The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

If the vision that launched Lions Club International (LCI) in 1917 still applies to local Lions Clubs across America, it surely applies to the Waitsburg Lions Club. Formed in 1940 as a chapter of LCI, Waitsburg’s Lions have been a stable element of social life and community service for 83 years, something not to be taken for granted.

The club and others, including the Freemasons, Eastern Star, Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.), and Kiwanis, support community life and friendship, provide service and aid where needed, encourage civic responsibility, and strengthen leadership. However, social and cultural change has altered the landscape of community groups.

The U.S. Surgeon General’s 2023 report, “Our Epidemic of Isolation and Loneliness,” highlights how community engagement and social cohesion have declined or deteriorated over the years, resulting in decreased social group participation. The report stresses the importance of social connection for maintaining healthy communities and fostering individual well-being.

The Lions Club of Waitsburg is no exception to the trends. Jim Romine, Waitsburg city councilman, is the current president of Waitsburg Lions. He has been a club member for many years in different places he’s lived. Like others familiar with club life, Romine has seen a decline in membership.

“Eight or ten years ago, Waitsburg had hundreds of registered members,” he said. “Now we have about 45, with anywhere from 15 to 25 showing up at a meeting. People are busy with their own lives. Social media has been a factor. And older members who have been doing things in the club for years and years are getting tired.”

A once-familiar Lion’s Club project was providing holiday smoked turkeys to the community. The club would smoke specially brined birds to offer for purchase or give as part of holiday gift baskets to families in need.

“We stopped about five years ago,” Romine says, “because the guys who’d been working it for years got worn out. It’s labor-intensive, a 24-hour operation.”

Lions Club International (LCI) began in 1917, under the shadow of World War I, the brain-child of an insurance salesman named Melvin Jones. A sense of social service and community support was developing in Industrial Chicago, which saw widespread poverty and chronic need among laborer families.

Today, according to its website, LCI has 49,000 clubs in the U.S. and worldwide, involving 1.4 million members adopting a mission of service and dedication to kindness and peacemaking.

Interestingly, some of the first Lions Clubs included women. However, after adopting a national constitution and by-laws, the organization limited membership to men. It wasn’t until 1987 that LCI officially opened its membership to women.

Waitsburg Lions has remained a men’s club, but not by design.

“We’d like to have women in the group,” says Romine. “Most other Lions clubs have men and women members. We haven’t had women show interest, but we’d like to get them involved.”

In the fall of each year, as club meetings start up again, local members are encouraged to invite friends or neighbors to join the club – an invitation Romine says he has never seen declined.

Waitsburg Lions are known for their annual food-focused fundraising events, such as the rib feed, salmon feed, and bison burgers served at the Pioneer Fall Festival. These are critical funding sources for the many projects Lions support throughout the year, but perhaps just as importantly, they are community gathering traditions. This year, after several years of pandemic pause, the club served grilled salmon to over 800 guests.

Historically, Lions Clubs focused on health concerns such as vision, diabetes, and global hunger. According to Romine, Waitsburg Lions participate in the familiar vision program by hosting eye exams for those needing them, and the club collects used eyeglasses that can be sent to developing countries through LCI.

Helen Keller challenged the organization to become “Knights of the Blind” in her famous 1925 speech to members.

Youth involvement and development are also an important part of the Lions Club’s vision of support. Waitsburg Lions grants scholarships to high school seniors and supports school district programs like the Booster Club, the Cardinal’s Nest, and school music programs. The group is also supporting the effort of Waitsburg Parks and Recreation District to build a new swimming pool in town.

“Lions help with a lot of things,” says Romine. “Building projects, grants to help families with special needs, whatever we can help with, we do. We support Little League and help the city with improvements to the baseball diamonds at the athletic field.”

It’s clear that, without the presence of the Lions Club, Waitsburg would be a much poorer place. Its value is beyond quantifying, which makes membership decline a concern.

“If you’re ever at a ball game or the rib feed or other event and wonder how it gets done, approach a Lions’ member and ask about the club,” Romine says. And don’t assume that it’s a men’s thing.

Membership dues are $150 annually and include dinners at the bi-monthly meetings. The club meets at the Lions Club Memorial Building at Waitsburg fairgrounds on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, excluding the summer months. For more information, contact Romine at 509-520-8098.