The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG – Hard work pays off. It takes a lot of helping hands, but The Waitsburg Lions pulled off another highly successful Rib Feed fundraiser last Saturday.

Lions Club President Neil Carpenter is quick to thank the community for supporting the rib and salmon feeds and beer garden fundraisers that will allow the group to donate more than $30,000 this club year.

"We just really want to thank everyone for buying tickets to these events," Carpenter said. "Without all the support from the community, we couldn't have done any of this."

Carpenter said the rib feed, which quickly sells out of the 800 available tickets, usually nets the group around $14,000. The salmon BBQ, held in September, is a close second in popularity. Both events have been fine-tuned to be pulled off with an almost military precision, he said.

"We have a list and everyone has a job. As long as everyone does their job – it works. Guys do the muscle work and the wives do the fine tuning. And all the money goes right back into the town," Carpenter said.

Last year the Lions awarded the first $1,000 Waitsburg Lions Club Scholarship to a WHS graduate with plans to continue the award in future years. This year, Carpenter said the club will award not one, but five $1,000 scholarships.

The Lions Club has undertaken many large-scale projects over the years. One of the first big projects, according to longtime Lion Jack McCaw, was constructing two dugouts and erecting backstops and line fences for Little League ballplayers at the Thomas Harvey Estes Memorial Field fifty years ago this spring. The facilities were donated to the school district and have been well-used over the years.

With the recent addition of four newly-constructed regulation Little League fields on the fairgrounds racetrack infield, the old dugouts have been removed to allow for improved football facilities. The Lions will donate $4,000 toward the purchase of new, regulation goal posts for the football field.

But scholarships and help with sports facilities are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many ways the club has supported the community financially this year.

The club has donated $11,350 in support of school programs including: medical screening van visits, Invest Ed, anti-bullying program, the high school music program, Youth & Government, new goal posts, and scholarships.

Local youth have been supported to the tune of $8,100 with the club donating toward 4-H camp, FFA Columbia County Fair support, Rural Youth Enrichment Services, the Special Olympics ski program, help with the new Little League fields, donations to Touchet Valley Golf for a youth golf clinic, and basketball camp for the WHS girls' basketball team.

Dena Wood

Guy McCaw (l) and Ken Cole, Jr. open a smoker for a peek at the product.

The Lions have supported the community at large with donations to Waitsburg Celebration Days, including support specifically for royalty and sponsorship of the Queen's Luncheon, the Waitsburg Resource Center, and the Cardinal's Nest after-school program, for a total of $11,000.

Carpenter said the group also makes a priority of donating $1,000 to be able to award the Melvin Jones Award, the highest award in Lionism, especially since Waitsburg was on the receiving end of the fund's benefits when it received $42,000 to help repair the swimming pool after the 1996 flood. This year, the Waitsburg Lions presented the award to both Guy McCaw and J. E. McCaw for their service in Lions as well as their commitment to the community in general.

Any men interested in joining the Waitsburg Lions are encouraged to contact a member and attend a meeting as their guest. The club meets the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, September through May. Neil Carpenter may be contacted at 337-6131.