1947 - 1948

The four District Governors had aggressive administrations in 1947 - 1948. The state showed an increase in clubs and memberships, 16 new clubs being organized.

Several worthwhile matters that had been discussed for years were actually put into operation, namely: a state uniform was adopted and secured; a special train was chartered for attending the International Convention in New York; a Georgia Display and a Georgia Breakfast were inaugurated at the International Convention.

International President Fred W. Smith was entertained in Atlanta during the year and an excellent state convention was held at Savannah.

District Governors Joe Davis of 18A, J. T. Baxley of 18B, and W. J. Andrews of 18D visited all clubs.

District 18A under District Governor Joe Davis was 100% perfect in getting all secretaries’ reports to International on time.

DISTRICT GOVERNORS

1948 - 1949

GORDON R. HOLSTON Thomaston District 18A	WALTER B. COHAN Hinesville District 18B
H. B. HURLEY Moultrie District 18C	ROBERT M. MATTHEWS Gainesville District 18D

1948 - 1949

The District Governors of 1948-1949 continued the good works of the previous administrations and added a few of their own.

During the year the Lions of Georgia sponsored the Georgia Lighthouse for the Blind. A new cup was added to the cup awards, the Augusta Cup, which is to be presented to the club meeting weekly having the largest number of 100% meetings for the year.

Again there was a special train to the International Convention, a Georgia breakfast, and a first class Georgia display. The. Glee Club of the Blind Academy at Macon was taken to the convention and was enthusiastically received.

At the International Convention our own Dr. Homer L. Barker, of Carrollton, was elected an International Director.

During the year International President Eugene S. Briggs was guest of the Georgia Lions in Atlanta. District Governors Gordon R. Holstun of 18A, W. H. Cohan of 18B, and R. M. Matthews of 18D visited all clubs, and District 18A was 100% perfect in sending in

Secretaries’ reports on time. The usual fine state convention was held at Macon. On January 1, 1949, District 18 had 152 clubs with 6988 members.

1949 - 1950

The 1949-1950 District Governors have been working hard and are certain to show splendid results for the year.

International President Walter C. Fisher and Secretary Genera1 Melvin Jones have made separate visits to the state and received royal welcomes.

Elaborate plans have been made for again putting Georgia on the map at the International Convention, which is to be held in Chicago.

The Georgia Lions State Convention is to be held in Atlanta under the sponsorship of the Lions clubs of Metropolitan Atlanta.

International Counselor Eugene Sanders is serving as General Chairman.

On May 15, 1950, three of the four districts have been -100% in getting all secretaries’ reports to International on time. Lionism in the state has continued to grow, on March 28, 1950, having 152 clubs and 7106 members.

DISTRICT GOVERNORS

1949 - 1950

1950 - 1951

The year was another good one for Lionism in Georgia.

The Georgia Lighthouse for the Blind, sponsored by Georgia Lions, handled over 250 cases.

Our own Dr. Homer L. Barker, of Carrollton, served as an International Director.

Director General R. Roy Keaton was entertained at Gainesville and at Radium Springs.

A Fat Cattle Show put on by the Donaldsonville club received wide recognition.

The usual fine State Convention was held at Columbus.

At the International Convention in Chicago, Georgia was in the spotlight as never before. Among the Georgia features were :

Special train facilities to and from the convention.

A Georgia State Headquarters at a hotel assigned to Georgia Lions.

A Georgia State Breakfast with 105 present.

Winner of third, prize in the parade for delegates in uniform.

Winner of second prize in high school bands by sponsoring the Jordan High School Band of Columbus.

An excellent Georgia booth. Georgia Lions distributed 30,000 packages of salted peanuts, 10,000 bags of Stuart pecans, 30,000 Georgia match folders, and several thousand four-ounce bottles of Georgia turpentine.

Thanks are due the convention committee of Chairman Rufus B. Jennings of Dawson, Ed Dyer of Decatur, Fred Dameron of Augusta, Gerald Pearson of Columbus, and J. W. Henry of Athens; also to the District Governors of the state and to the many, many Georgia Lions and Lionesses who worked at the convention and participated in the parade.

