The Unionville Lions Club is located in the town of Unionville NC, and was chartered with twenty-four members on December 11, 1970 by the Monroe Lions Club. However, the actual charter night banquet was held on February 9, 1971 with Lion Jerry B. Price serving as our charter club’s president. Two charter members, Lions Gene Simpson and Donald E. Price faithfully served with the club until their respective deaths in 1997 and 2001.
Today, the club honors the humanitarian efforts of these Lions through sponsorship of two annual district awards:the Community Service Award, in memory of Lion Gene Simpson and the Best Secretary Award, in memory of Lion Donald E. Price and in honor of his spouse Marie Price, a former Lion. Each spring, since 2005, our club has presented the Donald E. Price Scholarship Award of $1,000 to a graduating, active member of the Piedmont Leo Club, which our club chartered in 2001 at Piedmont High School. In 2008, our club also began awarding a club scholarship of $800 to a deserving graduating Leo.
Since 1972, Lion Jerry Hinson has continuously and faithfully served with the club and was honored in February 2007 with a Second Progressive Jack Stickley Fellowship. Our club honored Lion Jerry Hinson with a Life Membership to Lions Clubs International, presented to him by PID Lacy Presnell Jr., at our club’s 40th charter anniversary celebration on December 11, 2010 at Wingate University.
Our Community Service And Activities 
In its early years, the Unionville Lions Club sponsored area youth baseball teams at Unionville Elementary School, where the Lions’ concession trailer became a familiar sight at summer games. Today, the club still supports our youth through an advertising board at Piedmont High School’s football stadium, the Peace Poster Contest at Piedmont Middle School, the Piedmont Leo Club at PHS, and academic scholarships. In 1972 our club initiated our annual Thanksgiving Turkey Shoot, which still remains one of our major fundraisers and has become a community tradition, often attracting entire families for the competition. In the mid-nineties, our club succeeded the local fire department and Woman’s Club, as the main sponsor of the community’s Fourth of July Celebration, which generally attracts 5,000 participants and serves as another major fundraiser for our club. The community volunteers who assist us are honored at an appreciation night at our community center. In the summer of 2008, our club initiated our Concerts-in-the Park series, featuring local blue grass bands performing on four Thursday nights in July at the community center, as a community service project. In 2009, the club added another Thursday night concert, now totaling five concerts. This event has become our club’s third fundraiser, with most of the funds providing services in the community.
Over the years, the Unionville Lions Club has used our fundraisers to support local, as well as state, national, and international humanitarian activities.Locally, the Lions help host an annual Christmas Party for Visually Impaired Persons (VIPs) at the Monroe Country Club and a Spring Picnic at the Unionville Community Center; sponsor community VIPs for a week at Camp Dogwood and provide transportation assistance for VIPs to North Carolina’s Outer Banks each October for a fishing tournament; purchase gifts and food for families at Christmas; make available local eye screenings through the Vision Van; provide eye glasses, hearing aids, and examinations;lend medical equipment to community residents;and provide other types of financial assistance. Each November, our club honors our local veterans with an appreciation night dinner. For the past fifteen years, our club has provided roadside cleanup for one of the town’s main streets. Our club initiated a Community Health Screening in October 2010.
Unionville Lions Club has consistently given strong financial support to NCLF through contributions to White Cane and Camp Dogwood through car raffle ticket sales and other fundraisers. In 2006, Unionville became the first model Lions club in North Carolina to pledge$400 per club member (over five years) for the SightFirst II Campaign.
In addition to financial support, our club has provided significant district and state leadership through having Lion Jim Walker serve as District Governor, 2000 – 2001, and as President of NCLF, 2008 – 2009.Lions Betty Hinson, Jerry Hinson, Melvin Outen, Edith Ross, Doris Rushing, Jim Walker, and Rachel Walker have held district and state chairmanships.
