Lions Club comes to Swanton

By NORRIS LEDYARD

Enterprise Staff Writer

One of the finer community organizations are the Lions Club International. Recently, there has been a club established in the Swanton area. They are actively seeking new members and are busy doing community projects.

"We are happy to be part of the overall organization," said Travis Weigel. "We have 12 new members and are actively seeking others who are service-minded individuals to help bring the Lions' services to the Swanton Community."

Currently, they meet at Charlie's Restaurant, on the corner of Airport Highway and State Route 295, the second and fourth Thursday mornings. They gather for a breakfast meeting at 7 a.m. and meet for an hour.

In 1925, Helen Keller challenged the Lions to become "Knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness" during the association's international convention.

Today, the Lions are recognized worldwide for their service to the blind and visually impaired. Lions demonstrate their commitment to sight conservation through eyeglass recycling, sight partnerships and countless other sight services.

"We do have a collection box at the Swanton Pharmacy," said Weigel. "Anyone with old eyeglasses they no longer need can be donated there. The Lions can recycle the glasses to folks who need them to see."

Another community project the Swanton Lions are currently doing is raffling a Gator 150 Motor Scooter. They have been in front of the Swanton Kroger on Saturdays, selling tickets.

The Lions plan on having a booth at the Swanton Corn Festival, near the shelter house. There will be members staffing the booth with the scooter on display, as well as membership materials available. The tickets are $5 each or three for $10.

With the money raised from the raffle, the Lions are working on a watering system for the floral landscaping which is part of the current downtown Swanton beautification.

The drawing for the scooter will be held Saturday, Aug. 23 at 10 p.m.