On May 1, 1951, District 18 had the following number of clubs and members :

Much of the success of the year was due to the District Governors who worked long and faithfully in visiting clubs and promoting Lionism.

DISTRICT GOVERNORS

1950 - 1951

EVERETT G. LIVINGSTON Marietta, Ga. District 18A	DR. CHAS. M. BLANTON Waycross, Ga. District 18B
DR. WM. M. HARRIS Albany Ga. District 18C	W. B. CALDWELL Greensboro, Ga. District 18D

1951-1952

The year presented a number of unusual and progressive features in Georgia Lionism.

A large number of clubs conducted sales of brooms made by the blind. These sales not only enabled the blind people to have full time employment but also realized sizable profits for the charitable work of the clubs. Lions have always shown a particular interest in helping the blind-the broom sales should grow in importance in the years to come.

An outstanding project of the year was the sending of the Russell High Boys’ Glee Club to Philadelphia for the Music Education National Conference. The East Point Lions Club, a club of about thirty members at the time, raised $10,000 for the trip. The project brought much favorable publicity to Georgia Lions and to the State of Georgia.

A Grand Master Key (fifty new members) was awarded Lion Hoke Wallace of the Winder Club.

On April 1 the Dalton and Rome clubs had a record of perfect attendance at all meetings. Dalton meets every other week; Rome meets weekly.

A new club house costing approximately $35,000 was dedicated with impressive ceremonies by the Winder Lions Club. The new home of the Lions provides a wonderful contribution to the civic and community life of Winder.

At this time it is possible for all four of our districts to qualify for the 100% award for sending all secretaries’ reports to International on time.

District 18 on April 1 had 185 clubs and 7,359 Lions. This is an increase of twenty clubs over the previous year. International Representative Walter B. Currie helped greatly in the organization of many of the new clubs.

Much of the success of the year 1951-1952 is due to the four District Governors. Under their faithful and inspiring leadership Georgia Lionism continued to grow in numbers, in deeds and in ideals.

DISTRICT GOVERNORS

1951-1952

IVAN H. JACKSON Cartersville 18-A	M. S. MONCRIEF Sylvania 18-B
JACK G. COMER Cordele 18-C	KENNETH CARSWELL Macon 18-D

1952 - 1953

District 18 has continued to grow - it now has 20 more clubs and 1,592 more Lions than last year. More important, however, is the fact that Georgia Lions are demonstrating .a real spirit of Lion fellowship and service. Here are a few examples :

The town of Patterson, population 656, had been without doctors for several years. The Lions Club located and renovated a building for offices, raised money for six months’ free rent, and secured two physicians for part of each week. In addition the club graded and lighted a football field and also promoted a community sing with over 1,000 present!

Unadilla Lions published the Unadilla Observer.

The Chatsworth Club sponsored the rebuilding of a rundown farm for teaching and vocational practices.

The Valley purchased an iron lung for use in clinics.

The Alapaha Club in a town of 505 had many worthwhile projects including the raising of $4,500 to replace the water tank destroyed by a tornado. Town officials had the Lion emblem painted on the tank.

Cordele Lions promoted a three-mile safety parade.

More and more clubs are conducting “broom sales” of brooms made by the blind. The Columbus club realized a profit of $3,610 which will be used entirely for sight conservation work.

About 75 Georgia clubs are helping the Georgia Lighthouse for the Blind. Over 845 cases have been handled in three years.

Other highlights of the year :

An inspiring state convention at Augusta with International President Harold P. Nutter attending.

Lion Jack Comer, of Cordele, was elected Vice Chairman of the International Board of Governors at the International Convention in Mexico City.

The Dalton club has a 100% attendance record.

The Grand Master Key was awarded to Lion Hoke Wallace, of Winder, and the Senior Master Key to Lion A. Lee White, of Bremen.

All secretaries of all districts are 100% on time in sending monthly reports to Lions International.

Hats off to the District Governors, for leading a splendid year of growth and accomplishments.

