Roaring Lions Newsletter
June 24, 2025
The Marshall Lions Club met at noon on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 at the Panola-Harrison Electric Cooperative Inc. meeting room, 410 E. Houston, Marshall, Texas.
While there are many relevant things captured in time on this day in history, in this newsletter I will focus on three events. On this day in 1795, William Smellie, the Scottish compiler of the first edition of Encyclopedia Britannica, died at age 55. In 2010, Australian politician Julia Gillard was sworn in as Australia’s first female Prime Minister. And finally in 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade (1973), ending the constitutional right to an abortion.
Herman from Jose Tequila’s served the group tacos, beans, rice, guacamole, chips, salsa and of course, tea.
Lion Chris Horsley called the meeting to order at 12:00 p.m. Lion Chris Horsley reported that we have 23 Lions in the den and 8 guests. We were blessed with attendance of Past District Governor (PDG) Brandon Greer (installation ceremony), Chuck Waters (guest of Lion Mike Haynes), Ryleigh Castle (granddaughter of Lion Melisa Castle), Blake Langley (guest of Lion Melisa Castle), Cynthia Horsley (guest of Lion Chris Horsley), Jace James (son of Lion Traci James), Bruce Hayes (2025-2026 Zone Chairperson), and Angela Bray (guest of Lion Melisa Castle). If you are bringing guests, please let Lion Angela Parker know in advance of our weekly meeting. For our at large members, the costs of meals are $15 for Catfish Express and $10 for all other caterers. Please provide your money to Lion Angela Parker whenever you make a meeting and enjoy lunch. If Lion Angela is not at the meeting, please provide the money to either Lion Chris Horsley or Lion Bob King.
Lion Chris Horsley called upon Lion Don Thornton to lead our opening prayer.
Lion Chris Horsley called upon Lion Marina Garcia-Heredia to lead our Pledges of Allegiance to the United States and Texas Flags.
Lion Chris Horsley called upon Lion Jesse Fugler to lead our weekly songs. Lion Jesse led the group in singing “Wabash Cannonball” and a patriotic favorite “God Bless America.” Although the books are new, Lion Chris Horsley suggested that Lion Dare Westmoreland, as his first act as President, get page numbers on the songbook.
Lion Chris Horsley called upon Lion Jill Crocker and Lion Marina Garcia-Heredia to provide details of events held this past weekend at Texas State Technical College (TSTC) and City Arena. Lion Jill reported that the event at TSTC was hot, but a lot of food items were raised for their pantry. Lion Marina reports that it was also hot at Patterson-Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram Power Wheel Grand Prix, but it was a fabulous event. Fortunately, the City Arena has big fans that supported the huge turnout. KMHT was on hand and broadcast the event live on Facebook. With so much fun, the parents were wondering if the go-kart race track would be left in place, but Lion Marina reports that the venue will be returned to its original state to host horse shows, barrel racing and other rodeo type events.
Lion Chris Horsley reported that the next District 2-X2 cabinet meeting would be held on Saturday, July 19, 2025 in Atlanta, Texas. Atlanta Lions Club is the fastest growing Lions Club in District 2-X2. From experience, it is always great when we have 5 or more members attend to represent Marshall Lions Club. For those able to attend, please let Lion Dare Westmoreland or Lion Stormy Nickerson know.
For Lion Mike Haynes, LSU baseball won the 2025 NCAA Division I baseball national championship defeating Coastal Carolina in the championship series. This marks the programs eighth national title and second in the last three seasons. The tigers swept the series, winning both games: 1-0 in Game 1 and 5-3 in Game 2. Evidently, in the elimination game, Coastal Carolina head baseball coach Kevin Schnall and first base coach Matt Schilling got ejected in the bottom of the first inning.
The Oklahoma City Thunder won game 4 in the best of 7 series by defeating the Indiana Pacers to win the 2025 NBA Championship. Evidently, Indiana Pacers starter Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn right Achilles tendon in the first quarter in the Game 7 which led to the 103-91 defeat to the Thunder.
