HISTORY OF OUR CLUB
On April 22nd 1925 the International Association of Lions Clubs granted a local charter to the Lions Club of Bremerton. The new club started with 20 original members and has met continuously in service to the Bremerton community for 92 years. In the mid-1940s we became the moving force behind the first community swimming pool, located on the South banks of the Washington Narrows. It was the recreational center piece for the city until dismantled, with the space being used for an expanded boat launch facility and picnic area. With the initial pledge of $10,000 in 1959, the facility now known as Lions Park was developed off Lebo Boulevard along the Washington Narrows. Through the years we have invested more money and manpower to plant poplar trees, construct restrooms, picnic shelters, benches, storage buildings and walking trails. It is now a premium community site for softball, tennis, soccer, boating, fishing, and picnicking. In the late 1960s Bremerton Central Lions made the first $50 donation to purchase materials for what was to become the first White Cane Days fund-raising effort to support the Northwest Lions Eye Bank. Recently renamed Sight Life, it is one of the largest eye banks in the country with the annual White Canes Days fundraiser now contributing approximately $200,000 to the budget each year. In the early 1990s steps were taken toward renovating a 50-year old theatre in Bremerton, as part of the revitalization of downtown. Our club made a specific pledge of $60,000 toward the restoration of the marquee. We continue our support through supplying the volunteer labor for the maintenance of the Admiral Theatre marquee. Following sale of a swimming beach in the Kitsap Lake area, the club purchased property near Holly, consisting of a lodge building, riverfront camp sites and 80 acres of timber. Given the name Camp Sundown, the facility was used by the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. After three plus decades of management and maintenance, it was sold in the 1970s when conditions mitigated the value of maintaining it. $125,000 From the sale of Camp Sundown was contributed for the completion of the gymnasium in the new YMCA Family Aquatic and Recreation Center. We continue to support their programs with annual contributions. Most of the remainder was used to fund the Bremerton Central Lions Charitable Foundation, which has enriched our community abundantly. See more about the Charitable Foundation on the following page.
