A recruiting drive is underway for Newtown Lions Club.

Chartered in 1949, the Newtown club currently has approximately 60 active members, according to and Membership Chair Bill Brett. That number is down a little from previous years, when the club averaged more than 70 members.

The local club will host a Prospective Member Session on Wednesday, March 8, from 6 to 8 pm, at Newtown Country Club, 2 Country Club Road. Dinner will be served, and guests will learn all about the club during the evening.

There is no fee for those attending that event, which is also expected to include the formal installation of two new members.

Men and women are absolutely invited to join the local club, Mr Brett pointed out.

Most Lions Club chapters, says Newtown Lions Club member Bruce Walczak, are close to a 50-50 average in terms of its male vs female membership.

"Newtown is still the anomaly," Mr Walczak said February 17. "At the state, national, and international levels, many of the officer positions are held by women."

MaryJo Brett, Mr Brett's wife, became the first female member of the Newtown chapter, in April 2016. She had wanted to volunteer for the club's Health Committee, she told The Newtown Bee in November 2016, but found out she could not help because she was not a member of the Lions. Until late last year, Newtown's club was all-male.

The club decided in 2015 to open its membership to women. Ms Brett began her membership process in January 2016. Her husband served as her sponsor, and she became the club's first female member a few months later.

A Busy Service Organization

Newtown's Lions Club carries out the Lions motto "We Serve" by participating in numerous local events, and making donations to an even larger number of local, regional, and state organizations. Members also support and participate in international programs.

"One of the reason we would like to see more members," Mr Brett said, "is so that we can take on more projects. We have been approached by groups seeking help, in fact, but we don't have the manpower right now."

Fundraising activities include the annual Classic Mustang Raffle, which sends one lucky ticket holder home with an antique Ford Mustang; and The Great Pootatuck Duck Race, a Memorial Day weekend event.

The Mustang raffle, said Mr Brett, is "by far our biggest annual fundraiser."

This year's car will debut soon, but Mr Brett offered some information about it last week, saying the club this year will be offering a red 1968 convertible.

"Someone is going to win that, for just $10," Mr Walczak said, referring to the ticket price that has held steady for many years. The club sold more than 10,900 tickets for last year's Mustang raffle, he said.

In recent years the club has added The Great Pumpkin Races, a pre-Halloween event that invites all ages to use their imaginations to not only decorate pumpkins, but also find ways to put an axle through the autumnal gourd and race it down the paved parking lot hills behind Edmond Town Hall.

All funds raised go toward the club's charitable events.

The members of Newtown Lions Club also do a lot of hands-on work around town. Members offer pediatric eye screenings, coordinate blood drives, maintain Orchard Hill Nature Center, and participate in HomeFront Day, which offers repairs to a home for a member of the community.

For years the club has offered free eye screenings for some of the town's youngest residents.

"We did 235 pediatric screenings in October," Mr Walczak pointed out February 17. "We would like to expand that, to seniors and other groups."

Newtown Lions Club is part of Lions International, the largest service organization in the world, with 1.35 million members in 200 countries.

Newtown Lions meet twice monthly, at Newtown Country Club.

Reservations for the Prospective Member Session are requested, and can be made by contacting Bill or MaryJo Brett at 203-270-1053 or wrbmjb@sbcglobal.net.

Newtown Lions Club has a $35 application fee, as well as annual local and national dues. Members are responsible for their own dinner costs once accepted into the club. Anyone interested in the club but unable to attend the March 8 session are also encouraged to contact Mr Brett to discuss the option of attending a regular meeting as a guest.

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