The History of the Mauldin Lions Club
Recorded below is THE HISTORY of the Mauldin Lions Club. Most of the information of the early years was supplied by Wales Burdette in 1987 and has been kept updated by Tom Bennett and David Boalt Secretary using information supplied by Lion Wales, others and information gathered over the years.
The MAULDIN LIONS CLUB was chartered on January 17, 1967. The first M&A report was for February 1967. The Charter was presented on March 3, 1967 at a Charter Night Meeting held at Hillcrest High School in Simpsonville, SC. There were approximately 130 people present for the event. Past International Director Leon Campbell of Greenville, SC was the Speaker. Lion Wales Burdette was Charter President and Lion Joe Morris was the chairman in charge of arranging the Charter Night activities.
At the time Mauldin Lions Club was chartered: James Austin was District Governor, S.C. Vinson was Deputy District Governor and William Steel was Zone. Chairman Dues were $1.25 per month. Meetings were started at 7:30 pm. On 4/11/67 it was changed to 7:00 pm. Lion Roy Iler was the first Lion to transfer into the Club. There were 39 members at the time of Charter.
For most of the history of the Mauldin Lions Club, the meetings were held at the Pantry Restaurant which was located in the Golden Strip Shopping Center in Mauldin. For a short while in 1984, the club moved the meetings to the Western Steer Steak House on Laurens Road at Interstate 85. As this location proved unsatisfactory and at the request of new management at the Pantry, the urging of some members, we moved back to the Pantry in late 1984 or early 1985. In late 1987, at the request of the owner who was making preparations to sell the Pantry, the meetings were held at Morrison’s Cafeteria in the Greenville Mall. In January 1988, the club meetings started at Morrison’s on a permanent basis.
On March 18, 1991, the club moved it's meetings to Quincy's in Mauldin. This was done to help bolster a declining membership and attendance. Also there were those who thought that we should have never moved away from Mauldin.
The Club's Second Treasurer, Lion Jim Morris, passed away on May 10, 1989 after a seven week fight for his life following an automobile accident on Easter Sunday 1989. Lion Jim was a very faithful member and a Treasurer who always did his job.
At the July board of directors meeting it was the decision of the board that Lion Tom Bennett would continue the duties of Treasurer along with the Secretary's work.
On this date 04-06-90, there are 36 members of the club. Four are Members at Large. The Average attendance at meetings is twenty.
Candy Day 1989. Lion Henry Little was Candy Day Chairman. This was the best year the club has ever had on Candy Day. Gross sales were $3,799.84, with a net of $3,299.84. $2,353.84 was collected on the street and $1,421.00 was received in underwriting. 24 Lions participated in this, which was our best fundraiser. $136.45 was the average per members participating.
On October 9, 1989, the club participated in the Mauldin Christmas Parade. The event was very poorly attended by the Lions. Only six Lions were on hand to take part in the parade with our float. They were: Roy Barber, Hank Schneider, Joe Morris, Tom Bennett, Henry Little and Nick Plescia. Joe's granddaughter, Tom's son and the men from the Greenville residence rode the float. THE CLUB WON SECOND PLACE IN THE NON-COMMERCIAL JUDGING. This second place win was worth $75.00 to the club treasury.
In October 1990, the club added the first female member. This was Jeanne Morris. Jeanne is no stranger to the club as her husband Jim served this club with distinction for many years as treasurer.
On this date November 27, 1990, the club is experiencing a period of declining attendance. This trend started over a year ago and has reached an alarming low of below 50% most of the time. The board is trying to analyze the situation and bring a turn about. But at this time no one problem stands out.
On this date June 1, 1991, the trend for both attendance and membership is still declining. Our membership stands at 29 and the average attendance is about 16.
On this date June 1, 1995, the membership is still declining although several new members have been added. Average attendance is about 15.
As of this date, 05-31-90, the average age of the membership is 53.52. If our club is to grow and be effective in this community we must lower the age of the membership.
On Tuesday, July 30, 1991, Lion Euell Black Culbertson passed away after a long bout with cancer. Lion Euell was a faithful member of the club which he truly loved. Poor health kept him from attending in the last years of his life.
On Saturday, November 16, 1991, Lion Mickey Burnett passed away after collapsing to the floor in his home around 5:00 a.m. Lion Mickey was a very faithful member of the club. While his health was a problem for several years, he still maintained a perfect attendance record until his death.
