Club #9028…..District 23B
Meetings:
1st Tuesday Dinner at Butterfly Chinese Restaurant
831 Farmington Ave., West Hartford, CT
6:30PM Social Hour, 7:00PM Dinner
3rd Tuesday Business Meeting at Mercy Health, 2012 Albany Ave., West Hartford, CT 06117: 7:00PM
History of the Greater Hartford Host Lions Club
The Hartford Host Lions Club was organized May 18, 1922, becoming the third oldest club in the Multiple District. For 91 years, the Club served the Hartford community exclusively until in 2013 it joined with the West Hartford Lions Club, founded in 1946, to form the Greater Hartford Host Lions Club. The goal of the combined club is "To Serve," as in the past, but now it is to an expanded area.
One of the Hartford Host Lions Club’s charter members, Robert Kellogg composed the famous song, "Don't You Hear Those Lions Roar." It was first performed by the Pittsburgh Quartet at the Lions convention in 1924. To this day, this song continues to be part of the four-point opening at club meetings.
The Club has had a long relationship with Oak Hill School (formerly the Connecticut Institute for the Blind) in Hartford. Over the years the club has sponsored holiday parties for the students at Oak Hill and today there may be found a “Lion’s Den” at the school where members can meet and Club memorabilia is on display. The Club also established a "Lions Park" located on the school's grounds in Hartford to honor the passing of active members of the Hartford Host Lions Club. Dr. William Pehl was the first member so recognized for his tireless efforts on behalf of persons with vision loss.
Dr. Pehl, a well-known Hartford Optometrist, was instrumental in establishing a Low Vision center within the State of Connecticut Board of Education and Services for the Blind (BESB). A plaque has been placed outside the Low Vision room recognizing Dr. Pehl for his dedication and pioneering efforts. Dr. Pehl is credited with the ultimate establishment of Low Vision Centers and the Lions Gallery for the sightless at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford.
The Greater Hartford Host Lions Club is perhaps best known in the community for collecting used eyeglasses. A collaborative effort was made with the A.I. Prince Vocational School in Hartford whereby seniors in the woodworking class volunteered to construct eyeglass collection boxes to be distributed throughout the local area. The collected glasses are sorted to determine those that are usable or unusable, processed, and placed in inventory for distribution to optical missions around the world. Many thousands of pairs of glasses have been recycled and donated to those in need in this manner.
Each year, the Club awards college scholarships to deserving students in the local area, funded in part through the generosity of Lion Paul and Beatrice Lowenberg. Available to graduating seniors residing in Hartford, East Hartford, Windsor, Bloomfield, Newington, West Hartford, or Wethersfield, qualified applicants for the Lowenberg Scholarship must be entering or enrolled in a two- or four-year college or university and demonstrate financial need and academic excellence. Preference is given to entering college students with an interest in music and the arts. In recent years, three $3000.00 scholarships have been awarded annually.
Many other service projects have been completed over the years including support of the Fox Manor Retirement Community and transportation of campers to Camp Harkness. The Club has long been a supporter of the American School for the Deaf, not only through annual contributions, but also by donating its first van and erecting a flagpole in front of a dormitory. For many years the Club sponsored and served an annual Thanksgiving Dinner for the children, families and staff of The Village for Families and Children. The club also sends volunteers on a monthly basis to Connecticut Foodshare to help sort and package food for distribution to the community. And local residents unable to pay for eyeglasses and eye exams have always been able to turn to the Greater Hartford Host Lions Club.
To support their numerous service projects, the Club has always placed a priority on fund raising. Fund raising projects have included variety shows, horse shows, opera productions, bridge nights, light bulb sales, theatre parties, Journey for Sight, cheese sales, food booths at local festivals, gum ball machines, the sale of entertainment books, auctions, and antique fairs. To raise funds today, the Greater Hartford Host Lions Club conducts an annual nut sale, continues the tradition of its annual pancake breakfast (now in its 58th year), and runs a concession stand at the annual Celebrate! West Hartford weekend.
The Greater Hartford Host Lions Club enthusiastically supports Lions charitable programs on District, State, National and International levels. Among the recipients of donations are the following: Lions Clubs International Foundation; Connecticut Lions Eye Research Foundation; the Lions Low Vision Center in New Britain; The American School for the Deaf (ASD); Connecticut Foodshare; Fidelco Guide Dogs; Oak Hill School; Easter Seals Camp Hemlocks; Connecticut Radio Information Service for the Blind (CRIS); The Bridge Family Center; and West Hartford Community Television. The Club is always on the lookout for a new project to help meet the needs of our community.
Lions Clubs International is the world's largest service club organization with more than 1.4 million members in approximately 46,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas around the world.
