SHADYSIDE It wasn't that long ago that the citizens of Martins Ferry rekindled the city's long-defunct Lions Club.
In a few short years, the group has worked wonders in the town.
Now, residents in the village of Shadyside are looking to do the same thing in their corner of Belmont County.
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The 23 members of the newly reformed Shadyside Lions Club have their charter. They have tabbed their first set of officers.
Next up? There's charter night and then moving forward in doing some good in Shadyside.
"We're trying to get both the community and businesses involved," said Rick Ray, the chapter's president. "We've talked about working on cleaning up the trash in town, doing some work up at Hill View and generally helping anyone that needs some help in the community."
Ray is joined by fellow officers Laura Cain, treasurer; Judy Minwer, secretary; and Denise Hoskinson, the group's membership coordinator. More positions will be decided as they move forward.
Charter night is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 29 at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling.
The cost to attend is $25 for individuals and $45 per couple. The event is not restricted to just members. Anyone can and is encouraged to attend as all proceeds will go toward getting the groups' charitable acts up and running.
That's one of the aspects about the Lions that Ray appreciates. Everything that the group takes in goes right back into the community.
"Anything we collect, from donations to profits from the sales of brooms, roses, 50-50 tickets it all has to be spent in the community," Ray said. "One-hundred percent goes back to the community for the projects we do.
"We're not even allowed to use the money for our own expenses."
Ray said the Lions will set up a booth during the upcoming Loop Fest in town on June 15-16, selling bottled water, brooms and 50-50 tickets.
Other fundraising projects are being discussed, as well as the first batch of community improvement projects.
Fortunately, there is already a strong spirit of helping out the community thriving in Shadyside, evident from last spring's drive to reopen the pool.
"There are a lot of good people in this community that help one another," Ray said. "I'm actually kind of new to Shadyside. I'm originally from Glen Dale and moved here a little over a year ago. It's amazing."
The Lions have been meeting one Tuesday per month so far, inside the American Legion. The next meeting is slated for May 8 at 7 p.m.
Ray mentioned that anyone who wishes to donate to the Lions can do so by presenting their donation at a club meeting or sending it to the Shadyside Lions Club, 290 W. 44th St, Shadyside, Ohio 43947.
Hughes may be reached at mhughes@timesleaderonline.com.
