September 2016
In 1917 America was just beginning its involvement in World War I, but a 38 year old Chicago businessman named Melvin Jones was thinking about more than the war when he challenged his local business group to "reach beyond business issues and address the betterment of their communities and the world." Jones and his group decided to contact similar clubs around the country and hold a convention on June 7, 1917. ...
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By 1931 Easton was certainly a community in need because America was deep in the Great Depression. Bill Fenwick, stationmaster at the North Easton Depot, wanted to do something to help his town. He and his friends decided to call in the Gillette Brothers, paid fundraisers for the Lions Club, for a meeting at the Minnetonka Restaurant on September 16th. At the time there were only six Lions Clubs in southeastern Massachusetts...
February 2017
Full confession: I write as a relatively recent member of the Easton Lions Club, where I serve as a liaison between it and the Ames Free Library. I can in no way be held to standards of objectivity because I have none. I am an unabashed fan of both organizations and couldn’t be more proud to belong to both.This year, the Easton Lions Club celebrates its 85th year in Easton. Who knew? It’s been a solid force and presence in our community since 1931!
What is the Easton Lions Club and what is its mission? In its 85th year, the Easton Lions can proudly say it is the largest Lions Club in the state of Massachusetts, and that “Lions Serve.” When did it get started, and why does it serve the town? Why does the Easton Lions Club do what it does? For the Easton Lions Club, I have discovered, having fun and raising funds for important projects...
August 2017
Born in the Great Depression and forged by the challenges of World War II, the Easton Lions Club entered the Post-War era with seventy-two members in a town of just over 6,000. Over the next sixty years while the membership ebbed and flowed, the needs of the community would only grow. In 1951 you could still get a fried chicken dinner for under a dollar at Topsy’s Chicken Coop, one of the many restaurants where the Lions have met over the years. In that year ...
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Today, the Eyemobile provides free eye, ear, and health screenings, and the club provides free eye exams, glasses, and hearing aids to needy people, young and old. We have sent bicycles to Cambodia, emergency aid to New Orleans and Haiti and in general lived up to the slogan "where there’s a need there’s a Lion." In addition to our serious commitments, the club provides ...
September 2001, revised in 2011
It has been over 84 years since Bill Fenwick, Easton Lions first "King Lion", shared his vision with 20 other service-minded men of Easton. That vision was a dream of humanitarianism that is kept alive today by more than 150 women and men – The Easton Lions are the largest Lions Club in the state of Massachusetts since September 1, 1999.
Looking back for a moment to September 16, 1931 . . . the Gillette Brothers appeared in the Easton area as paid organizers of Lions International to put Easton into the Lions camp.
Possibly they arrived at the depot to be greeted by Station Master Bill Fenwick. Ironically the Easton Lions Club framed charter is kept in the depot by the Easton Historical Society. This charter was originally presented to King Lion Bill at the Minnetonka Restaurant located at...