By Peggy Mackenzie
The Lewisburg Lion’s Club has been around since the early 1950s, says longtime member Alvin Porterfield, and Troy Holbrook and Jerry Campbell, along with their fellow Lions members, have been selling Christmas trees in support of many local non-profits for more than 30 years. The Lions’ main charity is purchasing eye glasses for those who cannot afford them. The funds also go to a scholarship for two Greenbrier East high school students every year. Last year, they raised $4,500 for the local community.
The Lions International collect used eye-glasses which go to numerous third-world countries to benefit the many people in those countries with the gift of clear vision. They also help with the expense of eye operations at the eye clinic at West Virginia University in Morgantown. The Leader Dog program for the blind is another visual aid foundation the Lions support.
Porterfield, who has a 60-year perfect attendance record, says the age range for members is 65 to 100. That’s the way it is for the fraternity nowadays, he laughingly says. The membership is aging with a total of 37 members, many of whom are now “inactive.”
But the commitment is solid; as their motto states, “We Serve.”
The Christmas tree sales the Lions sponsor every year is now located on 219 North next to Greenbrier Chevrolet where Bill Lewis Motors used to be. Before that they were at the IGA in Fairlea and prior to that, they were located at the old Bill Lewis Motors parking lot, and even before that they were at Crawford’s store. The Christmas trees, ranging in size from 5 feet to 14 feet, are fraiser firs and white pines and come fresh from Joe’s Tree Farm in Newport, VA. They are on sale until they are sold out. Hurry, and get yours today!