The Christiansburg Lions Club is at it again. As we move through this year with Lions President Jeff Richardson, we have done some interesting things to be a part of our community and the New River Valley.
One of the most meaningful to us is the assistance we offer to folks who need eye care, glasses, SPOT screening of school children and even sometimes financial assistance for eye surgery, such as cochlear implants.
Our primary focus as Lions is Sight Preservation and one of our major areas of support is Seeing Eye Dogs, better known today as Sight Assistant Companions. The overall cost of the care and training of the dogs and their companions is in the neighborhood of some $40,000.
The local Christiansburg Lions Club on average provides glasses for as many as
75-100 individuals. This often entails the examination and the purchase of the glasses themselves. We are proud of our efforts in providing vision help to others.
One of our ways of reaching out to and serving children and youth is our SPOT sight screening of school children at the first of the school year.
Along with the two Blacksburg Lions Club, we screen about 3,000 children in the various grades each year at the 18 Montgomery County Schools. We are glad to have this opportunity to relate to the school children and to provide this helpful service.
Our Annual Christmas Craft Show was once again a great success and we thank all of the folks who were our sponsors and also those who came out to buy from the crafters.
In our 26th year of Craft Shows this was probably one of the best and it is due to the support of our community, crafters, and wonderful sponsors.
Our 10th Annual Golf Tournament was rained out and so the scores of the golfers were whatever they wanted them to be. We had some “really” low scores as you might imagine! We thank our sponsors and golfers for their support even in wet conditions!
And at our meeting on Tuesday night, March 27th we had several awards and presentations made to the Club and individual Lions for their work and service to the Club and community.
Lion Mary Pettit was awarded a Gold Centennial Award for sponsoring several new Lions during the 100th Anniversary of Lionism.
Club “Tail Twister” Bob Thacker was presented a Banner Patch for the Club’s work and service for the Lions International Foundation and funds for various Lions Projects around the world.
And then a most important event was the receiving of New Member Bill Streich into our Christiansburg Lions Club.
As we conclude this Lions Year 2017-2018 we are grateful for the opportunity to be able to serve our community, the New River Valley, and the world around us through Lions International!
Doug Kanney,
Christiansburg
