by Bonny Flesher
Once a week I have the privilege of attending meetings with a group called the Kingfisher Lions Club. It’s a time for lunch and fellowship. During the school year, we have Jr. Lions in attendance. The seniors attend meetings throughout the year so we can applaud their accomplishments, cheer them on as they enter a new chapter, and insist they sing a couple of songs. I remember attending Lions Club in Hennessey as a senior, and they threw rolls at us! Back then, the meetings were held in the back room of Wong’s Restaurant. When the seniors leave our meetings today, hopefully their tummies are full and they’re smiling with memories of the experience!
We always have speakers to keep us in the know, teach us a little something, and inspire us! The Lions hold a couple of fundraisers to offer scholarships to a few of our Jr. Lions. At the end of the school year, we bring our Jr. Lions together one last time for singing, food, and awarding the scholarships. But being a Lion doesn’t stop there—community service is the core of our club.
One of my personal favorites is watching the Kingfisher Lions help pack boxes at the Kingfisher County Food Bank. It’s very entertaining watching the director instruct the Lions on how to load boxes with items. Honestly, watching this is like watching someone herd cats. A little redirecting and a lot of patience always get the job done. We all walk away knowing who can take direction and who needs a bit more help. Overall, there’s always plenty of laughter while serving the community.
The Lions Club also covers at least one night at Kingfisher in Lights. I like to hang out at the back gate—it gives us a chance to talk to those driving through the park, and it’s always fun to see what town people are visiting from. Our Lions volunteers also like to assist the Kingfisher County Extension office with their fundraiser benefiting Kingfisher County 4-H. The Lions collect retired eyeglasses too, which are donated to the Lions Eye Bank for others in need.
I always love the beginning of football season. There’s nothing that warms my mom-heart more than seeing kids pile their plates with food when we feed the football team. There’s always a project that needs attention, from painting buildings to clearing limbs. The community brings us together as a group, and we go home with the gift of fellowship.
But there’s one event the Kingfisher Lions Club sponsors that my adult sons still talk about: the 4th of July turtle races. Preparations started a week early at our house. All family and friends were instructed to keep watch for turtles. I swear I drove countless miles down country roads hunting for them! I often thought there was some kind of turtle memo sent out telling them to hide the week before the celebration. After we found our winning turtles, keeping them from escaping our backyard was always a challenge. Maybe the reason our turtles were winners was because we’d already made them so mad long before they sat at the starting line.
My boys would save broken car model parts and glue them onto the turtles—we had motors and mag wheels on those turtles! I learned fast to be careful when picking them up. My boys, being boys, would crack up laughing watching their mom pick up a mad turtle and have it relieve itself right in her hands.
After the big race, we always released the turtles back to the countryside. I’ve often wondered what people thought when they saw a turtle trucking down the road sporting a motor and mag wheels. Bet you’d do a double take!
To all my fellow Lions, I just want to say ROAR! Come join us and get involved!
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