More than 70 folks packed The Mulligan at the Belle Fourche Country Club
Saturday evening (10/29/11) for a dinner gathering to celebrate their 75 years
of service. Lion Bob Morris served
as Master of Ceremonies. Numerous
Lion leaders from outside the community joined in the festivities, including
District Governor Wanda Mitchell of Custer.
Keynote speaker for the event was a past International
Director of Lions Clubs, Randy Heitmann of Cambridge, Nebraska.
“It is apparent that your club is a mainstay in the
community,” Heitmann told the gathering.
“When anything needs to be done in the community, it appears
that the first thing they do is ask the Belle Fourche Lions Club. And it’s obvious to me that it always
gets done.”
Club president Brian Kline provided a brief glimpse of key
Lions projects over the years, ranging from sponsoring a mobile health van and
supplying eyeglasses for needy residents to community projects like
construction of park shelters and restoration of the Johnny Spaulding
cabin. Most recently, the club
helped build a community disc golf course along the Belle Fourche River
waterfront. And Lions are always
on hand to help with the All-Car Rally and the Black Hills Roundup.
Last spring, the club was presented the Belle Fourche
Chamber of Commerce Community Pride Award
for 2011.
As part of the 75th anniversary celebration, Lion Randy Heitmann (far left) presented Certificates of Appreciation from International President
Wing-Kun Tam to four Belle Fourche Lions for their work on behalf of
Lions. Recipients are shown holding their certificates in the photo above. Left-to-right are Lions Tom Nary, Bob Schnaible, Larry Miller, and Gerald Keil. Club president Brian Kline is at right.
You'll find a few photos from this very special event in our 75th Anniversary Gallery. We've also assembled a short video, and you'll find a link to it in the column to the right.
