History

In the early 1940’s, before the War, there was an event called The Harvest Ball which was held in Roy. Everything stopped during the war years and then when the men came back home there was an interest in dances with “all the trimmings”. Some of the young men at that time got together in June of 1946 at the Banks School grounds and had what they called a Bar-B-Q. This was held for about 2 years.

Ed Reabon owned the property to the west of the Banks School property. The group of men acquired this property and began work on a field to play ball. A dance floor was put down and a Gun Club was constructed.

Ray J. Vanderzanden was elected president of the group which became incorporated with the National Chamber of Commerce. In later years the name would be changed from Banks Sunset Chamber of Commerce, Inc. to Banks Community Chamber, Inc., to the present day Banks Sunset Park Association Inc.

Over the years, the group has lost the original Gun Club, and the Hall that was built over the dance floor. It was lost due to a fire in January of 1983. Since that time, the Gun Club and the Hall have been re-built.

The membership generally consists of people in good standing who pay dues on a yearly basis. This group has an elected Board of Directors consisting of the organization’s president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer and the immediate past president and four others who are elected from the general membership.

The main purpose of the Banks Sunset Park Association is that of doing good for other groups or persons in the community. Such as the Boy Scouts, FFA, summer baseball, Youth soccer, and the local school district.

The Banks Sunset Park is a privately owned park ran by volunteers working to better the community. It is completely funded by activities hosted at the park. We hope you enjoy your time here and thank you for your support.