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Lions present scholarships and special awards

By Staff | May 14, 2009

Melvin James Award: John Stevens, left, outgoing president of the Lehigh Lions Club, left, presents the prestigious Melvin James Award to Doug Compton. The Melvin James Award is the top achievement recognition award given to a Lion at each year's banquet. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Lehigh Lions and Lioness do much for those who need eyeglasses and are not able to afford them. But they also hand out $1,000 scholarships to students in Lehigh Acres who are attending college. This is one of the highlights of their annual banquet which is held to also install new officers and other positions such as tail twisters and lion tamers.

The top recognition of Lions is the presentation of the Melvin Jones Award which is given out to a Lion member who has exemplified service to the Lions and to the community.

John Stevens, this past year’s president of the Lehigh Acres Lions Club, presented the prestigious award to Doug Compton, who has been active in his club for several years and has served many offices. When the award was given out, Compton received a standing ovation. Stevens said Compton has been one of those special Lions who never says no to anything when being asked to help out in a situation or a project.

Three students received college scholarships. They were guests of the club’s banquet along with their family. The banquet was held at Majestic Golf Club last week and the Lions and their guests were served generous servings of prime rib.

The students receiving the scholarships were Sarika Lalsiew, who plans to attend Edison State College; Samantha Meisch, who will attend the University of South Florida; and Valerie Adams, who will attend Florida Gulf Coast University.

Lions Scholarship Winners: These are the three winners of college scholarship money presented last week by the Lions and Lioness clubs of Lehigh Acres. The three students are Sarika Lalsiew, Samantha Meisch and Valerie Adams. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Each student was asked to stand up and talk about their future plans after college. Some 10 candidates applied for Lions scholarships this year and it was announced that each of the six judges separately selected the same three students.

Bob Woomer, a past district governor of Lions, who lives in Naples, installed officer and also delivered a brief speech sprinkled with funny jokes and stories.

He called up a multitude of Lions and Lioness to fill all types of positions with strange sounding names to non Lion members.

In a list prepared by John Stevens, installed Lions officers this year included president, Tom Smith; first vice president, Dave Jacobs; second vice president, Rich Butler; secretary, Jackie Landon; treasurer, Ralph Hemingway; one-year directors, Larry Austin and Yuan Pabon; two-year directors, Charley Matheny and Robert Coyne.

The Lion of the Year was Robert Coyne. Ralph Hemingway won for the Project of the Year and Tom Smith and Dave Jacobs were honored as Marks of Excellence. No list was provided for the officers of the Lioness. However,

Lions Group Installed: These are the many members of both the Lions and the Lioness clubs of Lehigh Acres who were installed into offices for the upcoming year. In the foreground is Former District Lions Governor Bob Woomer of Naples. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Jane Hemingway was installed as president of the Lehigh Lioness when Woomer called Tom Smith and her to the front to take their oaths of office.

Several new members were brought into the club bringing compliments from Woomer who said the club needed new and young members to carry on the club. One of the main fund-raisers each year by the Lions is their chicken barbecues.