HOUSTON — Several Lions of Mississippi northern District 30M officers came to Houston on Feb. 25 to launch the Chickasaw County Lions Branch of the Maben Lions Club, in the first step to becoming the Chickasaw County Lions Club.
District 30M Gov. Barron Caulfield of Water Valley, Second Vice District Gov. Andy Kalinowski of Columbus, Zone 10 Chair Amy Harrison of Houston and Starkville, Guiding Lions and Past District Govs. Arland “ACE” Eilert of Batesville and Jimmy Jackson of Tupelo were on hand to congratulate the five new members who were inducted during the evening.
Also present were former president and secretary of the Houston Lions Club, Elaine Trenor, and Chickasaw County Supervisor Anderson McFarland. The Chickasaw Branch is sponsored by the Maben Lions Club because it is a nearby established club willing to work with it to form a new Lions club.
Rob Collins of Maben is the president of the Maben club, and Dow Carder is a past president of the Maben club and a resident of Houston, so he is acting as the liaison between the two clubs. Once the branch club gains 20 members it can be chartered as a full-fledged Lions club.
Guiding Lions Eilert and Jackson have been meeting with the prospective members since October. Meeting every second and fourth Monday evenings at Moore’s Restaurant in Houston, they have given the group instructions about what Lions do in the community and why it is “gr-e-e-at” to be a Lion.
In January the group assembled to pay dues and elect officers to start the process. Then on Feb. 25 everyone met together to induct Matthew McGrew of Houston, his wife, Christa McGrew, Beth Brandon of Woodland, Dawn Davis of Cedarbluff and Bette Carder of Houston into the newly formed Chickasaw County Branch Lions Club.
Then the new officers were installed as follows; Matthew McGrew as president, Christa McGrew as secretary and Beth Brandon as treasurer. Responsibilities were laid out with the promise of specific training for new members and new officers planned for the near future.
During the previous meetings videos had been shown about the various services offered by Lions Clubs International. Lions provide service dogs for blind individuals through the Leader Dog organization. Advanced eye surgeries and aid for hearing problems are offered by the Lions Mid-South Sight and Hearing Service in Memphis. Cataract and other sight correction surgeries are offered to qualified patients in Columbus and other regional centers in the state.
The five focal points of service in Lionism this year are vision, hunger, diabetes awareness, childhood cancer and the environment.
Earlier in February the Louisville Lions Club brought its advanced sight screening machine, the Plus Optix, to Houson to test 45 students in 30 minutes at the First Baptist Church Kindergarten and found three children who needed to be referred to a sight professional for further testing and sight correction. This is just one example of the type of service that Lions offer to the community.
If you are interested in learning more about this new club or have questions call 263-8458.
