Medical Lake's Lions Club is still roaring

In a day and time when service organizations across the country tend to suffer from lack of interest, the Medical Lake Lions Club appears to be bucking the trend.

They are in fact the catalyst for a new Cheney chapter, and in May will observe their golden anniversary of 50 years.

Club president Mark Hudson sees things turning around, at least for Lions, which nationally turned 100 in 2017. Millennials coming up are going to be a target for membership he said.

"They desire to be part of a global initiative, bigger than themselves," Hudson said. "It's part of their DNA."

"I'm thinking that these type of clubs may see even more of a rebound in about 10 years," Hudson, the pastor of Medical Lake Community Church added.

When asked how many other Lions Clubs are in the area, there was a pause as the mental calculator worked. Suffice to say, "There's a lot," Hudson said. Chapters dot the entire Region 19E which extends into Canada.

Still, their organization is the best kept secret there is, Hudson said. "We're 1.4 million (people), the largest service organization in the world and no one knows about it," Hudson said.

That included Hudson who said that until he became a member a dozen or so years ago he did not even know what the name was about. "Lions isn't about lions," Hudson said but is an acronym for: Liberty Intelligence Our Nation's Safety.

The logo also had special meaning for the two faces, the one looking left looks back to the core principals of the organization and the right-facing face seeing into the future.

Hudson was invited to a meeting by Medical Lake resident Fritz Gilbreth over a decade ago. "I wanted to be part of something in the community to get to know people so I joined then and have been president for the last two years," he said.

While connected to his congregation, Hudson did not know a lot of other community members so Lions Club was the perfect opportunity to branch out. "Because I live here, it's my community and I wanted to make sure I was part of what's happening," he said.

Sandy Flood, club secretary and decked out in her bright yellow club coat, got involved in a roundabout manner decades ago. Flood was initially introduced to Lions 35 years ago by her father-in-law. "I was always volunteering," but not yet a member, she said.

Interrupted over a 20-year period by moves, they returned to Medical Lake in 2005 and she once again immersed herself into volunteering and slowly returned herself to club dealings.

"I didn't know a lot about the Lions Club until I joined and found out exactly what they did," Flood said.

Even though she had been around it for a long time, Flood did not understand that the group's work goes well beyond helping with efforts to assist people to see, something inspired by the famous American author Helen Keller who was both deaf and blind.

"I said to my father-in-law one day, 'Why have you not asked me to be a member?'" Flood said. "And he looked at me like, 'Oh, ummm,'" while her normally vociferous husband, Jerry, sat tongue-tied.

Flood has since recruited her 90-something mother, who started getting her friends involved.

"We're just slowly incorporating all these people who have been around for a long time that had things change in their lives," she said, adding that they had time to be part of an organization like Lions.

Once people make the effort to attend a meeting, which takes place on the second and fourth Thursday of each month at the Medical Lake Pizza Factory, they are amazed at the breadth of their community involvement.

Most who have even the most basic understanding of the club's purpose know one of their missions is to help with improving eyesight in the community. But along with glasses they also assist with hearing aids.

The Medical Lake club also attempts to put a dent in hunger with their senior meals program.

"Internationally we're not only involved in sight, but also measles," Hudson said, with a large amount of help from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

With the establishment of the Cheney club, the workload will be lessened a little in Medical Lake, who is overseeing the formation of the new West Plains branch.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].