HISTORY OF THE LYNN LIONS CLUB
On November 1922 the Lynn Lions Club was organized with 35 prominent and influential businessmen of Lynn. The first meeting took place April 11, 1923 at Hunt’s Grill in the Arcade area of Central Sq. as a downtown weekly meeting club with Alfred Bowie, being the first King Lion. The club had a 100 members by October, 1924. The club instituted the Lions Toast, first done in August 1923. An informal women’s group, called the Lynn Lioness Club was also formed in 1924 and remained in existence for over 40 years. The club had its first District Governor, Walter Hill, in 1926 serving all of New England.
Because of the influx of immigrants, the club sponsored immigration classes and parties for them. They also set up scholarships for deserving high school graduates and gathered food, dispersing it throughout the community for the needy. Because of the proximity of the ocean and drownings, they teamed up with the Red Cross, giving swimming lessons. Swimming was so popular, that they established a long distance swim meet that became an NAAU sanctioned event. The event ran from King’s Beach to Egg Rock and back.
The club was active in expanding Lionism by sponsoring clubs throughout the area. They were Swampscott (1935), Salem (1938), Marblehead (1940) and Boston Host (1942), and later Lynn Wyoma (1953) and Newburyport (1977).
In 1945, the club’s focus dramatically changed as it purchased 100 plus acres of land so the Girl Scouts Council of Greater Lynn could established a day camp facility. It became known as Camp Lion. Buildings were built and land cleared for their use. In the 1960s they developed another area on the property for Camp Fire calling it Camp Wallutta. Much of the club activities and fundraisers were centered around Camp Lion. Member work parties took place especially in the Spring and Fall to help maintain the property. It was not uncommon for them to have Ham & Bean Suppers and dances at the lodge.
The 1960s saw a resurgence of activity with the district and the second district governor, Leon Frizbie (1963). The 40th anniversary party had International President Curtis O. Lovill as the guest speaker. In 1970 a more popular fundraiser was instituted called the Double L Lottery. It ran for many years in conjunction with service to the community like Elderly Christmas Dinners and Youth Week activities, all the while supporting Camp Lion. In the 1970s the club moved its meetings from the Hotel Edison, ultimately to Nandees Restaurant on Market St. After many years the meetings moved to the Port Hole Pub on the Lynnway no longer making it a downtown meeting club.
In 1980s, we had our 3rd District Governor, William Jones (1984). The club also for the second time had over 100 members. We had our most successful fundraiser, Lynnopoly, and our first female member, Elizabeth Fee. The first female “King Lion” was Elizabeth Puleo (1998). Camp Lion started to become self sufficient as communication companies erected towers on our land and the club turned to support more of the District projects and committees. We hosted Youth Exchange students from around the world and actively supported the Mass Lions Eye Research Foundation. The club won many awards for its participation. We sponsored the Up With People Program on several occasions and contributed to the city parks and schools for needy programs. For several years the club was involved in a contentious sale of a parcel of land on Camp Lion to Lowe’s, but it did not take place because of deteriorating economic conditions.
As the city went, so did the club. It has gone through many changes while keeping active both in the community and within the district. It is now a heterogenous group, including 10 life members, bonding together to serve the community as only Lions can do. The weekly meeting changed to twice monthly, 1st & 3rd Wednesdays, September through June. The club is the oldest continuous running club in the state of Massachusetts. 80 Lions have served as King Lion and from 1939 to 2004, no lion served more than one year as King Lion. One King Lion is known to have died in office (Arthur Bisson, 2000). Joseph Cahill served as King Lion in 1970. He is still a member of the club.