Lion Chris Horsley also reports that Lion Dare Westmoreland will require assistance with programs for July and August 2025. If anyone has a program idea, Lion Dare welcomes any input. Lion Chris Horsley gave a shout out to the Texas Lions Camp (TLC) committee of Lions Melisa Castle, Mike Jordan, Patrick Owens and Donald Hocutt. Marshall Lions Club sent a camper to TLC this year and our camper, Camelia Fields, just returned from a week at TLC. Lion Melisa Castle reports that Camelia had a phenomenal time and Lion Melisa shared that Camelia is willing to come to our meeting to talk with the group. With Camelia being 11 years old, she has additional opportunities to attend TLC in the future. As a club, sending campers to TLC is something we do and it had been about 5 years since our last camper and hopefully, we will be able to increase this number to even more attending. Also, with two young guests, Ryleigh Castle and Jace James with us today, it is a perfect opportunity to start a Leo Club with Lion Melisa Castle willing to spearhead the initiative.
Lion Bob King further explained that we also had two positive evening meetings, countless fundraisers and events. It has been a fabulous year and it is a testament to Lion Chris Horsley’s leadership. Lion Bob King led the group in singing “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” in honor of Lion Chris Horsley. Lion Bob King turned the floor over to Lion Dare Westmoreland. Lion Dare Westmoreland echoed sentiments of Lion Chris Horsley doing a great job. As Lions Year 2024-2025 approached, Lion Chris Horsley and Lion Dare Westmoreland decided to team together as President and 1st Vice President. As we approach Lions Year 2025-2026, Lion Dare Westmoreland now has Lion Bob King as his 1st Vice President. Purposely, the group is teaming leadership to guarantee that the group is successful moving forward. Lion Dare Westmoreland presented Lion Chris Horsley a plaque in recognition of his outstanding leadership and dedication as President of Marshall Lions Club during Lions Year 2024-2025.
Lion Bob King told the audience that with PDG Brandon Greer in the audience, we must sing the “Happy Song” prior to performing the installation ceremony. For birthdays, we celebrate Lion Ed Hoffman’s wife, Kathy, and for anniversaries, we recognize Jim and Tiffany Ammerman. Lion Bob King called upon Lion Jesse Fugler to lead the group in singing the “Happy Song” in the key of “S” to recognize their special day. As he exited the stage, Lion Bob King told the group it has been a pleasure serving as the Tail Twister and next week, Lion Jill Crocker will take over the job during our next Lions Year. Lion Bob King announced that he has Blue Bell ice cream cups for the group and decided to call our club auctioneer to the stage, Lion Don Thornton, to auction off a crate of homegrown tomatoes. After a back and forth, Lion Gene Younger walked away with the tomatoes with a bid of $12.00.
Before moving forward with the installation ceremony, Lion Chris Horsley recognized Lion Bruce Hayes. Lion Bruce will replace Lion Robert Wood during Lions Year 2025-2026 and serve as the East Zone Chairperson. Lion Bruce Hayes will be the club conduit between Marshall, Waskom, Jefferson, Avinger, and Hallsville Lions Clubs to District 2-X2’s leadership. Lion Kent Reeves asked that all members that have joined Marshall Lions Club the past year, to please stand up. The audience provided these members a huge round of applause.
Lion Chris Horsley called upon PDG Brandon Greer who served as District Governor two year ago and part of Hallsville Lions Club. PDG Brandon Greer is here today to install our officers for Lions Year 2025. PDG Brandon Greer does a great job with the installation and everyone calls upon him because he is really fast. PDG Brandon thanked Marshall Lions Club so much for growing and succeeding as a club. Since he is within 50 miles, he might not be considered an expert, but has been watching Marshall Lions and is extremely impressed. The club was reformed in 1938 and based upon records, the charter date was 1921.
When PDG Brandon Greer was District Governor, he encouraged every club to just have fun and Marshall Lions Club has been doing just that. Whenever he installs officers, PDG Brandon brings and provides a $2.00 bill to incoming officers. There is something about the engraving on the back of the bill that catches his eye. Also, it reminds him that as Lions, while we are actively serving within the community, we are different and for all to represent Lions well while serving.
Marshall Lions Club officers for 2025-2026:
President – Lion Dare Westmoreland
1st Vice President – Lion Bob King
2nd Vice President – Lion Kent Reeves
Secretary – Lion Stormy Nickerson
Treasurer – Lion Angela Parker (not present for installation)
Membership Chairperson – Lion Robert Wood (not present for installation)
LCIF Coordinator – Past President Chris Horsley
Service/Marketing Chairperson – Lion Marina Garcia-Heredia
Lion Tamer – Lion Johnathan Freshwater
Lion Tail Twister – Lion Jill Crocker
At Large Board Member – Lion Stan Spence
At Large Board Member – Lion Dudley Swofford
At Large Board Member – Lion Mike Haynes
PDG Brandon Greer requested the entire audience stand and reminded everyone in attendance that these officers for Marshall Lions Club have tough jobs. He asked the audience to commit to serving the officers of Marshall Lions Club in making their job easier. The group committed to assisting the officer in performing their jobs and to have fun doing it. PDG Brandon Greer announced that all officers of Marshall Lions Club are duly installed and ready to start their jobs for Lions Year 2025-2026 on July 1, 2025.
