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Countdown Time for Lions
Before Circus and Parade
It's "countdown" for Lions . 3, 2, & 1:
-- "Brown County Salutes Its Children" is the theme for floats
May 3 in the Lions Spring Blossom Festival Parade. It steps off at 11 a.m.
from the high school parking lot.
-- Kelly Miller Circus moves in a day earlier on May 2 with its
big top shows at Eagle Park on Road 46 East, just west of the entrance to
Brown County State Park. Be there: 9 a.m.
-- And a day before that, May 1 at Mike's Dance Barn, "Lions &
Friends" gather for a $10 Pre-Circus Treat at a cash bar - barbecued
boneless pork ribs and chicken legs, Mike's Spicy Kick-Butt baked beans,
cole slaw, potato salad, green beans, and coffee plus a fountain drink.
Advance-sale circus tickets are $5 for children under 12, $9 for
adults. Day-of-show tickets are $6 for children, $12 for adults. Babies
under 2 are free.
Lion Circus Chair Jerry Simo also requested 1,300 "Color the
Clowns" sheets for distribution in Grades 1 to 6. Circus performers will
judge winners to announce during the shows and select a novelty item from
among those being sold.
Rotary Offers 'Group Exchange'
Rotarian Ken Harker, whose wife Jan is Lion Secretary, will
speak to Lions March 18
about Rotary International's "Group Study Exchange" program. It offers young
professionals and business people, ages 25 to 40, who are NOT Rotarians, an
opportunity to visit another country and leaders of their occupations. The
hope is to send at least one representative from Brown County.
Riverwatch March 22
Riverwatch Lion Co-Chair Dave Miller reports the next test of
Salt Creek waters alongside the county's Deer Run Park is set for 3 p.m.
March 22, and anyone interested in water quality is invited.
From Co-Chair Joyce Jordan-Peek: A watched may never pot boil,
but a covered one boils extra quickly - saving time and energy. So does
using smaller appliances - a toaster oven, rice cooker, or crock pot - and
choosing proper pans and burners. It also doesn't take as much energy to
reheat food as to cook it in the first place - so, plan for leftovers!
Newest Lion Sworn In
Newest Lion Arthur C. Omberg III was sworn in at the March board
meeting, getting praise from his mother-in-law, Debbie K. Larsh, herself a
Lion only a few months. Lion Arthur, whose wife Chris is a nursing student,
lives in Nashville and serves on the Town Council. An elementary teacher, he
came to Indiana in 1986.
Two Conventions Soon
Lion District 25E-1 convention is coming up. District Convention
is April 4 and 5 at McCormick's Creek State Park, Road 46 west of Spencer.
State Lions convention is April 25-27 at Fort Wayne.
All Lions are invited. Make arrangements with Lion Secretary Jan
Harker.
Eyeglasses 63, Hearing Aids 12
Lion Recycling Chair Gary Havely reports 63 pair of eyeglasses
(most he recalls), 12 hearing aids, and three cellphones donated in the club's
boxes last month.
65 Years Ago, New Lions Club of 31 Began Good Deeds
If you lived 65 years ago today in Brown County, you might have
been among the 31 members organizing to create a new organization - the
Lions Club.
That's right: This Lions Club!
Charter Night dinner for the new Lions Club was March 12, 1943,
at the old basement of the Nashville United Methodist Church. After years of
moving from one dining room to another, the club returned to that
church-based tradition with the recent move to the Parkview Church of the
Nazarene, Road 46 East.
Attendance was 106 at Charter Night, with all 31 Lions present.
Club membership today to is 114.
Even in 1943, Indiana was District 25. Brown County today is
part of District 25E-1 - the division into E-1 and E-2 occurring only in
1974 during the term served by one of this club's two district governors,
the late Daily F. Hill. A run to become the club's third district governor
is planned the next year by Lion Past President Richard Halladay.
It was not until June 1943 that the club reported adding two
members - but dropping four ... for a net total of 29. The fee for new
members was $3, promptly raised to $3.50 in July 1943.
You may find some familiar names in the list of 31 charter
members that reads:
Paul Adams, grocer; Ed Atkins, restaurant; Ray Baughman, meat
market; Walter Baughman, contractor; Joshua Bond, funeral director; Faun F.
Clark, public welfare; James Davis, county assessor; the Rev. J.E.
deGafferelly, Christian minister; Melvin V. Flock, county agent; Russell M.
Green, high school principal; Robert E. Gregg, service station; Walter
Griffiths, pottery manufacturer; Fred King, public welfare; Kenneth Kunkel,
state ration director; Glenn R. Loop, federal employee; William McBeth, high
school coach; Ival McDonald, Chevrolet dealer; Delmar R. Mills, federal
employee; William Peeples, retired; Elmer F. Raider, publisher; William
Robertson, federal employee; Walter R. Snodgrass, real estate; Paul C.
Snyder, farmer; Keith Taggart, service station; George C. Tucker, service
station; Alonzo Weddle, state park superintendent; Edward K. Williams,
artist; Burr Williamson, insurance agent; Howard S. Zody, banker, and Dr.
Byron W. Marshall, physician, transfer member from Pine Bluffs, Wyoming.
The club's first added members were N.H. Cartinhour, a salesman,
and Richard Houston, a truck line operator.
Community activities are legendary, beginning with a Red
Cross-benefit basketball game March 26 against Helmsburg at the Nashville
gymnasium (demolished only in 1987), and a decision in May to erect an Honor
Roll listing names of Brown County members serving in the armed forces. That
Honor Roll, dedicated with a crowd of 600, survives to this day.
By September 25, the Lions Club organized a Fun Carnival Night
and square dance attended by 250 persons at the Nashville High School
gymnasium, and helped start the 4-H Fair in 1946 with the first Lions Free
Fair for the benefit of 4-H Club activity.
Fire that destroyed the Nashville House hotel in 1943 also
resulted in more than $165 salvage for the Lions Club gleaners. That was in
addition to projects that included buying a siren for a town fire alarm,
furnishing eyeglasses for indigent children, and sponsoring the water system
for Nashville.
* * *
There's more. We'll plan to have it for you next month.
From the Lion President
Lions at 65, Still Roarin' to Go!
You know you're 65 when it takes longer to rest than it did to
get tired.
You know you're 65 when you are cautioned to slow down by your
doctor instead of the police.
As you know, the Brown County Lions Club turns 65 this month,
but there's no sign that this group is getting ready to retire. In April
1943, reporting on the Brown County Lions Club's first month of existence,
Lion Secretary Fred King wrote, "The public is expecting quite a lot from
the club and most all the improvements made in this community recently have
been laid to the local club."
The public sure got what was expected. In the decade that
followed, the Lions Club founded the Brown County Volunteer Fire Department,
helped build a water system for the town, and procured a doctor for the area
when the old doctor retired.
That tradition lives on today, 65 years later. What would Brown
County be without the Spring Blossom Parade and the 4th of July fireworks
organized by the Lions? Which organization will be called upon when
emergency crowd control is needed? And which organization raises and returns
over $20,000 annually to our community (besides the Foundation)?
I am proud to be part of a long tradition of Lionism in these
hills and hope you are, too. Let's make sure we continue to measure up to
the expectations that our community still hold for us, and follow the
example of courageous leadership set by the Lions who left their footprints
in Brown County.
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