Zone 1, Region One of District 13-B of The International Association of Lions clubs
The Port Clinton Lions Club was chartered in February 1954 with 40 members and
Loren Purcell as President. A group of Lions from the Sandusky, Ohio Lions Club
sponsored the Port Clinton Lions.
The club meeting places have changed over the years: Our first meeting place was
the Trinity Methodist Church and later at Travelers Inn, Bob Underwoods restaurant,
The V.F.W. Hall, Ala Carte restaurant, The Island House Hotel and we presently meet
at the Elks Club in Port Clinton.
Projects that the club has worked on are: Sorting and counting of sales tax stamps
that Lions members collected for reimbursement from the state. In 1971 we created a
machine to crush glass for recycling. Members worked monthly to sort, crush and
ship glass to recycling centers. For many years we had an Eye Bank Program,
whereby we transported corneas to Toledo hospitals for transplants. The club erected
and installed picnic shelters at both local parks. We have assisted at the Junior
Diabetes Walk For Life at East Harbor Park. For several years we hosted a "Fly In"
with breakfast at the Port Clinton airport. The Lions also helped at the AFS spaghetti
Suppers.
The Port Clinton Lions were one of the first service clubs to sign up for the Walleye
Festival with our food trailer. Now we have our trailer at the "Arts In The Park"
festival every August. The famous Lions Mints are available to the public at the local
banks and stores. The Lion Club magazines are put into doctors offices, schools,
library and other offices around town. We collect about 1,000 pairs of used
eyeglasses each year and send them to the Ohio State SVOS program at Ohio State
College of Optometry. We provide eye testing and glasses to approximately 20
children & adults each year if they cannot afford them. Our club has also donated a
videoeye magnification system to Ida Rupp Library.
The Port Clinton Lions have contributed financially to: Magruder Hospital, Port
Clinton Fire Dept. & EMS, Port Clinton Police and School Patrol. We have also
purchased and donated diapers to Family & Childrens Services of The Salvation Army.
Member from our club also help maintain the flowers at Friendship Park on Perry St.
After the disastrous tornado hit our area in 2002 we contacted The Ohio Lions
Foundation for help. We received $5,000 which we processed to qualified victims for
their immediate needs. Members also aided at The Salvation Army Center during this
disaster relief effort.
The Port Clinton Lions can also be found at Red Cross Bloodmobiles whenever they
are scheduled. Helping members of the Red Cross load their equipment on the truck.
Over the years the club has taken many tours to businesses: U.S. Gypsum Co.,
Celotex Co., Uniroyal plant at Erie Industrial Park, the Ford plant in Lorain, the
Eckrich meat plant in Fremont, Libby Glass in Toledo, the New Departure plant in
Sandusky and the Firelands Wine Co. in Venice.
Although the Lions members work hard, we also like to have fun. In 1954 the club
started an annual golf outing & cookout. We still have a golf outing but now we go to
the Island Adventures Miniature Golf course instead.
The club contributes to the Port Clinton High School Honor Banquet yearly. It was
$40 originally but it is $100 now. We also award a student a $500 scholarship.
In 1967 the club made a visitation to the Lindsey Lions Club to hear the Lions
International President speak. His last name was Lindsey, so you can see why he
picked this club to go to.
The Port Clinton Lions were also the sponsoring club for The Oak Harbor Lions in
March 1980 and The Marblehead Lions in December 1984.
We are proud to have a Lion from our club who served as Governor in 2005/2006, Lion
Horst Herzog.
In 2005 a Lion by the name of Rolf Monteen of California visited our club and told us
of Project Life Saver. This is an important project that our club was eager to get
involved with which provides families with a special transmitter that enables local
officials to locate individuals who may be at risk of getting lost.
The Lions have been an active and vital group in our community and hopefully we can
continue for many years to come.