As of this date January 3, 1992, the club has a membership of twenty-six Lions. There are two members on the Member at Large status. They are Dan Self and Hank Schneider.
As of the above date, the average age of our membership is 53.04 years.
On December 8, 1991, the club entered a float in the Mauldin Christmas Parade. It was a very attractive float and drew many good comments. Ten Lions participated in the building of, and who rode the float in the parade. Lion Henry Little was chairman of the Christmas Parade.
On July 1, 1995 Lion Jeanne Morris became the first Lady to become president of the Mauldin Lions Club. Club membership at this time is twenty one. There are three members at large, they are Lions Roy Barber, Dan Self, and Mike Spivey. There is an average of 16 members that attend on a regular basis. Average age of the club at this time is 57.70 years. Two new members have been added this year. They are Lions Christina Mangelsen and Robert Morris. This has been one of the most successful years in recent memory. The Lion President and Secretary will receive 100% awards and the Club will receive a 100% award. This is the first time that this milestone has been reached.
On July 1, 1996 Lion Blair Tidmarsh became the president. There were three new members inducted in August and September. There were two members taken by way of transfer. New members were Lions "Sam" Hendricks, Mike Bergen and David West. Transfer members were Lions Rebecca Rickert and Bruce Rickert. There are several other prospective new members that we will try to enlist. This is the 30th year of the Mauldin Club. This milestone will be celebrated at the annual Christmas Party to be held on December 16, 1996. We have three charter members still in the club. They are Lion Wales Burdette, Lion Joe Morris, and Lion Frank Mitchell.
Lions Roy Iler, Joe Morris and Frank Mitchell were awarded with the Life Membership in the Lions Club. As a result they will not have to ever pay dues in Lions again. This membership is transferable to other clubs if they should ever transfer. This brings us to a total of four members that are Life members as Lion Wales Burdette was awarded this honor in June 1994.
In December 1999 the club inducted two new honorary members. These persons have been very instrumental in the work of the Lions Club and getting information to the public about the work of the Lions Club. These members are Lion Rick Morris and Lion Gwinn Davis. Lion Rick is a member of the Board of the Derrick Family Foundation in Lexington, Virginia. He has been instrumental in the Mauldin Lions Club receiving Funds from the Foundation. These funds enabled the club to award three scholarships for children of Lions Clubs members. Lion Gwinn is the Photographer for the Golden Strip Tribune Times. He has helped the club to advertise its work in the paper for the community to see. With out this work by Lion Gwinn Lionism may have never be seen.
In December of 2000 Gail Boalt, Wife of Lion David Boalt was inducted as an honorary member. Lion Gail has been very active in the Lions projects and the Board of Directors decided that she should be made an honorary member
In January of 2001, Lion David Boalt was elected as Vice District Governor elect. His term will be from July 2001 to June 2002. In January 2002 Lion David Boalt was elected as District Governor Elect. His term will run from July 2002 till June 2003.
To date, January 2002, we have given fourteen scholarships of $1,000.00 each.
In December 2002 The Mauldin Lions gave out five $1,000.00 scholarships. In December 2003 the club gave out seven $1,000.00 scholarships. This is a total of twenty-six scholarships. In December 2004 the Mauldin Lions Club gave out $8,000.00 in Scholarships. This makes thirty –four scholarships to date. In December 2005 the Mauldin Lions Club gave out $15,000.00 for seven scholarships. This makes forty-one to date. In December 2006 the Mauldin Lions Club gave out two scholarships of $1,000.00 to the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind in memory of Lion James Morris, a long time Treasurer of the Club and in honor of Lion Jeanne Morris a current member and past President of the club. There were also seven other scholarships given out this year to children and grandchildren of club members. This is a total of Fifty Scholarships given by the Club. Our membership as of February 28, 2007 is 32 members as we have lost several members due to personal reasons. Average attendance is 14 and we have nine Affiliate Members, three Honorary Members, and six Members At Large. Lion Joe Morris and Lion Frank Mitchell, both charter members, passed away during the past two years. Lion Wales Burdette, Charter President, is the last charter member to serve the club. Lion Wales Burdette passed away January 14, 2008.
Since 2009 the Mauldin Lions Club has experienced a decline membership. We are quite concerned in this matter and we will continue to work to get new members to solve this problem.
