90 years of service for Elgin Lions Club
The Elgin Lions Club was organized on Oct. 25, 1921. That was a Tuesday, and the club has been meeting on Tuesdays ever since. The first president of the club was Walter Rippberger who was a local banker. Many prominent Elginites have been Lions Club members over the years. Mayor Erwin Schmidt was a long-time member, and Lyle Zeigler, of Ace Hardware, was not only a member of the club, but was also the District Governor in 1948-49.
Speaking of District Governors, the club has supplied many of them: Included are Dr. Harry J. Hoerner, 1939-40, (who also served as an International Director), Glenn E. Gissier, 1957-58, the aformentioned Erwin Schmidt, 1970-71, and Thomas Wright, 1996-97.
To mark this important anniversary, the club is holding a celebration from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 with a cocktail reception at the Holiday Inn, 495 Airport Road in Elgin.
Many dignitaries from other Lions clubs, the Illinois Lions organization and a past director of Lions International will attend. There will be music, a cash bar and hors d'oeuvres.
The public is invited. The cost will be $10 per person. Reservations are requested. Contact Lion Marry Merrell at mmerrell107@att.net.
Over the years of existence, the Elgin Lions Club has contributed in many ways to the welfare and culture of the Elgin area. Currently, the local club's primary mission is to assist members of the community with their eyeglass needs. The Elgin club is just one of the 46,000 Lions Clubs that have 1.35 million members of Lions International -- The world's largest service club organization.
The club is justly proud of their contributions to the welfare of the people it serves and is looking for new people who share their devotion to service to others. The more people we have sharing the load, the more we can do. People may contact Lions Club President Ed Bates at batesed@cod.edu for more information about joining.
Elgin Lions Club is a member of the Elgin Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. For more information, please check out the EACVB's website, www.northernfoxrivervalley.com.