TOLLESBORO LIONS CLUB MEMBERS TAKE PART IN KLEF STATE FAIR VISION SCREENING
     Two members of the Tollesboro Lions Club, current President Steve Pedersen and Zone   Chairman Clinton Applegate attended the Kentucky State Fair on Thursday, August 23, 2018 for the purpose of vision screening under the Kentucky Lions Eye Foundation from 3 pm to 8 pm. At the State Fair, over 11 days, 377 volunteers from 35 Lions Club organizations donated 2,073 hours to provide Free Vision Screenings to 3,450 persons! Of the 3,450 persons receiving free vision screenings, 2,448 were above 7 years of age, and 1,002 were under the age of 6. There were 918 passes and 84 referrals provided! Sight conservation is the main goal of Lions Club International since 1925 (a mere 8 years after the organization was created in 1917; the Lions Club International celebrated 100 years as a service organization in 2017!) when Helen Keller personally appealed to the Lions Club Annual Convention and challenged Lions to become "knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness". Today, Lions Club International (which became an international organization in 1920, 3 years after the organization was originated) is the world's largest service organization, with 1.35 million members in over 200 countries with over 46,000 clubs scattered throughout the world.

     Founded in 1954, chartered April 30, 1954. Our first president was Charles M. Hughes. We celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Tollesboro Lions Club on April 30, 2004. Two charter members of the club not only maintained their membership from Charter Member to remain a member and survived to serve 50 years (Samuel M. “Mack” Wright lived until Feb., 20, 2015, surviving to extend the term of his membership to 61 years; Julian E. “Elmo” Gillespie actually passed away Feb. 23, 2004 just prior to the celebration of the April 30, 2004 Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Charter signing of the Tollesboro Lions Club. However was a 50 year member of the organization as was involved in the organization of the club in the months prior to the chartering ceremony).

      The TOLLESBORO LIONS CLUB CHARTER CEREMONY was held April 30, 1954, with 20 members. The CHARTER MEMBERS of the club are listed following (in the order in which their names appeared on the Official Charter): Charles M. Hughes (the First President of the Tollesboro Lions Club), Chelsea A. Merritt, Owen Cooper, Howard Frye, Ermen L. Boyd, Scott S. Corns, Newell E. Rudder, W. B. "Buddy" Grant, Henry Calvert, Martin L. Voiers, Eugene Fox, Samuel M. "Mack" Wright, Charles A. Bane, Julian E. "Elmo" Gillespie, Harry L. Applegate, Harvey Brayfield, Lavae Secrest, Tommy Barbour, Boyd Harrison, and Orville "O. S." Highfield.  NOTE: In the program for the first OFFICIAL Meeting, conducted May 18, 1954 recognized as "CHARTER NIGHT" (although 18 days following the signing of the Official Charter), 24 members are named rather than the 20 members who signed the official charter. The members who apparently joined the club after the Charter was signed but prior to the CHARTER NIGHT meeting include: Russell Barbour, Charles Secrest, Bruce Barkley, and Omer Hamlin. NOTE: Recently discovered documents indicate the first organizational meeting was held Dec. 12, 1953.

    Our first fair conducted in 1957, a one-day event held at the Tollesboro High School (prior to the acquisition of the fairgrounds), only 3 years after our club's organization. We have come a long way since then! We acquired the first portion of our grounds in 1960. We eventually expanded our fair to a weeklong event. In the late 1990s, we expanded our fair to a 9 day event, giving us two weekends. We have a large parade, the only annual parade that extends through the streets of town. On parade day, providing weather is favorable, the population of our community swells from 800 persons, to somewhere between 2000 and 3000 persons (estimated, possibly more; this includes persons involved directly in the parade as well as those watching the parade from yards and street-side businesses).

Company Profile

Company Name: TOLLESBORO LIONS CLUB, INC.
Company No: 0051491; Company Type: Corporation
Status: Active; State: Kentucky (KY); File Date: 1960-05-19
Organization Date: 1960-05-19; Company Age: 55 Years
Managed By: Members/Managers; 
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 123, Tollesboro, KY 41189

Tollesboro Lions Club, Inc. is 1 of 29 Lions Club organizations located within District 43-Y of State of Kentucky. 

TOLLESBORO LIONS CLUB

     Located at the Tollesboro Lions Club Fairgrounds and Community Park, KY 10, KY 9 ("AA" Hwy), and the Lions Club Road, Tollesboro, Lewis County, Kentucky.

Tollesboro Lions Club members President Steven Pedersen and District 43-Y Zone Chairman Clinton Applegate attended the 2018 USA/CANADA Forum in Columbus, Ohio in Sept. 2018.

