A Columbus service organization that has been a fixture in the community for 78 years and a longtime presence at the annual Bartholomew County 4-H Fair is ceasing operations.
The local chapter of the Lions Club, whose service projects have focused on helping address vision problems for those in need, voted to disband as of June 30, chapter president Amy Baker said.
“We actually discussed it a little bit last year, so I don’t think it was a shock this year,” Baker said. As has been the experience with many longtime service organizations, recruiting new members has been difficult. Baker said only one or two new members had joined in the past few years. Fewer than 10 members of the club remained, and the average age of members was well over 60.
Baker herself was introduced to the Lions Club through her father, the late Martin Grossman, who had been a 50-year member. After he suffered a stroke in 2008, Baker drove him to club meetings, and one day suggested that maybe she should become a member. She did.
“I remember as a kid working in booth at the fair, and it was intriguing,” Baker said. “There’s something about feeding the public and knowing the money is going to a good cause.”
The Lions’ booth Baker refers to operated by the grandstand for years, serving up traditional fair fare — tenderloins, hot dogs, fries, onion rings and so forth — with proceeds going toward club projects. Those project include collecting eyeglasses that club members refurbish and provide to international recipients who otherwise could not afford them. At one time, the Lions club also provided vision screenings in local schools, Baker said.
But this year, Baker said the club had to rely on the good deeds of local Boy Scouts to operate the fair stand, which, along with club dues, is about the only source of revenue to support club functions.
“We just don’t have enough help anymore,” said past president and 31-year member Allen Dillman. In addition to the local Lions Club chapter, Dillman, 86, is also a member of local chapters of the Elks, Moose and Sons of the American Revolution.
Clubs and service organizations that boomed in the era after World War II have faced challenges recruiting new members for years, leaving fewer longtime members to carry out service missions.
Dillman put it this way: “Most of the officers are pretty burned out.”
The Lions will still have a presence in the community after disbanding, though. Dillman said club members will continue to collect and refurbish eyeglasses donated by the public at several dropboxes located around Columbus.
Baker said the club had lost about a third of its members in the past couple of years. While the remaining members voted to disband, Baker said members would likely gather again to determine what to do with remaining club proceeds after paying vendors from the club’s final fair booth income.
It’s not much, a couple thousand dollars, maybe, Baker said, but as Lions, the members will see that the money goes to a good cause.
“Our sales weren’t bad this year,” she said.
