Lions Club celebrates seventh anniversary
GRAVETTE — Members of the Gravette Lions Club gathered for their regular meeting Tuesday, July 7, at the open-air pavilion in Old Town Park. New officers were installed by past council chairman Ken Swanson, the club’s guiding Lion.
New officers for the 2020-2021 year are Linda Damron, president; Al Blair, secretary; and Jeff Davis, treasurer. After her installation, President Damron told about some of her plans for keeping the Lions Club in the public eye and increasing membership. Cela Gaytan, vice-president, and Bill Mattler, tail twister and Lion tamer, were not present and will be installed at a later date.
July is the club’s anniversary month and, traditionally, the July meeting has featured an awards ceremony and anniversary celebration. Members enjoyed this, the first in-person meeting since early March — the club has been holding Zoom meetings in the last few months.
A highlight of the meeting was the announcement of Snooky Garrett as Lion of the Year for 20192020. Outgoing president Al Blair presented Garrett with a certificate and pin recognizing her accomplishment. Garrett and her sister, Sue Rice, both nurses, have conducted diabetes testings at several Lions Club events. They also manned a booth at the club’s annual White Cane Day event last October and have been active in cemetery cleanup projects, preparing food for the club’s crockpot fests and decorating the Lions’ parade floats. Garrett is also active in her church and other community organizations, including Mad Hatters and volunteering at Care and Share.
Staining of the back deck at the Gravette Public Library has recently been completed and club members will soon install a bench they bought to provide patrons a location for reading outdoors. More hostas have been ordered and will be planted in the fall near the sitting area the club maintains at Hillcrest Cemetery. Plans are also being made to reset and level the bricks there. Members are also planning to enter a float in the Gravette Day parade.
Adult literacy is another focus of the Lions Club program. Club members are preparing to be trained as tutors in the Laubach literacy program, and an online tutoring program is being set up. Some materials were donated by the Dogwood Literacy Council in Siloam Springs and additional funding was provided by the Gravette club.
Members and their guests Ken Swanson and Myrna McGee, both past council chairs from Bella Vista, enjoyed cake and ice cream after the business meeting to celebrate the club’s seventh year in existence. The club was chartered on June 30, 2013.
The club will resume Zoom meetings on its regular meeting dates, the first and third Tuesdays of each month, at 12 noon. The next meeting will be held Tuesday, July 21.