After the installation of officers, Lion Chris Horsley took the opportunity to announce the Lion of the Year. The Lion selected as Lion of the Year joined Marshall Lions Club in November 2021 and has held various roles in Marshall Lions Club as Marketing Chairperson for two terms; District 2-X2 Zone Chairperson Lions Year 2023-2024; Club Secretary for two terms; and for Lions Year 2025-2026 will District 2-X2 Information and Public Relations Chairperson, District Convention Chairperson and Cabinet Secretary under District Governor Jimmy Cox. Lion Chris Horsley announced Lion of the Year for 2024-2025 as Lion Donald Hocutt.
Lion Donald Hocutt is married to Marylin and they have been married for 38 years. He has two daughters: Amber and Ashley and seven grandchildren. Many may not be aware, but Lion Donald is really actively involved with baseball. He has coached city teams; All Star teams and has his grandsons are actively involved in travel baseball. He retired from the United States Navy in 2020 after serving for 37 years and was a Captain in the Navy. Recently, he retired as Harrison County’s Veteran Service Officer and worked for the county serving Veterans for almost 3 years. To recognize his performance during the year, Lion Chris Horsley led the group in “Hip Hip Hooray” three times in honor of the Lion of the Year. Lion Chris Horsley presented Lion Donald a special pen with his name engraved upon it. The pen is also in an engraved box that reflects Lion Donald Hocutt as Lion of the Year for 2024-2025.
Lion Chris Horsley was installed as President for Lions Year 2024-2025 on June 18, 2024. Upon assumption of the position, Lion Chris gave a speech of things that he looked to accomplish and provided a report card of his performance. At the time, he wanted the membership of the club to double in weekly attendance. At the time, overall numbers for meeting attendance hovered at around 15 and on certain weeks we only had 12 in attendance. Lately, membership attendance has hit 25 in attendance with a few times exceeding 30 members. Lion Chris gives credit to the team. Lion Bob King as Tail Twister has made the meetings really fun. Lion Dare Westmoreland and Lion Donald Hocutt have kept us organized and informed. And so many more Lions have gone above and beyond to improve our club.
Lion Chris Horsley wanted to enhance delivery of Lions name tags. To her credit, Lion Marina Garcia-Heredia stepped up. Update of the name tags was so far behind and today, members have name tags to wear to our meetings. Also, Lion Chris Horsley with the help of Lion Angela Parker was able to bring back the Yellow Phone Book. Lion Chris finds it convenient to have a members name, address and phone number readily available in case contact is required.
Lion Chris Horsley wanted to be involved more with District 2-X2. At the time, Lion Robert Wood, Lion Patrick Owens and Lion Donald Hocutt were the only members attending District 2-X2 events. Today, our attendance to District 2-X2 events reaches 8 members in attendance at the recent officer and new member training. In hindsight, Lion Chris Horsley did not reach his goal with having a piano player. Lion Chris had invited Dave Simmons to join, but that never panned out and while Lion Stacey Bowen plays the piano, he has been extremely busy at Downs Funeral Home that prevents regular attendance.
At the beginning of Lion Chris’ term, Lion Dare Westmoreland suggested that we become better organized. As a result of this suggestion, we formed individual committees. As an effort to make our events better, we assigned people to committees. Possibly, in hindsight, people assisted in areas in which they may or may not have been passionate, but nevertheless, we started the process. Now, with committees in place, we have something to build upon.
Lion Chris Horsley also wanted to be a presence in the community. In his mind, this has been accomplished. We ordered and received Marshall Lions Club t-shirts, attended Greater Marshall Chamber of Commerce events, supported the Marshall Symphony League, and as result of our effort, people in the community are starting to notice Marshall Lions Club. As an example, Lion Stormy Nickerson had the Touch-A-Truck event and members of Marshall Lions Club showed up for the event. These type of events provide photo opportunities and allows us to be visible on social media while supporting the community we so love. This enables us to continue to grow as a club.
