Members of the Calhan Lions Club take pride in their service to the community.The motto of the largest worldwide service club is “We serve,” said Nancy Guenther, a member of the Calhan Lions Club.The Calhan Lions Club was founded in 1939 and members would like to establish a group in Falcon.”We need a good nucleus of people to make sure something like that will work,” said Don Root, club member and manager of Farmer’s State Bank in Falcon. He estimates about 15 people from the area would be ideal “so the work load doesn’t get too heavy on some people.”About 45 members from Calhan, Peyton, Falcon and Black Forest participate in the Calhan Lions Club. “All walks of life are involved,” Guenther said, “Retired people, business people, young and old.” One of the benefits of the club, she said, is that both men and women are involved.The group meets at Swink Hall at the El Paso County fairgrounds on the first Tuesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. The annual membership dues are $62, and an additional annual donation of $12 enables the Calhan group to send a young person who is cognitively challenged to Lions Camp. Guenther said the group tries to send at least two youths from the surrounding area to the summer camp each year.Monty Whitney, a Lions Club member for seven years, said, “We focus on the youth. The main things we do are vision-related activities, such as recycling eyeglasses and donating eyeglasses and hearing aids.”The Lions Club KidSight vision-screening program identifies vision problems in children at six area elementary schools. The club organizes the service, in part, with a grant from Mountain View Electric Association.Guenther said the Calhan Lions Club has partnered with Wal-Mart for the second annual Kid Spree, which benefits 100 local disadvantaged students by providing clothing and school supplies.As vice district governor of the southeast portion of the state, Whitney visits 42 Lions Clubs. He said his job is to help make the clubs stronger. “I joined to give something back to the community,” he said.”We find it’s an excellent way for people just moving into the area to get to know their neighbors and the community.”Other programs the group hosts include the bi-annual Fun Run in the Sun, which involves the club picking up trash along three miles of Highway 24 east and west of town. The group also recognizes a student from the area each month and sponsors an annual Easter egg hunt and a Christmas party, Guenther said.She said they are organizing a craft show to be held April 29 at Whittemor Hall at the El Paso County fairgrounds, as well as a small animal vaccine clinic at Farmer Jim’s Feed Store in Falcon April 8. The Calhan Veterinary Clinic will provide vaccinations for the clinic.”I think everybody ought to give back to the community and this is one way of doing it,” Root said. “It gives a sense of community, sense of purpose in the community, and it addresses needs within the community that are not being addressed anywhere else.”For more information about the Calhan Lions Club or starting a Falcon Lions Club, contact Whitney at 347-2368 or Root at 495-3650.
