Front from left are incoming 1st Vice President Lebron Carden, original charter president Bill Kincer and 3rd Vice President Leon Ellis.Last month, Chattanooga Valley Lions Club celebrated 46 years as a club.
"Our first meeting was behind the old hardware store, in what used to be a chicken house," said Leon Ellis. "It was renovated and made into the first fire hall in the valley. Things started looking up and we moved to Flintstone United Methodist Church and were chartered in 1970."
There were about 66 charter members, he said, including the original charter president, Bill Kincer. Now the club has 24 active members.
"Our first project was to upgrade the baseball field at the school," said Ellis. "We reworked the fence around it and built a fence down the road to protect the children, reworked the infield and re-sodded the outfield and [did] some other improvements and made a pretty good playing field. We started a football program. We did quite a bit of things to raise money. Our first big fundraiser was giving away a camping trailer to a lady that won it. Then, the property on John Thompson was offered to us at a good price. We bought it and started working on it to build ball fields."
Club member Baxter Little remembers taking a week-long vacation to come work on the ball fields that surround the current clubhouse. The Lions partnered with Neil Talley, who supplied his road working equipment to help build three fields for area kids. A local crane company and a local electrical company also chipped in, Little said.
Lion David Plummer remembers the Air Force Reserves bringing a crane in to help put up light poles for the ball fields.
"We put up lights and a large concession stand and we were in business," said Ellis. "Later on, we wanted our clubhouse so we built another concession stand and remodeled the old one and added on to it. Our first meeting in the clubhouse was in April of 1985. We have helped with a lot of projects in the valley, district, state and international."
The club's main focus is helping people in need of eyeglasses or eye exams, though Ellis said over the years the club has assisted storm victims, sponsored ball teams, donated countless hours of their time to different causes, built wheelchair ramps, collected and donated medical equipment, provided food baskets around the holidays, sponsored a Leader Dog program and more. Every December, the club leads a four-wheeler parade to benefit the Stocking Full of Love.
One of the club's biggest fundraisers to help achieve all this is selling Vidalia onions and pork rinds at craft shows and at Down Home Days.
"One achievement that I am proud of is we have four charter members with perfect attendance," said Ellis. "We also have another charter member with us that dropped out for a short time and came back. We sponsored a Lioness Club for years that really helped us. They had their own fundraisers and surprised us one year by paying off our debt on this property. We have sponsored a Leo Club at Ridgeland High School for a few years. This year they have 12 members and are doing great work in the community. I am proud of them and their leaders."