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An Interview with Incoming Cold Spring Lions Club President Fred Clarke
During his inaugural address to members of the Cold Spring Lions Club, incoming President Fred Clarke focused on three major goals for the club: Building up the Leo's organization, the student service league that supports the Lions Club in service; enhancing the club's membership with fresh faces and new ideas; and reaching out to the community for more input on areas where the Lion's can be of service.
What follows is a Q & A with newly elected Lion's Club President Fred Clarke:
Q. Who are the Lions? The Lions is an international network of 1.3 million men and women in 200 countries and geographic areas, who work together to answer the needs that challenge communities around the world. Known primarily for their work to end preventable blindness, Lions participate in a vast variety of projects important to the communities. These projects range from cleaning up local parks to providing supplies to victims of natural disasters. Last year, the Lions Club of Cold Spring donated over $20,000 to scholarships for our highschool students looking to further their education, as well as promoted community service activities for our seniors, and awareness campaigns for the community at large.
Q. What is the general make up of the club? Like our community we represent a wide range of people and that includes age, gender, race, marital status and yes, working status. Our youngest Lion just finished his Masters degree at college in mathematics, and is about to embark on a fulfilling career as a teacher. I work full time at IBM as a communications manager in the IBM Global Financing division. I am also a devoted father of two children under the age of eleven. All of our Lion members pursue active lives but share a deep commonality, i.e. a strong desire to provide service to the community in which they live.
Q. I thought women weren't allowed to join? A full half of our membership is made up of strong women, whom without, nothing would get done. The Cold Spring Lions Club actively recruits upstanding men and women to its ranks to carry on its mission of service to the community.
Q. Does the Lions Club have any political ties? We are not a political organization and are not affiliated with any party or candidate. We have members from all professions and yes, we do have some local elected officials as members. We do host an annual nonpartisan election dinner for candidates every year to raise awareness in the community about the political process and to give residents a chance to interact with them outside of Carmel, Albany or Washington. This event is always well attended and the key speaker never addresses political issues.
Q. What are some of the things that the Cold Spring Lions have done? The Cold Spring Lions Club has been serving the Cold Spring and Garrison communities for over 50 years. Over the last two years we have donated over $70,000 to charitable causes including, $28,000 to the fund the reconstruction of the Haldane Graduation Knoll, as well as monies to local scholarships and organizations, including the Cold Spring Fire Company, Butterfield Library, Philipstown Little League, the Senior Citizens' Christmas Party, Guiding Eyes for the Blind and the Walter Hoving Home. The Cold Spring Lions Club was also very active in relief efforts in Slidell, Louisiana after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Q. How old do you have to be to join? Upstanding members of the community of voting age are welcomed into the club. Most members are recommended by other members and go through a vetting process by our membership committee before being offered the opportunity to join. Younger residents of the community are encouraged to join our Leo's or Young Lion's organization, led by Bruce Campbell and Ginny Pidala at the Haldane High School. Students can get course credit for service through the organization and act as a vital support arm of the Lion's Club.
Q. How much does this cost? Membership dues are $75 a year and we have a special rate for married couples who join. We meet twice a month at the Plumbush Inn on Route 9D. In addition, we usually have a meal during our meeting and the costs are kept low to accommodate member's budgets.
Q. What is the time commitment? This is a much-asked question. Obviously you can put as much time as you can into the group? We ask that members try and make the bimonthly meetings. However you will find that having a structured organization to focus your energies around service saves a lot more time than trying to do things by yourself. So in essence, the Lion's Club can be a time-saver for those interested in giving back to the community, because you can rely on the extended membership to help you do more with less time. For example, last Christmas, the Lion's Club rang the bell for the Salvation Army in front of Food Town for two weeks straight, nonstop from 9 am to 5 p.m. Each member only contributed one- hour of their time and hundreds of dollars were raised for the poor and needy because of that effort.
Q. How do I join? Reach out to Bruce Campbell, our Membership Chair at 265-3086 and he will get you through the nomination process for membership. Or you can call me anytime on my mobile, 914- 715-5986. I would be happy to hear suggestions on how Lions can make a larger impact in our community.
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