By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer

The Crestline Lions Club has been busy this last summer supporting the community in its events and doing service projects – and they are not letting up through the end of the year.
They hosted two blood drives, held a back-to-school backpack giveaway, a yard sale, which got rained upon, a hot dog giveaway day across from the lake, and much more.
Their new calendar shows many activities upcoming and they invite those in the community who would like to also be involved to join them in service. The Lions International motto is “We Serve” and the Crestline Lions Club is being recognized in the district as one of the most active clubs, making a significant impact in their community.
Their October-November fundraiser and service project is their annual firewood raffle. They will be selling $1 tickets to those who would like the opportunity to win a cord of firewood, with ticket sales beginning Oct. 25. Lions will be outside Goodwin’s Market, some Saturdays offering the tickets, and their members will have them for sale all month. The drawing will be on Nov. 22 at their monthly Lions meeting; the winner will be called with the good news from the meeting. The cut and split firewood will be delivered to their home. Funds raised will go into the Lions’ service fund, which will be distributed among their many projects.
Last year, the winner, who just bought the ticket to support the Lions Club and didn’t even have a fireplace, happily donated it back so another winner was chosen. Another year, a longtime local family, who desperately needed it, won. They needed it because they didn’t know how they would be able to afford to heat their family home that winter, so they said it was a “God-sent miracle.”
Oct. 15 was “White Cane Day,” where the Lions collected for their international project supporting the preservation of sight and fighting blindness. Members were outside Goodwin’s and Jensen’s markets, handing out small white canes to those who donated to this cause, which began as a challenge from Helen Keller almost 100 years ago, in 1925, to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.”
White Cane Day is dedicated to bringing awareness to visually impaired people and their remarkable achievements; the white cane symbolizes their independence. Oct. 15 was officially established as White Cane Day in 1964 by President Johnson.
Each year, the Crestline Lions Club spends that day raising funds in their fight for good vision. One of the club’s major projects is supplying eye exams and eyeglasses to those who cannot afford them, especially school-aged children. They accept donations of unused eyeglasses, accept contributions, and do fundraisers which fund this eyeglass project year-round to provide this valuable resource for the community.
At their upcoming Oct. 25 meeting, Lion’s district governor will visit their dinner meeting at Leisure Shores at 6:30 p.m. to encourage them in their many upcoming projects and to recognize all they have been doing this summer, including the water stops for Corks & Hops and the fundraising and donations they have been making to Special Olympics, which got matching funds from the Coca Cola Company, the donation to the Salvation Army for the upcoming community Thanksgiving meals in Crestline, as they have every year.
They will be involved in running a game in the Crestline Community Trick or Treat the Merchants on Saturday, Oct. 27, and running a booth at the Top Town Fall Festival in Crestline on Nov. 12.
Also occurring in November, the Crestline Lions Club is helping Lake Arrowhead Elementary School with its first-semester community service project, and they will assist the Blue Star Moms to assemble packages to be sent to the troops.
The club has plans for December, too, being involved in the Dec. 3 Crestline Family Christmas and bonfire on the North Shore of Lake Gregory, where Santa will arrive in a fire truck and give gifts to those under the age of 12. They will help the chamber of commerce wrap those gifts in advance of that date.
The Crestline Lions will begin their annual See’s Candy sale on Dec. 16, although special orders can be made in advance for that delivery date. Contact their president, Libby Hayes, at [email protected], or call her at home at (909) 338-7124 or on her cell phone at (909) 576-9118, to order candy or to learn more about becoming a member of the Crestline Lions Club and getting involved in helping the mountain communities.