MANSFIELD — The Mansfield Rotary Club celebrated its 100th anniversary Wednesday by adding a new landmark to the Carrousel District — an old-fashioned street clock.
The two-sided post clock was made and installed by Verdin, a well-established clockmaker in Cincinnati. It stands 15 feet high on the Richland Carrousel Park lawn, overlooking South Main Street.
“We’re thrilled that the Rotary included us in their centennial,” said Sharon Bishop, director of the Carrousel. “It’s a marvelous project that’ll last for years.”
The Rotary Club donated the clock to the Richland Carrousel Park, but covered the costs of installation and will continue to cover the maintenance and electrical costs.
For Rotarian Pat Chilcote, the installation of the clock was a proud, long-awaited moment. According to Chilcote, the club began discussing centennial projects and looking at clock models about five years ago.
In addition to beautifying downtown, she hopes the clock will serve as a testament to the club’s mission.
“People coming up South Main can see ‘Rotary Club’ and see we’re active in the community and trying to make a better place for everybody to live,” she said.
The clock is just one-third of the Mansfield Rotary Club’s centennial celebration.
Earlier this year, it donated a new $35,000 outdoor space, including a patio and outdoor furniture, for addiction recovery patients at Catalyst Life Services.
The Rotarians are also developing a scholarship fund for nontraditional students at Ohio State Mansfield and North Central State College.
According to Rotarian Andy Chalk, the fund is designed to help students in their 20s and 30s who want to go back to college.
“Maybe they graduated high school and they went straight into the workforce. Maybe they got married and started having a family. Maybe they didn’t go to college right away, but now they would like to,” Chalk said.
“Both colleges told us that they have a number of students that come in their 20s and 30s, they’ve already got a family started and money’s tight, and they want to come back to school but didn’t have the money. And so this is a kind of a way to help them get past that, kind of a leg up.”
