A local organization dedicated to helping others to see better is about to become more visible itself.
The South Whidbey Lions Club will be honored along with other chapters of the service organization on the island and throughout the world when Friday, March 26 is proclaimed “Lions Day.”
“This will help bring attention to the Lions and will help them help those who need it,” said Rob Setlow of Clinton, president of the South Whidbey club.
On Monday, March 15, Langley Mayor Paul Samuelson will read the city’s official “Lions Day” proclamation at the regular city council meeting. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at city hall on Second Street.
Similar proclamations for Lions chapters are planned for Oak Harbor and Coupeville.
Three officers of the South Whidbey club will attend the Langley meeting. Setlow will speak about the club’s ongoing efforts at Freeland Park, secretary Troy Nakamura will speak about the club’s upcoming food drive for Good Cheer, and her husband, Ralph Nakamura, a past zone chairman, will speak about the Lions’ sight and hearing program.
Organized in 1948, the South Whidbey club currently has 35 members. Five of its members through the years have received the Record’s “Hometown Heroes” recognition.
Through its “White Cane Days” fundraiser, the club collects money for the Northwest Lions Foundation for Sight & Hearing, which funds the Northwest Lions Eye Bank, the Lions Health Screening Unit and other patient-care facilities.
The club helps local residents get eye exams, glasses, cornea transplants, hearing tests and hearing aids. The club recently purchased a computerized scanner and projector for a South Whidbey child who is nearly blind.
The local group also awards college scholarships to high school students, and regularly participates in the Highway Cleanup Project on a two-mile stretch of Highway 525.
In 2005, the club landscaped and built a picnic pavilion at Freeland Park, and continues to help maintain the area. The club also supports several local charitable organizations, including Hearts & Hammers, the M-Bar-C Ranch’s Forgotten Children’s Fund, the Cub Scouts and Good Cheer Food Bank.
The club also raises funds with its hot-dog concessions at several events throughout the South End.
In honor of Lions Day, the club will sponsor a food drive Friday and Saturday, March 26-27 to benefit Good Cheer.
Collection points for non-perishable food donations will be set up at three locations. In Langley, food will be collected at the Star Store parking lot on Friday from 10 a.m. to noon. In Bayview, food will be collected at the Goose Community Grocers parking lot on Friday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. In Freeland, food will be collected at the PayLess Foods parking lot from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Setlow, 67, joined the club in 2005 and became president this year. He retired to South Whidbey in 2002 after 20 years with the U.S. Air Force and a second career overseas with the Central Intelligence Agency.
He said he’d be happy to be Lions president next year too.
“If we have the resources, we can help people out,” Setlow said. “We’re off to a rip-roaring start this year.”
Founded in 1917, Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service-club organization, with more than 1.3 million members in more than 45,000 clubs worldwide. There are members in more than 200 countries.
The local club meets the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the M-Bar-C Ranch in Freeland.
Meanwhile, club representatives will attend the District H Spring Conference in Bellingham from Friday through Monday, March 26-28.
For information about the South Whidbey Lions, call 331-3151 or e-mail SWLions@whidbey.com.
For information about Lions Club International, visit www.lionsclubs.org.
