This Lady Is A Lion

My experiences with Lions International began on the Eastern Plains of Colorado. I was school superintendent in the small district of Agate. We were a school district that saved children. Parents would bring their troubled children to live in our district; and because we were small in number, we could provide a more concentrated time for the students with their special needs. Students stayed in school; they weren’t able to cut classes, or just not appear for school. This seemed to make a difference. We graduated students from high school who would very likely not make it through the system in their other schools.

I remember one boy who came to us in his senior year. He said, “In my old school, when I was out of class, nobody ever asked me why I was out of class. Here, if I’m out of class, someone is always saying – where are you supposed to be?” He graduated with his other classmates.

At the time I became a Lion in Arriba, women had just “come into their own” as Lions. They were, generally, no longer “Lady Lions,” the auxiliary. Remember, too, that the other members (all men, as I remember) were ranchers and farmers, as well as businessmen. It must have been interesting for them to have their first woman member Lion. They were incredibly great people (as I find all Lions have been in my experiences), and we did great things for the community.

When I left Agate, I went back to school to work on another degree; I moved temporarily to Greeley. During my stay in Greeley, I was not an active member of a Lions group. Then, I moved to a cabin in Devil’s Gulch, just below Estes Park. All the while, my late husband Larry kept the home fires burning. Taking care of our Englewood home, the dogs, his garden, etc. Without his support, I could never have done all of the things that I chose to do for work.

At this time, I worked at Hewlett-Packard in Fort Collins and, later, in Loveland. Living up Devil’s Gulch gave me an opportunity to join one of the Lions groups in Loveland. I was pleased to serve as president of my group; a very positive group helpful to our Loveland community. The most difficult thing I had to do while serving as president was to agree that this Loveland Lions Club needed to disband. Some time before I joined that club, a tragedy had occurred during which one of the members had died as a result of a botched robbery; the police shot and killed a member, thinking he was the robber. The club never really recovered from that incident. I always wondered if one of the older members serving as president could have made that difficult decision to disband.

At some point, work brought me back to my Englewood home where I have continued to live, enjoying the neighborhood in which I live. I spent years volunteering at Ghost Ranch in Northern New Mexico; again, until his death, Larry kept the home fires burning.

My invitation to join Highlands Ranch Lions was proffered by Lion Lois Gould. After becoming a member of Highlands Ranch, I was able for a while to serve as secretary. Growing older (I am eighty-five, now), I have had to let some of my activities go. I am, however, able to help in some specialized ways.  Now, I am able to write articles about our activities in the community for our newsletter.  This BLOG article was, actually, published first as an article for the Highlands Ranch Lions Newsletter.  I sew, and my next big project is to create a banner for holding the buttons that belong to the club.  Lions LOVE buttons!

Having said all of this, I am pleased to be a Lion!

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!

Be safe and be well.
The Cranky Crone
Thoughtful comments are appreciated.