The Creston Lions Club celebrated its 80th anniversary with a celebration dinner on Oct. 26 at the Creston Legion hall.
The club received its charter from Lions International on Oct. 24, 1939. Highlights of the clubs’ early years include:
May 1940, The Lions Club met with the Village of Creston council to discuss Park Pavilion and the grounds. The Village of Creston turned Park Pavilion (now Centennial Park) and grounds over to the Creston Lions Club
April 1942, Lion president Frank Staples announced there would be a carnival held during Blossom Week.
May 1942, The Lions Club held the first Blossom Week Carnival, now known as the Creston Valley Blossom Festival. The Creston Lions Club organized the Blossom Festival until 1960 when the Blossom Festival Association was formed. The Lions Club remains to be actively involved with the festival by hosting community events throughout the weekend.
Today the Creston Lions Club continues to serve the community through fundraisers and community service projects.
Maury Murphy, a 93-year-old member of the Creston Lions Club since 1951 is still active as the club’s “eyesight” co-ordinator. Murphy has collected close to 60,000 pairs of used prescription eyeglasses for the Canadian Lions Eyeglass Recycling Centre. The official Lions Clubs International Eyeglass Recycling Centre provides recycled eyewear free of charge to people in developing countries.
Current members of the Creston Lions Club pledge to continue to carry on the Lions motto “we serve.”
Lions Club International is the world’s largest service club organization, with 1.35 million members in 46,000 clubs located in 219 countries around the world.
Also read: CCA to host Climate-Friendly Creston Symposium
