Lions Club marks important moment in its history

Friday, 20 May 2005

By TOM JACKSON
tomjackson@sanduskyregister.com

Helping people deal with blindness and other eye disorders is one of the major goals of Lions Clubs all over the world, but it's an effort that began right here in Sandusky 80 years ago.

Lions in Ohio are celebrating that history as they hold their state convention this weekend at the Holiday Inn Sandusky.

In 1925, Lions held their international convention at Cedar Point, bringing together 7,500 Lions and their families. Helen Keller issued a challenge the Lions at that convention, asking them to help visually impaired people.

"She challenged the international Lions to be knights of sight for the blind," said Andy Kraus, a past district governor and a member of the Sandusky Lions Club for more than 40 years.

Services for blind people, including providing guide dogs, has been a big part of Lions activities ever since then.

Lions in Ohio usually hold their state conventions in big cities, but they are coming to Sandusky to mark that heritage, Kraus said. About 350 Lions were registered at the convention as of Wednesday evening, he said.

The convention has attracted an important speaker to help mark the anniversary. Businessman Ashok Mehta of Mumbai, India, the first vice president of the International Association of Lions Clubs, will be the keynote speaker Sunday and will be in town for several days.

Mehta, who is in line to become the international president, will go out to Cedar Point to view the Helen Keller plaque, the old coliseum and other sights that recall the 1925 convention, Kraus said.

The local Sandusky Lions Club, whose president is Scott Ransom and which currently counts 48 members, is celebrating an anniversary, too. It's the 80th anniversary of the founding of the club in 1925.

Lions lore has it that it was the second attempt to set up a club in Sandusky, Kraus said. Lions officials needed a local club to help with the convention, and they made sure that Sandusky got one.

"They tried to charter us in '22 but it didn't take," Kraus said. "So the international secretary came down in (in 1925) and chartered us."

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