A Short History of the

Fredericktown Lions Club

Lionism in Fredericktown began on May 16, 1938 in the Del Mar hotel as 24 Charter Members formed the Fredericktown Lions Club with Hal Walters as its first president.

Soon afterwards, the club adopted the motto it has always followed "It Can be Done in a Small Town" along with the Lions International motto of "We Serve."  These two mottos have given the club the inspiration, vision, creativity and the willingness to take on projects which sometimes have seemed to be impossible to accomplish.

For over 80 years, the Lions Club has completed or contributed to many projects in the Fredericktown Community.  Some of these projects are:

• The building of Merrin Park, including the ball diamond, the shelter houses, the basketball court, and the tennis court;
• The building of the football stadium on Taylor Street;
• The building of the football stadium and track at the High School;
• The building of the tennis courts at the High School;
• The building of the shelter houses at Comunity Park;
• and the building of the Community Library.

In addition, the Lions Club has done many things for the school including sponsoring athletic and band trips, athletic and honor society banquets, the Good Program and the purchasing of hundreds of eye glasses for students.

The Lions Club has sponsored the Boy Scouts and an activity for Halloween ever since it began in 1938.  In addition, the Lions Club has contributed over $25,000 to the major Lions International projects throughout the United States and in countries all over the world.

To provide funds for these projects, many activities have been tried.  One of the most successful was a grand drawing after WW II, which had a 1946 Ford car as the grand prize.  This endeavor netted over $14,000 and led to establishing what is now Merrin Park.

Another successful fundraiser was selling box lunches at Farm Science Review.  In 1952, the community saw our inaugural Chicken BBQ held at Merrin Park at the Labor Day Celebration - an annual event for 25 years.

Another successful money-maker was the brats stand at the Fourth of July Celebration and the Tomato Show.

All the money raised from these activities have been used for service projects in the Fredericktown Community or have been used in support of Lions International projects.

Using our two mottos, "It Can Be Done in a Small Town" and "We Serve," the Fredericktown Lions Club has helped to make our community a better place in which to live!

Our Club is always looking for new members -- both men and women -- who want to improve our community and help those less fortunate.  For more information about the Lions Club, Call the club president Brad Swihart at 740-501-4461 or club membership chair Morris James at 740-485-0618.