Celebrating 65 years of legends and memories, the Boys and Girls Club of Valdosta will mark the anniversary with a special event.

On Monday, former coaches, players, students, and mentors will gather at the Quail Branch Lodge at 601 Zeigler Road in Lake Park for a trip down memory lane. The reunion will be a benefit fund-raiser for the Boys and Girls Club. Proceeds will assist with the programs that have now grown to serve more than 4,000 youth annually in the community, said Executive Director Robert Soper.

The club offers Smart Moves, Stay Smart, Street Smart — an anti-gang initiative — and Triple Play Healthy Habits, all national programs that have been proven effective.

“Our goals with these initiatives are to improve graduation rates, prevent kids from entering the juvenile justice system and preventing childhood obesity,” he said.

The Boys and Girls Club offers Keystone Club, Torch Club, and a Youth of the Year Program, among others, he said.

Soper said the main purpose of the Monday event is to “get together and have a good time,” but also to pay tribute to the alumni, “the road pavers who got the Boys and Girls Club where it is now.” The gathering will include a pre-event annual awards ceremony for board members. Award recipients will be announced sometime during the evening. A perpetual slide presentation covering the 1940’s through the 1990’s will run, he said, to help people reconnect with the past while planning for the future.

Looking through old reports and rosters, Soper estimates the club has served over 120,000 kids over the years, including some well-known athletes and coaches. Some of the club’s alumni have coached or volunteered for between 25 and 40 years, he said. In addition to the two facilities in Lowndes County, the club operates three facilities in Brooks County, Soper said.

The benefit will be from 7-9 p.m. and is $65 per person or $100 per couple. Covingtons is catering the food and the duo of Dude and Dave will provide live entertainment, Soper said.

Anyone interested in attending the event, or who has memorabilia or old photos that can used for a display that evening, should contact Robert Soper at (229) 242-0676.