Sterling Lions Club
1/20/2025
Member of the Week
Sterling Lions Club is celebrating 105 years of continuous service this year! “WE SERVE”! They invite you to join them on this quest.
On June 20, 1920, 15 men attended a meeting to hear about Lionism from an organizer of Lions Clubs and District Governor of Texas and Louisiana, G. M. Cunningham. Five days later, the first official meeting was held, and the new club was formed with L.G. Giacomini elected as president. The official charter date is June 22, 1920.
Lions 27, Rotary 16 was the score of the ball game and the first money-raising project for the Sterling Lions Club on June 17, 1921. Proceeds of $477.25 from the game were donated to the Good Samaritan Hospital. From the very beginning, the Sterling Lions Club started its service to the community and since then, the Lions have given to and worked on the following projects: the gateway into Riverside Cemetery; marble monument at Summit Springs Battleground; Campfire Girls Lodge (now the Girl Scouts Lodge}; Little league ballpark; and a "Lion's Park"on Division Ave. - later moved to Dawes and Franklin. Among their projects are the Annual Lions Easter Egg Hunt; ringing the Bell for the Salvation Army; sponsoring the "Friendly Dog Tail Wagging Contest" during the Logan County Fair; buying glasses for needy children; provision for two annual scholarships to NJC; sponsoring of the Best Bedside Nurse Award at NJC; support the Lions Camp for the Handicapped and the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank; recognition of outstanding students from area middle schools, Goal Academy, and the GED Program at NJC; "Adopt A Highway" clean-up; as well as grilling up fine fares throughout the county. The first Cowboy Breakfast was held in 1952 and is still an annual event, which is central around the beginning of the Logan County Fair. In 2000 the first Pioneer Award was presented to local producers or businesses that have made a lasting impact in our county. It has been an anticipated tradition since that time.
In 2001, the Club began sorting and processing thousands of used eye-glasses each month. At the height, nearly 1,500 pair of glasses each week. On February 28, 2019, they shipped the ONE MILLIONTH pair of eyeglasses from Sterling. These glasses have gone all over the world. Due to covid, and ever-changing program dynamics, the program is now centralized out of the Gill CO Lions club. Sterling has shipped over 1.25 Million glasses, and will ship its final roughly quarter million this coming spring. Lions still collect used eyeglasses at several locations throughout the community, our central static box is in front of the State Farm office on West Main Street.
In 2007, members of the club built the mega-grill, and the Club has been called upon to cook hamburgers and pancakes many times a year including the Cowboy Breakfast, as well as the July 4th Heritage Festival, Flatlanders Car Show, Sportsman’s Experience, and many other events. Its estimated we serve around 1500 meals per year. That's a lot of burgers, brats, and pancakes. Watch for a new fall pancake supper to support the distribution of scholarships throughout the region’s schools.
In 2013, the club added the Hearing Aid Recycling Bank and the Reading Action Program to their projects. Dozens of hearing aids are repurposed and reintegrated into the community each year. Used hearing aids can also be donated to any Lion or to the static box front of the State Farm office on West Main Street.
In 2024, the club grew in yet another direction. They now co-facilitate the local Parkinsons' Support Group on the third Thursday of every month - 2pm - at CSU Engagement Center - and subsequent exercise activities, now happening weekly. There is a three-county draw, as this is the only support group east of the metro area at this time.
During the Centennial Year of the Lions in 2017, International issued a challenge for all clubs to create a Legacy Project in their community. The Sterling Lions erected a Flagpole in Prairie Park, beside the bench and the clock they put in earlier.
Lions Club International focus its efforts on the following areas: vision, hearing, speech, diabetes, hunger, childhood cancer, environmental issues, youth outreach, disaster relief, and humanitarian efforts. Sterling Lions Club partners with the CO Lions Foundation and can accept charitable donations as well as bequests for those who like to GIVE BACK. Please contact Tim Edgar for making charitable donations - 970-580-4482.
For more information on the Sterling Lions Club, please contact them on their Facebook page at Sterling Colorado Lions and website at sterlinglionsclub.org. They Need and Want You!! They are accepting new member / volunteer applications! Please contact Tanner Patterson at 970-630-6247 to begin a membership, and you, too can be a proud wearer of the ever-recognizable yellow vest.
Please join the Logan County Chamber of Commerce in congratulating the Sterling Lions Club as this week’s Member of the Week and tying our Community together! “WE SERVE”!
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