A young boy reads the notes from the 50th Anniversary Memory Board.
The McLean Community Center celebrated its 50th anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 18, from 5 to 10 p.m. The community couldn't have asked for a better celebration — music through the decades, dancing, food, drinks, trivia, and more — at the center, which officially opened in October 1975.
Carole Herrick, McLean historian and former MCC board member, led a presentation on the history and formation of the building and the efforts that made it possible. She recalled that it started with "all these new people" over 50 years ago, who said, "Wait a minute. We need a center. We need something to tie us in with McLean."
"The citizens got together, advocated for a community center, and it was the citizens in effect that built the community center that opened in 1975," Herrick said.
Notes from the 50th Anniversary Memory Board
I love being able to serve an area that values community so much that it taxes itself to support a community center, and the residents are a dream to program for.”
-Sarah Schallern Treff.
“The MCC has always been a joyous place for our family”.
- Mike Fischer
“The McLean Community Center has been and continues to be a place that elicits joy and the most genuine of smiles from those who walk through our doors, and that remains my favorite part of all that we do.”
- Kyle Corwin.
“McLean Community Center continues its tradition of creating memories by sponsoring the restart of the McLean Winterfest Parade. It was such a joy to be able to represent the MCC in this long-standing hometown tradition!”
- Betsy May-Salazar, executive director.
Visit https://mcleancenter.org/ to learn more about these upcoming events and others.
* Saturday, Oct. 25, 5-8 p.m.: Old Firehouse’s Festival of Frights and Trunk or Treat, free.
* Saturday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m.: Norbert Leo Butz: “Broadway or Busk” (tickets on sale).
* Monday, Nov. 3, 8 a.m.–6 p.m.: Fly & Movie, an indoor skydiving, adrenaline rush that will have you floating in mid-air.