WEST BRANCH — Starting this September, the Ogemaw Boys and Girls Club will officially be offering activities and services for children aged 6-12, and on Jan. 18, the West-Branch Rose City School Board approved Surline Middle School as the base location for the startup program.

The Ogemaw County Kiwanis Club began striving toward establishing the club in September 2009, and about a year after the idea first started to swirl, the club will officially begin offering tutoring services and activities at the West Branch middle school.

“It’ll be such a benefit for our community,” said WBRC Superintendent Dave Marston during the Board of Education meeting.

Kiwanis member Ellen Pugh said the program would serve not only students of Ogemaw Heights, but also any child within the target age bracket in the county, including home-schooled students. She added membership is $10 per year and children will be able to participate in the club every night from 4-6 p.m.

But this September will only be the beginning.

“We’re hoping to eventually go up to 18 (years old) and we’re hoping to one day have our own building,” Pugh said.

Board members did ask questions about supervision and providing snacks while the Boys and Girls Club members were at Surline, since some of the tutoring and homework times could require using a computer. Pugh and Marston provided information for the board members.

“The kids will be supervised no matter where they’re at,” Pugh said.

“Our food service personnel will be providing the snacks and we will be reimbursed by the federal government,” Marston added.

The Boys & Girls Club of America currently includes more than 4,300 locations and serves 4 million children throughout the country.