Overview - Lions Club History

With the generous sponsorship and experienced club building guidance of the Mount Kisco Lions Club, thirty-two (32) business and civic-minded  citizens successfully launched the Pound  Ridge Lions Club on December 12, 1962 which included Alfred and Salvatore Albano (Appliance),    David and Ted Allen (Pharmacy), Dr. David Berman (Dentist),  John DiTore (Dairy), Warren Everetts (Limo Service),  Jack Follis (PostMaster), Lee Gray (Town Board), Alvin Jordan ( ??), Robert LaTroncia (??),  Frank Nye (Sports Shop), Rev. John Olofson(Pastor, CC), Morris Ottman (Principal, PRES), and Dr. Matthew Rosenschien (GP).  The first President of the Pound Ridge Lions Club was Alvin Jordan.  

Charter Members

In only a few years (and again with the support and assistance from the Mount Kisco Lions Club and Ambulance Corps), most of the charter members began a Lions Service Project to form a local volunteer ambulance corps , since most Pound Ridge medical emergency calls were responded to by Mount Kisco Lions Ambulance Corps which resulted in extended response times, longer  transport periods to Northern Westchester Hospital, and often with less than desired or satisfactory outcomes and conditions.  Thus, in April 1966, Pound Ridge Lions Ambulance Corps was registered and certified by the Emergency Medical Services division of the New York State Department of Health.

The first ambulance was a used 1956 Cadillac Hearse (this ambulance was replaced by a later model Cadillac hearse) from Mount Kisco Lions Ambulance Corps and was housed in a sheet metal automobile shed on a back parking and vacant area behind Albano’s.  The shed was only slightly bigger than the ambulance and required various sideways maneuvers with a twisting motion to gain entrance (or exit)to the ambulance.  In addition, the shed had no heating or cooling facilities, so starting the ambulance when responding to a 911 call especially during the Winter season was a stroke of good luck, or a brief and forceful outburst of stark emotion and utter exasperation.   Thus, an ambulance garage with heating and cooling amenities along with storage, training tools, and medical supplies was a real and highly visible set of requirements for ensuring effective pre-hospital medical care.  

As the building work items began to decrease and more time became available to devote to other club service projects and activities, small groups of Lions would travel to other area Lion Clubs to meet with their membership  to share and learn about their respective club activities and service projects.  However, a portion, and sometimes the purpose, of the meeting was to ‘steal’ their club flag, banners, gavel, or other club property which would be exchanged later, (or at the next district conference) for cash, or other payback.    These antics were viewed as inter-club competition and team building. 

Another successful and significant Lions Service Projects is the Student Community Service Awards project.   This project’s committee conducts the research, selection, and presentation of awards to annually recognize the volunteer efforts of graduating high school seniors from Pound Ridge in local area schools.   One of the key tasks is the evaluation process to select the deserving students and their contributions.  As a part of the process, a point grading scheme was devised which can provide a reasoned degree of objectivity and justification in the selection of a student for an award.  In addition, to highlight the volunteer contributions of deceased Lions, each student award is named in honor of a deceased Lion and the spouse is afforded the opportunity to present the named deceased Lion award to the student that is being recognized. 

For a point of reference and progress, during the early years of our annual pumpkin fundraiser, the sales location was situated along the small strip of ground between Chubby’s and the access road to the rear parking areas,   The sales location was later moved to the front of the ambulance building when the construction had been completed.  And now, the pumpkins are sold from the beautiful and magnificent Lions Park.  For a relatively small Lions Club, Pound Ridge Lions Club has made highly significant and meaningful service projects for Pound Ridge and its citizens. 

Also, to enhance the Lions Club Charter anniversary meeting highlighting the past year’s accomplishments, and focusing on next year’s plans for addressing our planned service projects, Volunteer of the Year was created and held with our Holiday Luncheon at Le Chateau in South Salem on the first Sunday in December.  This  award recognizes and honors significant community service volunteer contributions by individuals or entities to the Pound Ridge community.   The first recipient of this honor and award was Edith Waters, who was also celebrating her 100^th birthday.  In addition to being a longtime resident of Pound Ridge and a local business owner, she learned braille at age 70 and began transcribing books into braille which included a 5000 word technical book.   The Lions Club established and annually contributes to the Edith Waters Talking Book Collection in her honor at the Pound Ridge Library.   This year’s honoree is the Pound Ridge Lions Club for its 50^th year of service to the Pound Ridge community and to highlight the long-term service commitments and  projects to Sight, Hearing, and other special projects to serve our neighbors and community.