CULLEN ALAN STANFIELD

(1984-2004) on decorated bicycle in the Decorated Bicycle Contest at the 1990 Tollesboro Lions Club Fair Parade.

     Lion Larry Tucker honored at the March, 2018 Awards Banquet for 50 Years of Service to the Tollesboro Lions Club. Award presented by Past District Governor Jim Archey.

THE TOLLESBORO LIONS CLUB. SERVING OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1954

EARLY TOLLESBORO LIONS CLUB FAIRBOOKS.

March, 2018 Tollesboro Lions Club Awards Banquet and includes members, spouses and guests honored for their continued support of the Tollesboro Lions Club. An article about this event is available for download near the top of this page. 

HISTORICAL VIEWS OF DAYS GONE BY! LIONS CLUB LADIES NIGHT MEETING, 1955

      The photos to the left were taken over 60 YEARS AGO at the 1955 Tollesboro Lions Club Ladies Night Celebration, a meeting of members and their spouses, said meeting featuring a dinner and held at the New Central Hotel in Maysville, Kentucky. 

      The upper-most photograph is of the head table, and includes 3 of our Club's Charter Members, one of which was our Club's First President, all seated. On the far left is Scott S. Corns, next to him his wife Dorothy. In the middle of the photograph is Lucille Hughes, her husband Charles M. Hughes next to her (Mr. Hughes was our First President and this celebration was likely the last meeting in which he resided as the first President and likely the first "Ladies Night", this being a meeting in 1955, the second year of our organization. Note that it was probably relatively early in the year, as several of the ladies have sleeveless or short-sleeve dresses, thus this event was likely held in the Spring, probably where the gavel was passed from Mr. Hughes to our Club's second President). In the right corner of the photograph, also at the head table, is Lois Wright, with her husband Samuel M. "Mack" Wright seated next to her.  

      The lower photograph is a group shot showing the members in attendance and their wives. This view of the membership in attendance was taken from behind the head table (the back of Mr. Hughes and Mack Wright can be seen, with Lois Wright at the head table next to Mack looking directly at the camera). The meeting was obviously well attended. While the names of the persons in this photograph or in attendance were not recorded, the photograph likely includes a significant number of our club's charter members and their spouses.

Commemorative Bronze Medallion designed. commissioned, and sponsored by the 50th President, Craig A. Stanfield, and gifted to all members of the Tollesboro Lions Club as a remembrance of the 50th Anniversary Celebration. 

     In the color photo to the left, Charter Members Mack Wright (dressed as a clown) and Elmo Gillespie (in the suit with tails) participate in an early Variety Show Fund-Raiser. This photo likely dates from the 1970s. NOTE: Coincidentally, these two Lions Club Members were the two Charter Members of the Tollesboro Lions Club who remained members of the Club for 50 YEARS, both retaining their membership until death, Elmo passing in 2004 after 50 Years, Mack passing in 2015 after serving for 61 YEARS!!!

16 Members of the Tollesboro Lions Club met Monday 8/13/18 for a "Work Night" to install filter fabric and rubber mulch for the newly installed playground at the Tollesboro Lions Club Fairgrounds. The playground equipment was provided by a grant obtained by the Lewis County Extension Office through the Center for Disease Control to encourage kids to exercise and play outdoors (the grant was for approximately $30,000!!!). Professional installation  was at a cost of $14,615 (the does not include the cost of the filter fabric, the rubber mulch, or the playground equipment).  The Lewis County Farm Bureau has graciously donated $15,000 for installation. Concrete slabs will add more than $3100 to the project.   A dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting will be held in the near future.

     Photo to the left was taken sometime just prior to May, 1999 by Jerry Shields of the LIONS MAGAZINE (the National Magazine of Lions Club International) for inclusion in the May, 1999 issue of the LIONS MAGAZINE. The photo was taken at the Tollesboro Lions Club Fairground and accompanied an article about how the Tollesboro Lions Club first purchased the Tollesboro High School property in order for the Tollesboro Christian School to be a part of the Tollesboro Community after the Lewis County School Board closed Tollesboro High School in 1994).  Included in the photo  (left to right) are 3 (now deceased and very missed members): Charter Member and Past District Governor W. B. "Buddy" Grant, Charter Member/Charter President Charles M. Hughes, and long-time member (joined the Tollesboro Lions Club in October, 1959) and Past President Don McCann (just prior to celebrating the anniversary of his 40th year of membership), taken during the 45th year of the club's chartering ceremony (the Tollesboro Lions Club was chartered April 30, 1954). NOTE: Lion Don McCann remained a member of the Club for 50+ Years whereby Lion Grant and Lion Hughes passed away prior to the 50th Anniversary of the Club.