In this 1961 picture, Brooklyn Center Lion Earl Simons, left, discusses the planning of Lions Park with then-Brooklyn Center Parks and Recreation Director Gene Hagel, right. (Photo provided by Tom Shinnick)
Community service in any form merits admiration, but for community service that’s 60 sixty years, it warrants a whole new level of commendation.
Next month, the Brooklyn Center chapter of Lions Clubs International will celebrate six decades of service to the people of Brooklyn Center, proving itself as the backbone of the community with its dedication to charity, helping local youth, beautifying the city and keeping the town’s culture alive.
“The Lions are founded on the motto ‘We Serve,’” said Tom Shinnick, a 32-year member and current BC Lions historian. “We’ve got some really good Lions, all lot of them have been here for a long, long time. We’re here to support the community.”
Originally chartered on May 12, 1955, the inaugural Lions Club boasted 44 members. Since then, Lion membership has gone up and down, with the highest membership count at 75. Today, more than 50 men and women serve, some of whom have been around since the club’s earliest years, including Earl Simons, who joined in 1958 and served as last year’s Earle Brown Days parade grand marshal. In fact, the Lions are the sponsor of the parade every June, as well as many other organizations and initiatives meant to better the city, such as civic betterment projects.
“In 1961, the people of Brooklyn Center didn’t think much of the park system, especially that area where Lions Park is,” said Shinnick. “So in 1961, the Brooklyn Center Lions started partnering with the city in developing that park, and it’s a nice park now.”
Lions Club International, a worldwide nonpolitical organization founded by Melvin Jones in 1917, boasts more than one million members in 200 countries and is motivated by its goals of civic engagement, charitable work and the promotion of good citizenship and fellowship. That purpose of service is not lost on the Brooklyn Center chapter, which not only donates to various crime prevention, health education and drug awareness programs, but also provides a Lions scholarship fund for Brooklyn Center high school seniors, contributing well over $60,000 to this day. They sponsor the annual Halloween and Christmas parties at Brooklyn Center Community Center. The Lions also sponsor an eyeglasses donation program, which distributes used spectacles to people in third-world countries. On top of that, the Lions Club regularly contributes money to youth sports programs, such as hockey, football and Little League. It was through his time as president of Brooklyn Center National Little League that Shinnick got his first major exposure to the Lions Club in 1983.
“A couple coaches there were Brooklyn Center Lions,” said Shinnick. “I like doing community service. I coached, and I umpired, and then the president moved up to Babe Ruth baseball, so I was (Little League) president for 12 years.
I was doing some good, and I just stuck with it.”
After being encouraged by coworkers and Little League coaches, Shinnick joined the Lions and has been there ever since, even serving as Lions president in 1991 and 1992. Despite its constant commitment to the city, the Lions Club never shies away from collaborating with other Brooklyn Center groups, or even other Lions Clubs. Shinnick noted that while many towns’ rotary clubs are larger than their Lions Club, in Brooklyn Center it’s quite the opposite.
“In this case, we’re far bigger than the rotary,” said Shinnick. “The rotary does a lot of good, but they’re a very small club here. So we always try to find a way to partner with them.”
“We collaborate with a lot of other Lions Clubs,” Shinnick continued. “We support them, they support us. We’ve got a very good reputation.”
Still going strong
To this day, the Brooklyn Center Lions are still at the forefront of community engagement in the city. Whether it’s hosting waffle and pancake breakfasts at Brooklyn Center High School or helping out at the city’s annual National Night Out celebrations, the Lions are always attentive to the city’s needs. And with an anniversary as historic as their 60th, a celebration is definitely in store. On Saturday, April 11, the Lions will host an anniversary dinner at the Brooklyn Center Doubletree, with a number of vintage memorabilia, such as the original club charter, to be on display.
“We’re going to send out invitations to the businesses in Brooklyn Center, as well as all throughout the state to other clubs and see if they want to come,” said Shinnick. “It costs $37.50 for an individual, $75 for a couple.”
Such a milestone for a Lions Club chapter isn’t unheard of – in 2018, the Minneapolis branch will celebrate its centennial – but it’s still a massive achievement nonetheless, and Shinnick and his fellow Lions are hopeful for not only newer, younger members in the future, but a continued sense of community and kinship that the club is so celebrated for.
“That’s a big thing, when a club gets to be 60,” said Shinnick. “We support each other. We’re good at that.”
The Brooklyn Center Lions Club 60th anniversary celebration is 6 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at the Brooklyn Center Doubletree.
For more information on the Lions Club, visit e-clubhouse.org/sites/brooklyncentermn.
Contact Christiaan Tarbox at christiaan.tarbox@ecm-inc.com or follow the Sun Post on Twitter @ecmsunpost.