Club needs members to survive

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Middlebury Lions Club members set flags at veterans’ grave sites the Saturday before the 2017 Memorial Day. They brave all sorts of weather to be sure the flags are in place in time for Memorial Day ceremonies. (Terrence S. McAuliffe photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

The Middlebury Lions Club has operated continuously since 1953, but it may very well cease to exist if residents don’t step up and support it by becoming members. If it dies, our town will lose the club that places flags on every veteran’s grave each Memorial Day, serves up a delicious turkey dinner each November and has had a whole series of Middlebury scenes preserved in beautiful Christmas ornaments, to mention just a few of the ways it improves the quality of life for Middlebury residents.

DanaLynn Dowling knows what it’s like to see a civic club cease to exist. She served as secretary of the Middlebury Junior Women’s Club for many years before it disbanded a couple of years ago. She said during the last seven years it existed, the club tried without success to get new members.

“It’s very hard to get people to volunteer these days. I’m not sure why. I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I go out of my way to volunteer because I want to make our town a better place to live,” Dowling said.

When that club’s membership dwindled to four or five, it became impossible to continue. Dowling said you just can’t run functions with that few members. Losing that club meant the town lost its 5K races, breakfast with the Easter Bunny, Christmas breakfast with Santa, auctions and dances, all of which raised money the club gave back to the town.

The Lions Club also raises money it gives back to the town in the form of college scholarships for Middlebury residents and donations to groups like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Yet the club is struggling to keep up its membership.

Lions Club President Paul Shea said that is not unique to the Lions Club. “Young people don’t seem to have time for civic groups. Both parents usually work and they want to spend time with their children in the evening instead of rushing through dinner and going to a meeting. You can’t blame them for that,” he said.

Dowling said she thought Lions Club membership was limited to men, but that’s not the case. The Lions Club was the first service club to admit women back in 1987. By 2003, they made up 14 percent of the membership, and a women’s initiative was launched to encourage more women to join. In March 2013, they made up 25 percent of the worldwide membership.

Few women have been members of the Middlebury Lions Club, but Shea said many Lions Clubs in the state have women members. “We’d be more than happy to have women members,” he said.

Middlebury Lions Club members meet once a month, usually on the fourth Wednesday, at a dinner meeting with a home-cooked meal, for which they pay $10. Dues are paid quarterly.

To join, contact any Lions Club member. Fill out an application form and come to a meeting. Shea said he’ll buy your dinner for the first meeting. When you come back for the second meeting, he said, “We’ll welcome you with open arms and swear you in.”

Then Lions Club president Dick Bulkovitch speaks during the 2017 Memorial Day ceremony at Middlebury Cemetery. The Lions organize the ceremony each year. (Terrence S. McAuliffe photo)

Shea said he has been in the Lions Club more than 40 years. “I got shamed into joining when the Lions Club donated visual equipment to the school system,” he said. “That equipment picked up an eye deformity in my youngest daughter, who is now a practicing veterinarian.” Shea said her eye doctor, Dr. Richard Getnick, told him his daughter did so well due to early diagnosis of her condition. The club continues to provide vision assistance for Middlebury residents who apply for it through Social Services Director Joanne Cappelletti. Most who apply for it need glasses.

The bold yellow mail box with the Lions insignia that stands in front of Dinova’s Four Corners grocery store also provides vision assistance It serves as a collection point for used glasses. Shea said Lions pick up the glasses donated there and take them to an eye glass store in Brass City Mall that is a coordinator for the national Lions Club. After the glasses have been cleaned, sorted and packaged, they are distributed to low- and middle-income folks in need.

You’ll find the club on Facebook as Lions Club of Middlebury Connecticut.