Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Prairie Grove Lions Club: Giving Back To The Community
Logan ‘Everyone Has A Civic Duty’
PRAIRIE GROVE — Logan and Mary Beard, both graduates of Prairie Grove High School, believe in giving back to their community.
The young couple is involved with Prairie Grove Lions Club, which will be busy over Labor Day weekend running the 68th annual Clothesline Fair. The fair opens Saturday and runs through Labor Day.
Logan is in his second year as president of the Prairie Grove club, which is 72 years old, having been established Nov. 11, 1946. He began helping the civic organization when he was in 8th grade.
Mary Beard is the first woman to
join the Prairie Grove club and is its youngest, active member.
Logan said he has helped the Lions Club during the Clothesline Fair in one way or another since 2006. He became a member of the club after he graduated from high school in 2010. He works for PG Telco and is a volunteer firefighter for Morrow Fire Department.
Mary is one of the newest officers with Prairie Grove Police Department. She began the law enforcement training academy Aug. 19. Mary’s other interests are taking care of the couple’s animals, which include dogs, a cat, pigeons, fish and feeding friendly deer.
Logan said the Clothesline Fair is the club’s only fundraiser and proceeds are used to help the community and school in different ways.
While most people know about the Lions Club through the Clothesline Fair, many may not realize that the Lions Club is the group that puts on the fair every year, Logan said.
“It involves a lot of work throughout the year,” he said, adding, “It’s rewarding work. The work we do helps people throughout the year.”
The Clothesline Fair is successful, Logan said, because of the cooperation of many groups.
Prairie Grove Area Chamber of Commerce organizes and sponsors the Clothesline Parade.
Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park is the host site and takes care of issues that may arise with the park during the weekend.
The Arts Center of the Ozarks is in charge of the craft fair, which usually brings in more than 100 craft booths featuring artists selling, displaying, and demonstrating their handmade wares.
Other groups that help during the event are Girl Scouts, FFA students, band students and other school groups.
The Prairie Grove Lions Club meets at 6:30 p.m., the first and third Tuesdays of the month at the Latta Barn at the battlefield state park. Dues are $90 annually and this goes to help with charities sponsored by Lions Club International, which includes vision care, disaster relief, humanitarian causes, hunger, cancer and diabetes.
On the local level, Prairie Grove’s club awards college scholarships to Prairie Grove graduates, helps student groups and gives to other needs.
Logan said he has stayed involved with the Lions Club because he likes helping the community.
“I just like being a public servant,” Logan said. “It’s important to me. I think everyone has a civic duty.”
Mary’s grandfather, Guy Sparks, was an active member of the Lions Club and Mary said she helped with the fair when she was younger.
“I saw my grandfather in the Lions Club and then Logan was a good encourager for me to join,” Mary said.
Like her husband, she said giving back to the community she grew up in is a passion of hers.
Becoming involved in a civic organization is a way of returning the favor of what others have done for a community in the past, Mary said.
Logan added, “You’ve been touched by someone whether you realize it or not. Even the smaller acts can help someone a lot.”
Both would like to see more people join the Lions Club, especially young adults. Mary wouldn’t mind seeing a few other women join up. They have ideas for other activities but said the club needs more people to implement those ideas.
The club has about 28 active members and many others on the roll who are not able to help as much as they did in the past. Many members, active and non-active, will be at the park helping out during the Clothesline Fair.
For more information on the Prairie Grove Lions Club, attend one of the Tuesday meetings, email prairiegrove lions@gmail.com or go to the Lions Club Facebook page.