On May 1, 1953, District 18 had the following:

DISTRICT GOVERNORS 1952-1953

1953-1954

The year was highlighted by a greatly increased interest in zone, region and district meetings. “A” held a notable dual region meeting in Atlanta in which 27 Lions Clubs participated; “B” had a splendid district meeting at Blackshear; “C” had the first district assembly in Georgia (a 24-hour affair) at Cordele; and “D” had a big zone meeting at Gainesville with 375 present. These fine meetings and many others really stirred up the spirit ‘of Lionism in District 18.

The year was also featured by the large number of International Officers who visited our district; Director General R. Roy Keaton; 1st Vice President Monroe L. Nute; 3rd Vice President Jack Stickley; Past Presidents Edgar M. Elbert and Julien Hyer, and International Directors Roy H. Black, E. L. “Slim” Harris and C. W. McKee. Never before have we been honored with so much brass in one year. Some of these fine Lions paid us more than one visit and addressed several Lion gatherings.

1953-1954 was an outstanding year in many ways:

District 18-C was 100% for the Georgia Lighthouse for the Blind; every club in the district having sent $1.00 per capita to the Lighthouse.

The Calhoun and East Point clubs had 100% attendance records for the year.

The Dawsonville Club raised $2,880.00 for a fire engine.

The Sylvester club was the first service club in the United States to publicly endorse President Eisenhower’s Highway Safety Program.

The Griffin Club interested the State in a broom factory for blind negroes in Griffin and guaranteed $1,900.00 of the $7,000.00 needed.

The Savannah Club educated the public in regard to the necessity of more money for the school system and secured a majority vote for an increase in school taxes.

District 18-A chartered eleven new clubs.

All secretary reports for all districts were 100% on time.

A fine state convention was sponsored by the Atlanta and the Metropolitan Atlanta Clubs.

District 18 continued to grow in numbers and in Lion spirit.

Congratulations to the District Governors for a wonderful year!

1953-1954 - District 18 Clubs

DISTRICT GOVERNORS

1953 - 1954

1954 - 1955

At the International Convention in Chicago, our own Marvin G. Pounds of Sparta was elected International Director. An inspiring Georgia Breakfast was held. Handsome paperweights of Stone Mountain granite were presented to members of the International family.

The year continued the fine interest in regional and zone meetings. Some of these were large and elaborate affairs with an International officer as speaker. Each year the positions of Deputy District Governor and Zone Chairman become more important in promoting the spirit of Lionism.

Many excellent projects were completed during the year:

The Plains Lions Club built a $6,000 swimming pool for the community.

Valdosta established a foundation of several thousand dollars for worthy causes.

The Stockbridge Lions Club, only two years old, took on the man-sized job of making and raising $20,000 for a gymnasium-auditorium,

The Lighthouse for the Blind received support from nearly all clubs and a good job was done in selling tickets to the All Star State High School Baseball Game for the

Lighthouse. Clubs continued the worthwhile and profitable sale of brooms made by the blind.

Lion clubs sold more than 30,000 Atlanta TV baseball books, receiving much favorable publicity and making a nice profit.

The Georgia 1954 State Convention voted to sponsor the organization of Junior Academy Science Clubs in local high schools. This led to increased interest and the holding of many science fairs. The Decatur Lions Club sponsored the top winner in the state junior science fair and paid his way to the National Science Fair at Cleveland, Ohio.

District 18 has 225 clubs and 9,357 Lions.

All secretaries from all districts have been 100% perfect in getting monthly reports to International on time.

The Cup Awards, due to the’ hard work of Chairman Joe Davis and his committees, have increased in interest. This year, as a new feature, “Shield Awards” were presented to second-place winners.

The long-needed revision of the State Constitution and By-laws was given attention. A committee of Chairman A. F. Rolf, Eugene Sanders, W. R. Wilson Jr., Jack

Comer and, Bob Matthews submitted a complete revision to the convention at Savannah.

Because of the continued growth of Lionism in District 18, it became necessary to redistrict the state into six districts: A, B, C, D, E and F. This was done at the Savannah Convention and six District Governors were elected to succeed the four District Governors.

DISTRICT GOVERNORS

1954 - 1955

Previous Page   History Home Page   Lionnet Georgia   MD18