By ALEXANDER WEBSTER
alexander@readthereporter.com
Lions clubs are found around the globe, with more than 48,000 clubs and 1.4 million members in over 150 countries completing more than 60,000 service projects a year. It’s hard to find a community event without some connection to the Lions.
If you enjoyed the live music and street vendors at this year’s Noblesville Street Dance on Sunday, Aug. 3, you may have seen members of the Noblesville Lions Club keeping things running – changing trash bags, picking up litter, and helping anyone in need.
The Noblesville Lions were promoting their mission of service, emptying the trash bins at the Noblesville Main Street Dance on Sunday evening, Aug. 3. (From left) Lions Ron Williamson, Julia Kozicki, Joe Arrowwood, Mark Bachar, Walt Scheid, Steve Shaw, Vicki Neddenriep, Gene Beck, and Rollin Cutter. (Photo provided by Lisa Dick, Noblesville Lions Club)
Two of those Lions are Ron Williamson and Club Secretary Steve Shaw. The Street Dance is just one of the many events they’ve worked during their time with the organization.
“I’ve been with the Lions for 11 or 12 years,” Williamson said.
Williamson’s Lions Club vest is covered in pins signifying his service.
“He’s got a bunch of perfect attendance pins,” Shaw said. “That’s a lot of these. He has his 10-year pin on. He has his chevron pin. These are all for perfect attendance.”
Williamson also wears a 100th anniversary pin celebrating the Lions’ 100 years of service as of 2017.
Shaw has been a Lion for 47 years – nearly five decades dedicated to helping the community.
“My principal at a school I was working at invited me to join,” Shaw said. “That’s how you get in; someone invites you or you come to one of our meetings and say you’d like to join.”
Events like the Street Dance wouldn’t be possible without Lions like Shaw and Williamson. To learn more about how the club helps the community, visit e-clubhouse.org/sites/noblesville.