Public invited

Lions to host ice cream social

The Lions Club of El Dorado Springs will host an Ice Cream and Information Social in the Lions Club Building on Thursday, Aug. 9. This event, open to the public, will showcase what Lions Clubs International (LCI) stand for in general, how Local Lions Clubs benefit their communities, and what the El Dorado Springs Lions Club in particular is all about.

Activities for the Ice Cream Social will held in the Lions Club Building located at 1109 S. Jackson, beginning at 5:30 p. m. with an informal social hour followed at 6:30 by an inspirational speaker, Past District Governor Debbie Cantrell, whose story of how the Lions “saved her life” will help you understand what Lions are all about.

Worldwide, Lions Clubs International, through the Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for disaster relief. Just a few examples are tsunami relief in Japan and earthquake relief in Haiti, being first in-last out. In health care, LCI provided over $600 million to successfully eradicate River Blindness in South America and Eastern Africa, and are now working to totally eliminate Measles worldwide.

More at home, Lions Clubs International provided much needed hurricane relief funds and materials to New Orleans, Houston and the East Coast, and assistance for fire recovery in Kansas, California, Colorado and Utah. 

Even closer home, Lions Clubs International provided funds to help the cities of Stockton (2003) and Joplin (2011) in tornado recovery, flooding in the Ozarks (2017), and many other areas.

Chartered in 1962, the El Dorado Springs Lions Club has, among other things, constructed a fountain, four picnic tables and a shelter house in the City Park, constructed and lighted the helicopter pad at CCMH, constructed baseball dugout covers at the Lucian Carter Ballpark Complex and built numerous ramps for handicapped citizens of El Dorado Springs. They presently provide space in their building for the El Dorado Springs Pre-School, own and maintain the five-acre John and Dorthy Mitchell Memorial Park (better known as “Lions Park”) complete with the Chester Walter Pavilion, a three-eights mile walking track and basketball court, all of which are free to the public. In addition to purchasing eyeglasses for needy children, the Lions collect eyeglasses for recycling to other countries. The Lions assist in the entry line-up for the Annual Christmas Parade, supply the Santa House to the Chamber of Commerce for the jolly old elf’s holiday visits, provide eye screenings at the Public and Christian Schools and provide trash pick up along two miles of Highway 54 east. Most notably, the Lions Club of El Dorado Springs sponsors the annual Shop-With-A-Lion program, insuring that many needy children have a Christmas to remember.

For more information, contact Lion Charles Winfiel at 417/876-7978 or Lion James W. Rosbrugh at 417/876-7036.