23 Profile Essay

Profile of a Place Prompt: Write a profile of a place in the Lewis-Clark Valley that strikes you as interesting. You’ll want to: choose a physical place to focus your essay; complete library/museum research and/or interview at least one person about your chosen place;
connect the place to themes and ideas of cultural relevance or interest; share stories and details that demonstrate why this place is important. You could use one of these three possible frames for your inquiry into this place: How the place connects with the people. Who connects with this place? Why? How? Ideas about a particular concept. This can be an idea about an issue, or problem, related to the place. Quality of the place. Your profile could be your main impression of your place. What strikes you most about this place? This might be a place you know well. Questions to consider: Does the story about the place tell us about the people who go there? Or does the history of the place connect with the people today? Tell the reader anything about the perspectives of others who visit this place.
What does the place’s story say about social situations, trends, or problems? How does its history connect with its future? Your essay should have at least 3 sources for additional information. This can be from an interview with a person about the place, going to the Nez Perce Historical Museum, the Lewiston Library, or checking and seeing what the LCSC Library has in its archives. Other appropriate sources include social media pages of the place, newspaper articles and informative websites. 750-1200 words in length.

The Pathway of Kiwanis Park

By Kora Albrecht (Dr. Lauren Connelly’s class)

Kiwanis Park is a local park in Lewiston, Idaho. The park is located right next to the Snake River. The park has a historical walking path along the Snake River that has signs, a park for children, a gazebo for parties, a duck pond to feed ducks and fish. The park has been around since the late 1800s. Kiwanis Park is a great place for community members to go to get a nice break from reality, you can get a taste of history and enjoy the nice modern park it is today. Kiwanis Park is full of history and is a great place for community members to visit, Kiwanis Park symbolizes the history, modernity, and the ways it impacts the community.

Figure 1 Photo of Kiwanis Park pathway facing North towards the Blue Bridge. Photo by Author.

The history of Kiwanis Park is long. Kiwanis took a long time to be complete. In May of 1960 they were laying more than 400 loads of dirt. The park is nearly 2 blocks long, they leveled out all 400 truckloads of dirt in just four hours (More Dirt Dumped, 1960). In the month of July, they planted the grass for the park (Park Ground Smoothed, 1960). In the month of April of 1962, the city was developing the park into an overnight camping ground. They began building bathrooms and washrooms for the guests. In the same month they also wanted a cleanup crew just to pick up few things like sticks and leaves. The city was hoping that this opportunity would be picked up by the Boy Scouts (Kiwanis Park Progress Should Permit May 1 Dedication, 1962).

Figure 2 Photo of the left side duck pond at Kiwanis Park. Photo by Author.

Today Kiwanis Park is a beautiful pathway along the river that’s connected to duck ponds and a park for children. You can enjoy nice walks along the river. There are benches along the river that allow you to sit and enjoy the view. Today there is a gazebo where parties can be held. Near the gazebo, there is a park where kids can play. Further down the path you can find two ponds, where ducks are. There is also a pond where you can fish for trout. Near the park is a skate park and further down from the skate park is a boat launch. The park is a beautiful place with the stairs to climb the hill side and small bridges to cross the creek. Along the path, there are five signs located to the opposite side of traffic flow. These signs give bits and pieces of what the river was used for in the past.

Figure 3 Photo of Kiwanis Park playground. Photo by Author.

The community is affected by the park in several ways in the past and the present. In the present day they use the path along the river for races along the bridges. The park has local fun runs they hold and other local fun events. Kiwanis Park is good for the community today because it’s in a nice central gathering spot. Kiwanis is located by the river and has ponds, a children’s park, a skate park, a boat launch, and a path to walk and enjoy the scenery. All these places located around the park give reasons for visitors and community member to go to the park and enjoy it. The park is a great place to have family, wedding, or senior photos taken. In the past, this was used by the community to have an overnight camp out.

Figure 4 Photo of 1 of the 5 knowledge boards along the Kiwanis Park pathway. Photo by Author.

Kiwanis Park is a great place for community members to go to get a nice break from reality, you can get a taste of history and enjoy the nice modern park it is today. Kiwanis Park is full of history and is a great place for community members to visit, Kiwanis Park symbolizes the history, modernity, and the ways it impacts the community. Kiwanis Park signifies the history of the park as well as a place to take your family on a walk, take picture, or just simply going and enjoying the park.

Work Cited

Kiwanis Park. (n.d.). Visit Lewis Clark Valley. https://visitlcvalley.com/directory/kiwanis-park/

More Dirt Dumped p. 3. (1960, May 15). Lewiston Tribune. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy.lcsc.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&docref=image/v2%3A14A5888D9F4EC28F%40EANX-NB-15D36A82FB9A0F32%402437070-15D0D1731578CA01%402-15D0D173157

Park Ground Smoothed p. 10. (1960, July 1). Lewiston Tribune. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy.lcsc.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&docref=image/v2%3A14A5888D9F4EC28F%40EANX-NB-15D13B02F4167604%402437117-15D0D2999C79308C%409-15D0D2999C79308C%40.

Kiwanis Park Progress Should Permit May 1 Dedication p. 12. (1962, April 17). Lewiston Tribune. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy.lcsc.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&docref=image/v2%3A14A5888D9F4EC28F%40EANX-NB-15D562BF7A526E33%402437772-15D135257A88E33C%4011-15D135257A88E33C%40.