GALESBURG NOON LIONS CLUB
HISTORY & MISSION
PROUD OF OUR PAST......In the summer of 1920 a group of men met at the local Elks Club to discuss becoming members of Lions International, a service-based organization founded three years earlier by Melvin Jones, a Chicago insurance agent. Galesburg was granted a charter on November 18, 1920 by Judge John F. Garner, International Director from Quincy. The Quincy club was our sponsor and attorney L. Fred O'Brien was elected as our first club president. Galesburg became the 12th club in Illinois and the 109th in the International Association.
CONFIDENT IN OUR FUTURE......This year we will proudly celebrate our 90th anniversary as the largest service group in Galesburg. The occasion will be promoted with a special Charter Night event in November and the program will feature a visit from Kay Fukushima, a former Lions International president. The energy and experience of our membership, as well as their individual abilities and skills, will allow us to continue serving the residents of Galesburg, Knox County and the surrounding communities in the future.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE......The Galesburg Lions, along with Lions International and the thousands of clubs throughout the world, have sight conservation as its primary mission. The Lions accepted the challenge of Helen Keller at the 1925 International Convention in Cedarville, Ohio, to become her "Knights of the Blind in the Crusade against Darkness" and have since promoted programs of detection and treatment for vision-related disease. In recent years our club has expanded its efforts to include assistance for hearing-impaired individuals as well.
HAVING FUN SERVING OTHERS -- Our members participate in two major annual fundraisers, Pancake Festival in February and Candy Day in October. We also sponsor a pancake breakfast at the Stearman Fly-In in September, walk in the Christmas Parade in December, collect food for local pantries, ring the bells for Salvation Army and maintain several eyeglass collection sites.
- We placed our first road signs at the Galesburg city limits in 1925.
- We started ringing the Christmas bells for the Salvation Army in 1940.
- We held our first pancake supper at the Old Fellows Hall in 1949.
- We built our first picnic shelter at Lake Storey Park in 1956.
- Sally Keener served as our first female president in 1998.
- We created the SIMBA club for members' children in 2009.
