100th birthday proves special for Bill Hutchinson

Leamington’s newest centenarian celebrated in style with an open house for family and friends on Sunday, January 7.

That’s the day that Bill Hutchinson turned 100 and those who gathered at Chartwell Leamington to celebrate were thrilled to be there for cake, candles and plenty of stories.

Bill — a WWII veteran and retired from the Municipality of Leamington – was visited by Mayor Hilda MacDonald and a number of other area residents who helped his family celebrate the milestone.

Bill greeted each and every person and had a short chat with them.

Among the attendees were several members of the Leamington Kiwanis Club, who were on hand to honour Bill’s 68 years in Kiwanis.

He was a founding member of the Kiwanis Camp on Seacliff Drive — which opened in 1958 — and spent many hours at the camp helping to maintain the building and grounds.

His now-grown children fondly recalled spending lots of time there as kids.

In addition to the birthday celebrations, Kiwanis president Jamie Wiper had a special presentation planned for the occasion and he needed Bill Hutchinson’s participation to pull it off.

A surprise presentation was made to Kiwanis members James and Maryanne Ives, who have looked after the camp for the past 18 years.

Wiper talked about the dedication that the Ives family has shown in taking care of the camp over the years and Bill Hutchinson also expressed his gratitude for their hard work in carrying on his passion.

The newly minted plaque that was presented to the Ives family is called the Bill Hutchinson Award, which honours the recipient and also pays homage to Bill and the 68 years he’s put into Kiwanis.

Among Bill’s photos and certificates on display was a 65-year Kiwanis Certificate and Kiwanis Division 3 Lieutenant Governor Richard Felton was on hand to honour the long-time Kiwanian as well.

And of course, Bill’s community involvement didn’t stop at Kiwanis.

He was also a founding member of the Sun Parlour Players and along with his late wife Audrian, was active in the local theatre scene for many years.

Bill and Audrian put their hard work and support into The Bank Theatre in recent years, back when the theatre was a mere vision and seeing it develop into the state-of-the-art venue it is now.

Over those early years, Bill could often be seen with a hammer, shovel or drill as the theatre began to take shape while under construction.