March 28, 2016

Four representatives from the Lions Club International were in town in hopes of starting a new club and stopped to visit at Pouland’s. The most traveled of the three was Ronnie Martin of Freeport; Ed Stiles of Hemphill who is the  2015-16 District Governor;  Waldo Dalchau of Broaddus and Bobbie Fagan of Livingston, 2016-17 District Governor and a member of the Corrigan chapter.

Waldo Dalchau was telling John Ralph he was formerly the head basketball coach at Blinn College from 1978-98. He remembered trying to recruit Neil McGilvra, who was coached by his father (John McGilvra) and had an outstanding DHS basketball career. Neil chose to play for Coach Guy Davis and the Angelina College Roadrunners. When Ed Stiles overheard this conversation he commented that John McGilvra was his high school basketball coach in Liberty and remembered him as a “killer on workouts”. Ed also shared that Dr. Dan Carter of Lufkin was another member of that Liberty basketball team.

Ron Martin from Angleton, New Club Development Consultant, was also traveling with Waldo and Ed. He enlightened me about Lions Clubs International which was founded by an insurance agent from Chicago, who at the time belonged to a men’s social club.  Melvin Jones decided that there should be an organization that did more for their communities. The first gathering of clubs was in Dallas Texas in 1916, where 29 men’s social clubs met to work out the details of this new organization, and to decide on a name, 12 of those clubs were from Texas.  In 1917 the first convention was held to vote on the decisions made at the Dallas gathering.  Lions clubs has since grown to over 200 countries and territories, with over 1.4 million members.  In 1925 Helen Keller addressed the attendees at their convention, and asked them to become her Knights for the Blind.  At that point in the organization it was voted on by the delegates to become the Knight for the Blind.  Since that convention Lions have worked to help improve lives for anyone needing anything to do with vision, eyeglasses, cornea surgery, eye tissue, guide dogs, cataract surgery to name a few.  Recently Time Magazine voted Lions the number #1 non-governmental agency in the world.  They are also considered to be one of the best organizations in the world to donate to, as no public funds are used to run the organization.  If you donate money to Lions Clubs International’s Foundation for a disaster, every cent you donate is forwarded to the local Lions club to help those in need; every penny must be accounted for as to how it was spent to help those in need.

Texas has almost 900 Lions clubs with just under 26,000 members.  The Lions of Texas also own a camp in Kerrville for kids with disabilities.  They have 5 one week sessions for kids with physical disabilities; 1 week for kids with Downs Syndrome and 2 weeks for kids with Type 2 diabetes.  These camps do not cost the child or his/her family anything!  The Lions of Texas underwrite all the cost and all it takes for a child to attend a camp is for a Lion to sign their paperwork.  For more information about the camp please go to Texas Lions Camp .com.

When you read this, there will have been an organizational meeting of folks in Diboll that met to start a local Lions Clubs chapter. Lions Clubs are about their communities, and what they can do to help improve the quality of life for those who live there.  They may do everything from improving the community to putting up new flag poles; it’s up to the local Lions club to decide what they want to do. If you are interested in joining approximately 50 other people who have already made a commitment to become a member of the new local Lions club, contact Sarah Thompson at city hall 829-4757.

Congratulations to 13-year-old Macy Ward who will be competing for a state title at the Junior High Region 5 Rodeo Finals in May. Macy won two buckles at the Regional Finals and will be competing in Breakaway and Ribbon Roping in Gonzales. Macy is the daughter of Wayne and Amy Ward and a sister to Paige. Both girls attend Diboll schools.

Melvin Linton, Jr. brought a poster promoting the Angelina Benefit Rodeo, April 20-23. He also brought raffle tickets for us to sell on the Dodge Ram truck that will be given away during the last performance. We also have vouchers to purchase rodeo tickets. A book of 10 vouchers is $80. You take the vouchers to Cavender’s Boot Center in Lufkin where you can choose the seats you want.

Julie Horton came in with her granddaughter, Samantha, who wanted to buy plants for a flower bed. They had both been busy doing yardwork. Lots of folks have been in to buy plants and seeds for their spring and summer gardens: Otis Ray Posey, Hugh Robert Lyles and his brother, Roy Lee, who always has a large garden. John Richard has been in several times to get plants as well as Woody Ingram, Buddy Shipp and Glenn Shivers. Tina Jowell couldn’t resist the pretty germaniums to plant at their new home in South Meadows and Sam Coleman was in buying tomatoes and pepper plants.

This will be your last chance to get a ticket to the $5,000 Steak Dinner this Saturday, April 2^nd at Shelton’s Barn at 6:30 PM. The Angelina County Go Texan Committee is sponsoring this fun event and all the proceeds will benefit their Scholarship Fund. Call Andrea at Pouland’s for more information 829-4040.

And, it’s finally here! The annual plant sale sponsored by the Master Gardeners of Angelina County. It’s this Saturday, April 2^nd at the Angelina County Farmer’s Market. The gate opens at 8AM and will last until 2PM or until they sell out. The plants are adapted for this area and they will have perennials, natives, fruit trees, roses and so much more.

Come see us…’round the table.