Friday, March 14, 2008 11:07 PM CDT
Charleston Lions Club busier than ever, marks 30th anniversary
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — In 1977, the Charleston Lions Club was chartered just in time to hold what turned out to be a very popular Fourth of July barbecue.
“It was our first event. We ran out of food,” said club President Steve Ferguson, a charter member. “We were going around to local grocery stores to buy meat to keep cooking.”
Since then, the club has stayed busy supporting local school and youth sports programs as well as Lions programs for those with hearing and sight impairments. Ferguson said the club has been so busy that it did not take time to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the club’s summer 1977 chartering, officially Aug. 27, 1977.
“We had other things on our plate and did not get it done,” Ferguson said. “Our summers seem to get busier every year and we don’t have spare time anymore.”
The club’s programming year runs July 1-June 30, so Ferguson said the club might tie an anniversary celebration into the awards night that ends each of these years. The club is also marking this milestone by recruiting new members to carry on the Lions tradition of community service.
“We are looking for new energy and ideas,” Ferguson said.
One of the club’s first fundraisers was a raffle at the Coles County Fair, Ferguson said. The club subsequently expanded its efforts at the fair by offering a small food booth and ultimately purchased a permanent stand in 1984, he said. The Lions have served up breakfast, lunch and dinner at the fair ever since then.
“We open each morning at 6 a.m. and close when people stop coming,” Ferguson said.
At the fairgrounds, Ferguson said the club began an annual Jonah Fish Fry in 1982 to coincide with the July 4 fireworks there. He said when the fireworks moved to Eastern Illinois University’s campus a few years later, the club switched its fish fry to the first Saturday in May. This year’s fry is set for 4-7:30 p.m. May 3.
Some of the club’s other annual fundraisers include an annual “candy day” during EIU’s Parents Weekend and food sales during the pilot recertification program at the airport. The club also takes appointments every Christmas season for Santa Claus to visit schools, parties, day cares, private homes, and more.
Funds raised by the club have supported youth sports, school programs, and other local efforts. Ferguson said two of the most ambitious projects took place in the early 1990s when the club held a car raffle throughout Peace Meal’s service area and provided a small airplane kit for Charleston High School industrial arts students to assemble.
“We try to be out there to help when things come up,” Ferguson said. The club works closely with the Lions in Mattoon, Oakland, Ashmore, Lerna and Westfield.
The club also supports the efforts of the Lions of Illinois Foundation and Lions Club International, which have a long tradition of helping those with hearing and sign impairments. Ferguson said this tradition goes back to 1925 when deaf-blind activist Helen Keller visited a Lions convention.
“In her speech, Helen Keller asked the Lions to be the knights of the blind and the knights of the deaf,” Ferguson said. He noted Lions international has dedicated itself to eradicating preventable blindness.
Ferguson said the club purchases 40-45 pairs of glasses per year for those in need. He estimated the club collects 1,500-2,000 pairs of glass and about 100 hearing aids per year at the drop-off box outside County Market. The club cleans and catalogs these items for reuse or recycling.
The collected hearing aids are used for those in need in the United States while the glasses are used overseas, Ferguson said. The glasses are particularly in demand by missionaries and medical groups that work in the Third World, he said.
Ferguson said the club sponsors two students every year to attend summer camps for the blind and deaf that the Lions of Illinois Foundation operates.
The foundation also operates a low vision clinic in Champaign as well as one vision screening bus and two hearing screening buses. One of the hearing screening buses is based in Charleston. The Charleston club held a vision screening event on Wednesday, chaired by club member Ron Pruett.
Pruett said the free vision screening is used most often by senior citizens, but is also used on occasion for children and diabetics of all ages. He said Lions programs have given him and a lot of other volunteers an opportunity to help people in their community.
“If somebody wants to get involved, they can do a lot,” Pruett said.
Ferguson said the club has 18 members including, fellow charter members Mick Cox, Bert Good and Gene Miller. He said at least three times that many are needed.
“There are a lot of people out there that need help,” Ferguson said. “I enjoy the friendship of my fellow Lions. I enjoy getting together, having some fun, and raising money and putting it to a good use.”
For more information on the Charleston Lions Club, contact Ferguson at 276-9261 or lion_steve@yahoo.com. The club meets at 6 p.m. every first and third Tuesday of the month at the Panther Paw Bar & Grill, 1412 Fourth St.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 348-5734.
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