by Rachel Hunter
The Gouverneur Lions Club raised over $2,300 during its take-out only Spaghetti and Meatball Dinner fundraiser on Sunday, March 20.
Dedicated volunteers from the Gouverneur Lions Club membership worked diligently with preparations, cooking, serving and distribution to ensure that the event was a success. With continuous support from the community, the Gouverneur Lions Club will be able to continue its projects in the North Country and beyond. The Gouverneur Lions Club extends a special word of appreciation to Judy Brown for her substantial donation. Much gratitude was also extended to Mullin’s Restaurant in Gouverneur for hosting the event.
The Gouverneur Lions Club was organized on October 31, 1935. It was the first group with international affiliations to be formed here. In fact, it was one of the first Lions Clubs that were established north of the rail line from Syracuse to Albany. On August 12, 1935, the first northern club was started at Tupper Lake. Canton and Massena followed, on October 21, 1935. Ten days later, the Gouverneur Lions Club completed its formation. Herbert A. Dye of Niagara Falls was the district governor in 1935, and his territory was the entire state of New York, including Long Island. One visit to each club was required during his one-year term. To ensure better roads for the district governor’s long trip from Niagara Falls, the formal charter presentation was postponed until May 15, 1936. Harold Murphy had been elected the first president at the organization meeting in October. Vice-presidents were the late Glen W. Severance, the late Roy D. Gibbs and Walter Clinch. Robert G. Cottrell was secretary-treasurer. The first club activity, back in 1935, was a school banquet for the school football team which played in the championship but didn’t win it. The Lions invitation was issued prior to that important game. The invitation stated that, “win, lose, or tie, we back you and want you as our guests.” Gold footballs were presented to each varsity player. Since Helen Keller challenged Lions to become “Knights of the Blind” in 1925, the Lions Club International has improved eye health and eye care for hundreds of millions of people around the world. Today, 80 percent of vision impairments are preventable or curable, so the service is more important than ever before. Lions and Leos screen vision, educate communities, build clinics and support the blind and visually impaired through assistive technology and vocational training programs.
The next fundraiser for the Gouverneur Lions Club will be its Annual Auction, which will be held this Saturday, April 9, 6 p.m., hosted by Don Peck Auctioneer and will be livestreamed through Facebook. The Gouverneur Lions Club will host its Annual Chicken BBQ on Saturday, May 7, 11 a.m. in the M&M Heating Parking Lot. The Gouverneur Lions Club Annual Golf Tournament will be held at the Gouverneur Country Club on Saturday, June 18.
The Gouverneur Lions Club is grateful for all of the support they receive from local residents, businesses and organizations in the Gouverneur community. For more information about the Gouverneur Lions Club, contact any Lion.