KLMBGC History
The Kettering Community Homeowners Association was established in 1969. The fields were donated to the community by the builder, Albert Turner of Turner Construction Company and formally named Kilby Fields, named for the prior owner of the grounds before the Kettering Community was built. Shortly after, a stable was built to house horses and equipment for community horseback riding. The historic fencing remains around some portions of the fields. The famous Ole Mill, which no longer exists, stood in front of the beautiful pond that continues to be bountiful with fish, geese, and ducks.
The only two communities in existence at the time the boys and girls club started were Kettering and Largo Kettering. Mitchellville was farm land, which was also part of Largo, until the mid 1970’s when housing construction started. Both Largo and Kettering together may have comprised 200 homes at the time.
The grounds, including the building, were donated to the Kettering Community Association as a complex for the community and the youth of the area for enjoyment and recreation. In 1971, the official Kettering-Largo Boys and Girls Club was established with the Drum and Bugle Corp, wrestling, boxing, baseball, basketball, bowling, soccer, and football. Community Centers were not placed in the suburbs because of low population. Therefore, the developers determined the need for a meeting place for the youth activities and enclosed the horse stable for meeting rooms, banquet rooms, and a location to house equipment for the boys and girls club, boy and girl scout groups, and the homeowners association. The boys and girls club held many, many awards banquet in the building and has very sentimental value to some of our older participants. The building, formerly the Kilby Center, changed to the Kettering Center in 1994.
The involvement of kids grew over the years from 45 kids back in 1971 to over 2,000 kids in 2001. Some of our programs have diminished because of various reasons, but the Kettering-Largo-Mitchellville Boys and Girls Club is strong and continues to grow, as the communities grow. We, as homeowners in this area, have a vested interest in maintaining wholesome activities for our kids. The Kettering-Largo-Mitchellville Boys and Girls Club has filled the gap for recreational activities for the youth of our communities. The boys and girls club is a self-supported organization, receiving funds only from registration and fundraising activities. All of our coaches and support staff personnel are volunteers giving back to their community. We have many 2nd and 3rd generations participating in our programs.
On March 24, 1998, the Kettering Center burned due to an electrical malfunction. The equipment of the Kettering-Largo-Mitchellville Boys and Girls Club was housed in the loft area, where they once stored hay for the horses. As a result, the boys and girls club lost $132,000 in equipment. With the help of our elected officials, particularly Councilman Ron Russell and Senator Ulysses Currie, Albert Turner of Turner Construction and our community, we were able to raise funds to purchase new equipment and get our programs going again. Since the purchase of new equipment was required, the name Mitchellville was added to our uniforms to make community partnership complete.
The Kettering-Largo-Mitchellville Boys and Girls Club has a long standing history of providing activities for the idle time of our youth. We extend our thanks to Mr. Turner for his wisdom and concern for the community to carve this area of land from residential development and preserving it for recreational activities. We are ever so proud of the accomplishments and the personal development we see from year to year in our kids. It is an organization that brings our communities together. We hope that your continued involvement will enable us to be around for your 2nd and 3rd generations in the future. For some, it will be the only time you involve yourself in competitive sports. Others may continue on with sports and do very well. We want to be here to make sure you have that opportunity.