THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, June 21, 2019 Page 15 birthday celebration, and she is visually impaired; she is blind; she has a cane. She works and she’s a functioning individual in the club. She will be able to help us with ideas and other ways we can help. And Barbara Geary was another new member who was inducted that night. Q: Please tell me about the candle. You had that candle you were holding when you were officially inducted or sworn in as the new leader for the next two years. What’s with the candle? A: Well, it’s just to light the way LIGHTING IT UP: New Saugus Lions Club President George Meimaris holds a candle during his installation on Saturday night, which was part of the club’s 90th birthday party. could no longer read, so with the device, they were able to read again. And that was their passion – reading – and they cried when they received the reading devices that we donated. I was not there, but Nelson Chang is part of the club that donates the devices. You hear different stories of individuals who are happy to receive certain items. Q: And another time when the club stepped up – Gene Decareau was telling me about an elderly couple who were about to get evicted from their home many years back because they didn’t have any heat or running water because they couldn’t afford it. There were some issues there that were going to force them out of their home, but the club stepped up so they could stay in their home. A: Well, we do multiple things. We have a scholarship from money we donate to the Saugus High School – also the Northeast (Metropolitan Regional) Vocational High School. We donate to a scholarship fund that we have so a student will get the scholarship. They send us a letter telling us why they need the scholarship, and the committee will pick a student to give the scholarship to – so we do that. Most of the donations go to Mass Eye and Ear and other research institutions, also the town. If there are people who need items in the town, we also work with that. Q: I understand there is sort of an unwritten rule that the politics – that there’s no talking politics during your get-togethers? A: No politics. No religion. Q: Because at your club’s recent 90th birthday celebration a couple of Saturdays ago, it was a pretty diverse group politically, from across the spectrum. A: People come together with different ideas and thoughts [politics and religion], but they don’t discuss those at our meetings. We’re only there to put our heads together to discuss charity work and how to help our human beings, so politics and church things do not really match up. Q: Yeah, I noticed that, because you have people of all faiths and political persuasions – a range of political ideologies at that 90th birthday celebration. A: A lot of people come together. They put aside their differences that they have in other areas in town, and they just look for one thing with Lions: to help others in need. Q: So, what were the highlights of that 90th birthday celebration? What will you remember? A: The food was good; the food [by Daniella’s of Danvers] was real good. Some of the awards that they gave out – it was a nice induction of the two new members that we inducted that night. Q: And this was the first time that a blind person was inducted in the local club? A: Yes – Valerie Haven. She just became a member on our 90th Everett Aluminum 10 Everett Ave., Everett 617-389-3839 Owned & operated by the Conti family since 1958 • 57 Years! “Same name, phone number & address for family since 1958 • 61 over half a century. We must be doing something right!” •Vinyl Siding •Free Estimates •Carpentry Work •Fully Licensed •Decks •Roofing • Fully Insured • Replacement Windows www.everettaluminum.com Now’s the time to schedule those home improvement projects you’ve been dreaming about all winter! ahead. When you first get inducted, you’re asked to close your eyes and forget everything as far as sight, so you can imagine that it’s pitch black and you are not seeing anything at all, and with the help of the Lions Club and the eye research, you open your eyes and you are able to see, so we have tried to use the candle as the light that you first see when you are no longer blind. Q: Is that candle – is that part of the national organization or is that local? A: It’s part of the induction that we’ve been doing here. It goes back and forth. I think each organization or each club, I believe, does a different induction. They add things or they subtract things to make it more interesting for the members so it will be a memory for them – something they can remember; something special. Q: Does that candle get reused or is it something you take home as a memento? A: It gets reused. Q: So, that candle is the same candle that’s been used for a few inductions? A: Yep. It keeps going. Q: Do you know how many years that candle has been in use? A: No. Jeannine Gentleman has been doing inductions. She was past governor, and I don’t know how many years she’s been doing the inductions. Q: And I guess another thing for a visitor that would be striking would be the roar, and you got one guy who seems to be into that – Arthur Gustafson – because every time I’m at a Lions Club function, he seems to be the guy who does the roar. A: Yep. That’s the Saugus Lions roar. We do it before our dessert. Q: So, tell me a little bit about that. A: That’s the Saugus Lions roar; that’s what you learn when you get inducted. Q: So, there are variations of it at other clubs? A: No, actually from what I’ve seen so far in the past six years, Saugus is the only one that does the roar. Q: Oh really? So that’s something that is unique to Saugus. A: Yes. I have not seen it at any other Lions Club event in another community. Q: Wow. That’s pretty interesting. So what are some of the other traditions or customs of the Saugus club, besides the roar and the candle? A: That’s pretty much it. I haven’t been around for a long, long time. It’s pretty quiet. Q: And Lily is the mascot. Right? A: Right. Q: And that’s nationally? A: That’s nationally. Q: Now, I noticed that at each table at the 90th, there was a stuffed Lily as the centerpiece, which at the end of the night was given to the most veteran Lions Club member at each table. A: Right. It went to the longest serving member of the club seated at each table. Q: What’s the mix of men and women in the Lion’s Club? Do you know? A: In Saugus, we currently have five women out of 45 members in total. We’re getting there. Q: So, years ago, it was strictly men? A: Most of the time, yeah. From what I can remember from the club rosters that I’ve seen previously, but times are changing and more women are getting involved. Q: Now, what are your plans as “King Lion” (or president) for the next two years? What are your main goals to accomplish during presidency? A: Well, I’d like to see our membership grow. That’s the number one. Q: Do you have a target figure? A: No. Hopefully, we’ll get four or five or six people to join, but it’s tough with individuals giving their time, with family and work, but like I said, it’s only a few hours. A couple of times a year, when we do the canning event, in which we collect on the street with the cans, that’s normally from 8 in the morning till 4:30 in the afternoon, but we rotate. Normally, I’m there for the full day, so I take the Saturday and use that whole day for a canning. Also, other members are there for the whole day themselves, but it’s nice to have a rotation and to have additional people come out and do the canning. That’s twice a year. So twice a year, you’re looking at maybe eight hours of canning. That’s 16 hours a year of donated time. And the other events; we have the comedy night, the golf night. Q: And the golf ball drop? A: Yes – the golf ball drop. So those events – it’s nice for a few hours for everybody to join in. Q: So somebody goes up in a helicopter to drop the golf balls? A: Yep. Q: How does that work? A: People purchase balls on the website. They put down the numbers for the balls they purchase. All of the balls go into the buckets, and they go up in a helicopter above the golf course, and they dump all of the buckets out the door of the helicopter. Whatever ball lands in the hole or closest to the hole is the winner. Usually, there’s first, second and third prize. Q: And that’s something that the club has been doing for a number of years? A: Many years. Q: Anything else that you would like to share about the club? A: For each King Lion or president of any Lions Club is the membership of the club – without all the members participating in events and functions there is no success for the club or the president. A president can lead but without the members backing him up and supporting with ideas and suggestions the president cannot accomplish their job, or succeed with the organization mission and purpose. (Editor’s Note: The Saugus Lions Club meets the first and third Wednesdays of each month, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Prince Pizzeria, 517 Broadway, Saugus [in the southbound lane of Route 1]. For details on how to join the club, email nightmac@comcast.net or call 617-7713293 – Lions Club President Georgio A. Meimaris.) Summer is Here!
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