When Lion Jill Crocker first considered joining Marshall Lions Club, she asked what Lions do. As a result of her great questions, we instituted new member training and orientation. We are ambassadors to the community and the member training enables our members to answer questions the community might have and further explain how we are supporting the community through service and donations.
As we entered the year, we started night meetings and at this point, the report card is still out. We had two meetings with phenomenal programs and Lion Dare Westmoreland will make a decision moving forward, if the night meetings continue. Lion Chris Horsley also got the previous President plaques completed and updated back to 1938. The plaques are now attached to our wooden box as a historical reference for our club. Lion Chris Horsley suggested that going back to 1938 is incredible and even prior to Lion Dudley Swofford’s birthday. Lion Dudley quickly corrected Lion Chris since he was an early school aged child at the time.
Lion Chris Horsley went on to say that our Christmas Parade, Pancake Suppers and Charity Horse Show were better organized which is a testament to the club and our overall effort. The Charity Horse Show is our largest fundraiser and the team is already making preparation to make the 63rd Charity Horse Show in 2026 the best ever. Lion Chris Horsley believes there is still work to do as our club buys into Lionism and further spreads our effort in the community.
As he left the stage, Lion Chris Horsley thanked the group for their assistance during Lions Year 2024-2025. He immediately went to another initiative we wanted to do which is another awards banner. Lion Chris’ wife Cynthia sewed on two patches we had previously received to start the new banner. The group noticed that Marshall Texas must be added to the banner to make it known that the awards belong to our team. With the club being over 85 years of age, we can easily obtain patches from 55 years until 85 years to fill the new banner.
Lion Chris Horsley moved on at this point to passing the gavel to incoming President Lion Dare Westmoreland. This is a club tradition as the outgoing President for Lions Year 2024-2025 leaves his or her term and the new President guides the club in 2025-2026.
Lion Dare Westmoreland finds it fascinating that Marshall Lions Club has a like-minded leadership team. While Lion Chris Horsley and he did not talk about what comments they would make, Lion Chris stole all of Lion Dare’s notes. In the club, there is involved, active leadership going on. Lion Chris Horsley has done a great job in leading the team. In Lions Year 2025-2026, Lion Dare Westmoreland wants the team to improve communication. To echo the comments of Lion Chris Horsley, Lion Dare believes that members of Marshall Lions Club must know what we are all about before sharing that information with the community. With seriousness, there are a lot of acronyms that are utilized across Lions Club International. Whether understanding LCIF, Multiple District 2, District 2-X2, and Past District Governor (PDG), there is a lot to know and understand for members of the club.
In the past, we did not possess a budget. Our mantra was to gather as a Board of Directors and give money out to anyone that asked for it. Finally, this year, Lion Bob King focused on our income versus expenditures to have a balanced budget at the end of each Lions Year. Lion Bob King, Lion Angela Parker, Lion Alan Grantham, Lion Chris Horsley and Lion Dare Westmoreland worked on a budget and during the first Board of Directors meeting in July 2025, the budget will be approved. Since Lion Dare Westmoreland dislikes reactive management, the budget will enable the team to look down the road for future expenditures. Further, the group needs to know what is occurring in the future, so we will work to deliver an events calendar.
Lion Dare Westmoreland encourages members of the club to get really active in our major fundraising events. Lion Dare has gotten to know people through our effort in support of these events. As an example, Lion Dare did not really know Lion Bob Swanson until both worked the gate during the Charity Horse Show. For those three hours, both were able to get to know each other personally and discuss life events. Also, during the last Pancake Supper, Lion Dare assigned Lion Johnathan Freshwater a certain job and in that job, it provided Lion Johnathan a chance to get to know people of our club too. Lion Dare Westmoreland strongly believes the foundation for success has been laid and we are ready to move forward as a team. Lion Dare looks forward to working with the entire group during Lions Year 2025-2026.
Lion Dudley Swofford mentioned that he has been a member of Marshall Lions Club for 45 years and today’s meeting was the best that we have ever had. And to Lion Dudley, it is a real encouragement for him to see and he looks forward to the future growth of our club!
Lion Mike Haynes made an announcement for Lion Angela Parker. Lion Angela is still short of the 12 orders required for the next t-shirt order. If you have not provided your order form and money to Lion Angela, please provide to her soonest. As a reminder, all members that have not ordered a shirt previously will receive $15.00 off the purchase price.
Lion Dare Westmoreland called upon Lion Don Thornton to lead our closing prayer. The meeting adjourned at 1:01 p.m.
Sincerely,
Lion Donald Hocutt
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