Members of the Loganville Rotary Club recently received a firsthand look at the progress being made inside the new O’Kelly Memorial Library, including a room that will recognize the club and the lasting community legacy of former Rotarian Kurt Hansen.

The tour gave Rotary members an opportunity to see the results of a project the organization has supported in a significant way. In October 2025, the Loganville Rotary Club presented a $40,000 donation from its Kurt Hansen Fund to help support the new library. It was the largest single donation made by the club during its more than two decades of service in Loganville.

In recognition of that contribution, a room inside the new library will be named in honor of Kurt Hansen and the Loganville Rotary Club. Plans for the room include a photograph of Hansen and information about his life, his community involvement and the vision that ultimately led to the fund bearing his name.

The room also contains a stained-glass window that was carefully removed from the existing O’Kelly Memorial Library and brought to the new facility. Preserving and relocating the window allows an important piece of the original library to remain part of the community’s next chapter.

Hansen was a longtime Loganville pharmacist, Rotarian and member of the city’s planning commission. Before his unexpected death at age 51, he encouraged the club to establish a fund that would receive regular contributions, grow through investment and eventually support a major project benefiting the Loganville community.

When a tornado, hurricane, flood or other disaster strikes, the first hours and days can leave families facing damaged homes, fallen trees and overwhelming cleanup work.

A team based right here in Loganville is now better prepared to respond.

Lisa and Mike Clotfelter lead the local Samaritan’s Purse disaster-relief effort operating through The Cross, a Loganville church located on Tig Knight Road. The couple recently received one of the organization’s specially equipped relief vehicles, giving local volunteers immediate access to the tools needed when they are called into a disaster area.

The truck is stocked with brand-new equipment, including several types of saws, wheelbarrows, leaf blowers, rakes, brooms, shovels and other cleanup tools. With the vehicle loaded and ready, the Loganville team can be deployed to assist following nearly any type of natural disaster.

Visitors to Loganville’s new O’Kelly Memorial Library will be greeted by more than books, technology and expanded community spaces. One of the building’s largest interior walls is becoming a visual celebration of the city itself.

Artist Tamara Haase is creating an expansive mural built around the word “LOGANVILLE,” with scenes from the community’s history and identity painted within and around the oversized letters.

The mural brings together familiar landmarks, local traditions and images that help tell the story of Loganville. Among the scenes are the city’s water tower, Vines Mansion, cattle representing the area’s agricultural heritage, a tribute to Willie D. O’Kelly, a historic newspaper image, Loganville’s celebrated baseball program, the community’s popular car show, a Buncombe, Georgia sign and the Loganville Town Green decorated for America’s 250th anniversary.

A steam locomotive stretches across the lower portion of the mural, adding another connection to the transportation and development history of the area. Flowers, stonework, trees and rolling green scenery tie the individual images together.