By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
The Crestline Lions Club has been holding a firewood raffle this last month. For a $1 ticket, anyone could win a cord of firewood for themselves and, on top of that, they could donate an additional cord to a worthy person. The firewood was being donated to this event by Reliable Services, owned by Courtney Hebert, who is an active member of the Lions Club.
The Lion’s Club is always raising funds to donate to worthy causes up here on the mountain. Last month, during White Cane Days, while they were raising funds for their project to prevent blindness, they met Diane Gladwell.
Gladwell, who volunteers at the Mountain Thrift Shoppe in Blue Jay, stopped by the Lions members at Jensen’s during White Cane Days and commented while donating, “The Lions Club is always going something great for the community, what’s your next project?” Catherine Johnson told her about the upcoming firewood raffle that was starting the next day. Gladwell asked to buy five tickets right then, saying, “If I win, donate my share also to a needy person.”
At the Lions regular meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 26, just before Thanksgiving, the drawing was held. Over 1,000 tickets had been sold. The name of Diane Gladwell was chosen from the basket holding the tickets that were sold. When informed she had won, Diane restated that she wanted both cords of wood to go to a needy person.
The Lions members suggested names of people from the community who could use the firewood. Such a person was found in Torrey, who is a single, working mother of two preschoolers, who heats exclusively with firewood for the older cabin she rents. She could not take a full cord of wood at one time onto her small lot, but Reliable Services will continue to deliver the firewood, in quantities she can store, to her cabin all winter long. Torrey is quite grateful to Diane Gladwell. Torrey wants to thank Gladwell for enabling her to spend what she would have spent on firewood for heat, on her children instead this Christmas, getting them warm clothes and other necessities.
The next project of the Crestline Lions Club begins Dec. 14, when they start their annual See’s Candy sales. They will set up a pop-up sales booth with the boxes of candy ready for immediate pick up next to the entry to the Crestline Post Office; they will continue the booth daily, weather permitting, until they are sold out. The prices are the same as in the See’s Candy store at the mall, but there will be no long lines and without the long drive down the hill. If you want a particular order, contact Catherine Johnson at (909) 338-5758, and they will order or save the items for you to pick up.
If you have used eyeglasses taking up space at your home, you may donate them to any Lions Club member as they will gratefully be used by those who need them.
In the mountain communities, anyone in need who needs glasses or is having vision problems may call the Crestline Lions Club and the club will pay to get their vision checked. The club is especially interested in children and their vision health, as children who cannot see well cannot learn well. Vision is an essential element of becoming a successful student. Call Catherine Johnson for more details on this local vision program.
The Lions are currently collecting soda can pull tabs for the Ronald McDonald House in Loma Linda. The Ronald McDonald House provides a place to stay for free for parents of children who are in the hospital, facing serious illnesses and operations. The pull tabs are used by the Ronald McDonald House as a fundraiser to help support their services to families who have hospitalized children. Residents may bring the tabs to the Lions booth selling See’s Candy this month. The tabs are melted down and made into syringes for medical use. The Lions are also sponsoring a pull tab collection contest at Valley of Enchantment Elementary School. The Lions Club will be giving the classroom that collects the most tabs by April an ice cream party.
The motto for Lions International is “We Serve” and the Crestline Club takes that motto seriously and puts it into practice in all they do, whether for the local community or their international projects.
The Crestline “Lions in the Pines” Club meets the fourth Tuesday of each month at Leisure Shores at 6:30 p.m. If you want to know more about the club, contact Lions Club President Dann Lahr at (254) 498-2086 or email him at dnlhr1955@gmail.com.
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