made great progress,” Schmidt said. “We aren’t quite there in terms of our total goal, but we are getting close. I would say we are at approximately 80 percent at this point, and we still have some funds coming in.”

Schmidt said Groner’s idea to apply for the Karl Sandelin Grant and a grant through the Michigan Gateway Community Foundation helped supply the Rotary Club with more funds.

“Thanks to Barb and her efforts in initiating that, we were able to get additional funds we really weren’t counting on,” Schmidt said. “Thank you very much, Barb.”