History of the St. Joseph Township Lions Club

The St. Joseph Township Lions Club was chartered on June 19, 1981. The Lion most instrumental in the formation of this club was Lion Alfred “Al” Lange. Lion Al, who was a member of the St. Joseph Lions Club, saw a need for a club that met outside of the normal work week. Lion Al found support for this idea from District Governor William “Bill” Phillips. Encouraged by DG Phillips, Lion Al began to actively recruit prospective members for a new club, which the Fairplain Lions agreed to sponsor. Some potential members were new to Lionism. Others were already Lions who shared Lion Al’s view that a club meeting on the weekend would be easier to attend and not conflict with the busy work week schedule.  On June 19, 1981 a new pride of thirty-two Lions was chartered and ready to serve; and serve they did, some for the next thirty-one years!

Like many Lions clubs worldwide, this new club rallied to the1925 call by Helen Keller to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against blindness”.  Meeting the first and third Saturday of each month at the Senior Citizens Center in St. Joseph, Michigan, the St. Joseph Township Lions Club also reached out to the hearing impaired and through the years to many other worthy causes. It was at the club’s breakfast meetings, over a second cup of coffee that service projects were formulated and funding for the projects discussed - much as it is today. 

Many of the early fund-raising efforts are timeless. St. Joseph Township Lions continue to be found at store fronts like Rogers Foodland, Ace Hardware, and Walgreens collecting for White Cane Week. In past years, the club helped administer sight tests at local schools. Today, club members are found administering site tests at the Sight Mobile and with Kowalski's KidSight Project. St. Joseph Township Lions provided money to help defray the costs of eye surgery for a local citizen and they still collect eyeglasses destined to assist our vision impaired neighbors worldwide.

As Lion Al Lange had hoped the helping paws of this club also reached the hearing impaired. In 1985 and again in 1992, the St. Joseph Township Lions assisted in the donation of a William Sound Hearing-Impaired System for the Berrien County Courts.  In recent years, the club donated money for a summer camp for hearing impaired children and also donated a hearing aid to a local individual. 

Lions everywhere recognize the value of education. In 1988 the club created a $500 scholarship for graduating high school seniors called the St. Joseph Township Lions Scholarship. Funds for the scholarship were administered by the club and two of the earliest recipients were 1989 graduates of Lakeshore High School.  In 2000 this scholarship was renamed in honor of Lion Arthur “Art” Kalinas, a charter member of the St. Joseph Township Lions, whose unselfish service in raising money for the club’s service projects was an inspiration to all who knew him. The scholarship was then integrated into the Lake Michigan College Foundation and administered by the college. It is now known as the St. Joseph Township Lions Club Arthur Kalinas Scholarship.  Each year a high school senior who will be attending Lake Michigan College receives this now $1000 award. 

The St. Joseph Township Lions continue to reach out to young and old. The club supports young musicians who have been selected to play in the Lions All-State Band which marches in the International Parade at the annual Lions International Convention.   

Fund-raising is essential for all Lions clubs to continue the work of helping others. Through the years the club has taken on a variety of work projects from a rummage sale at Lion Chuck Salvano’s house to raise money for the first academic scholarships to one of our most popular fundraisers the Lions Brat Sales. On warm summer days, many citizens of the twin cities visited the St. Joseph Township Lions club “diner” parked in front of Roger’s Foodland for a cooked to perfection brat and a soda. And while Lions is “more then just the mints”, the candy mint sales, a funding source in 1986, successfully continues to today.

Over the past 31 years the St. Joseph Township Lions club fluctuated in numbers, but prospered in service to the community. Capable leadership, an enthusiastic membership, and a commitment to Lionism influenced the growth of this club to the current membership of twenty-eight. The spirit of Lionism is well established within the St. Joseph Township Lions Club and so is the vision of Charter President Al Lange of a Saturday morning breakfast meeting for a pride of Lions.  And so you will find these Lions on the first and third Saturday of each month, over that second cup of coffee, continuing to plan new projects to improve the local communities, as well as, our neighbors around the world.

Special thanks to Lions Mike Metzger, Duane Schneider, Gene Robinson, PDG John Johnson, Chuck Salvano, the late Al Lange and author Dale Kubicki for contributing to this history. 

                             Club Presidents

81-82  Al Lange              94-95  Bob Barrett              07-08  John Conlin

82-83  Gene Robinson   95-96  Michael Metzger       08-09 Mike McCune

83-84  Larry Frank         96-97  Jerry Bergenhagen   09-10  Kathy Walden

84-85  Ken Karakula      97-98  Ron Ravitch              10-11  Jim Harmon

85-86  Gene Pastrick     98-99  John Bird                   11-12  Dan Betts

86-87  Bill Klein              99-00  John Bird                   12-13  Dale Kubicki

87-88  John Johnson      00-01  Jim Weschgel

88-89  Art Kalinas           01-02  Jim Weschgel

89-90  Ruben Ramirez    02-03  Ruben Ramirez

90-91  Al Lange              03-04  Al Schoenbach

91-92  Al Lange              04-05  Al Schoenbach

92-93  John Johnson      05-06  Richard Johnson

93-94  John Johnson      06-07  Richard Johnson

                       Melvin Jones Fellows

1986 Al Lange

1988 Gene Robinson

1993 PDG Ron Ravitch

1994 PDG John Johnson 

2001 Duane A. Schneider

2002 Michael L. Metzger

Chartered:  June 19, 1981

Sponsoring Club:  Fairplain Lions

District Governor:  William “Bill” Phillips

Charter  Officers & Members

President      Alfred “Al” Lange

First Vice President   Gene Robinson

Second Vice President  Arthur “Art” Kalinas

Third Vice President  Gene Pastrick

Secretary  John Bertuca

Treasurer  John G. Andrews

Tail Twister  Rocco Bertuca

Lion Tamer  Dave Dreese

Director, Two-Year   Leo Conklin, Ian McGahan

Director, One-Year   George Andrews, James M. O’Malley

James Ashmead, Ronald C. Marchione, Robert L. Barrett, James P. McNally, Marvin Blanks,Ocie Mitchell,  Isadore Dimaggio, George Neumann,Tim Fenderbosch,N. Homer Pavlides, Joseph Giannola, Joseph Roderick, Ronald A. Griffin, D. Wayne Root, William “Bill” Klein, Duane Schneider, Bill Kuschel, Floyd E. Sult,  Frank Yurcus