(To view history from the beginning please scroll to the bottom of the page and work back toward the top)
Creating Our Own Identity
In an effort to distinguish ourselves from the Cullman Lions Club we decided early on that we would like to have purple vests. We searched high and low with no luck until April of 2013 when we found a purple vest on Amazon.com. They were not "Lions" vests but were very close and we decided to order them. We had the Lions logo screen printed on the front and the club name on the back by Creative Design. We then decided to have them monogrammed and we took them to From the Heart for the monogramming. Now everyone will be able to easily identify us not only as Lions but also as members of the Cullman Community Lions Club.
What Happened To Our Members ?
The Cullman Community Lions Club was chartered with 34 members. The club experienced a huge decline in membership during the first seventeen months and as of June 30, 2012, membership had dropped to fifteen. This is not an uncommon occurrence with new clubs but it is difficult to turn it around and begin to show a positive gain in membership. Loss of interest, financial issues, work schedules, health issues and moving away were a few of the reasons we experienced such a decline. We remained at 15 members until November, 2012 and then through exposure in the community during our diabetes service projects, membership began to increase and by March, 2013 membership had grown to twenty. The club was beginning to be recognized as having a positive impact on the community. It is human nature to want to be involved with positive and successful things so as we continue to provide services and assistance throughout the community our membership will continue to grow. At our lowest point we only had about 8 Lions to be actively involved in any activity but through their dedication, determination and "can do" attitude the club survived the difficult period of finding our niche in the community and has established a strong foundation to build upon. The Cullman Community Lions Club is here to stay!
Finding Our Home
As with many new clubs, finding a place to call home was a challenge for us. We met at the McGukin Civic Center, Ryan's Restaurant, the All Steak Restaurant, Lombardo's Restaurant, and Grumpy's Italian Grill. All of these for one reason or another just didn't fit and we would always go back to the civic center between various trials. We were meeting at 6:30 p.m. on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month and attendance at meetings had dwindled to only 6 or 8 members. A decision was made to change from evening meetings to lunch time meetings beginning in July, 2012 in an effort to increase participation. This also afforded the opportunity to change meeting locations and after consideration of the various locations we finally found our home...Rumor's Deli, located in the old warehouse district. We conduct our meetings in a back room reserved for groups such as ours and we call in our food orders in advance and then pay when we arrive and our food is served. This expedites the process since each member pays for their own meals. Attendance has doubled (which brings us to our next topic) and hopefully Rumor's Deli will continue to be our home until we outgrow the available space due to club growth.
Establishing the Basics
There are many decisions to be made when getting a new club up and running. First, we decided we would meet two times per month and it was meet on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month. We tried 6:00 pm for awhile then changed to 6:30 pm. We needed to establish our bank accounts so several local banks were contacted and after examining the various accounts offered we elected to open our accounts at Merchant's Bank. Two accounts were opened; an account for administrative funds and an account for projects and the decision was made to require two signatures on all checks. In determining what the tailtwister fine limits should be we decided that each Lion would pay $1.00 at each meeting, fines would be set at $.50 with a limit of two fines per meeting with the exception of a ringing cell phone. If a Lion's cell phone rings during the meeting they are required to pay a $.50 fine and if they answer it they pay an additional $.50 fine. In an attempt to build up our administrative account we voted instead of splitting "the pot" we would leave all of the tailtwister monies in our administrative account.
The Beginning
Once the charter was approved the enthusiastic founders of the Cullman Community Lions Club began planning their special charter celebration banquet. By this time the club was meeting at the All Steak Restaurant and eating wholesome meals so the All Steak Restaurant was chosen as the venue, the date and time set as 6:30 p.m., Saturday, March 12, 2011, and Past International Director Lowell Bonds from Hoover, Alabama was invited to be the keynote speaker and to induct the charter members and install the charter officers. The meal included steak, baked potatoes, salad, desert, drink, and the restaurant's famous orange rolls at a price of $20.00 per person. The original members continued to recruit and the club had grown to 34 members by charter night. Representatives of several area Lions Clubs attended the event to show their support. The Cullman Lions Club presented the club with a club banner and accessories, a custom gong and gavel, and a cash donation. Cash donations were also received from the Hanceville Lions Club and the Freedom Insurance Agency. PDG Charles E. Henke presented a Lions podium banner to the club. The charter members were:
Dennis Berse** Lynn Holley Tumika Noblett
Shannon Berse* Chad Howard Charles Osborne**
Jimmie Sue Bruner* Stacy Howard Janice Osborne*
Milton Bruner** Ellen Hulgan Alice Page
Rhonda Bruner* Noah Johnston Kristy Patterson
Sammie Danford Wilmer King* Stephen Persall
Imogene Daniels Stacy Methvin Taylor Reid
Danny Hamby J.J. Miller** Karen Seybold
Cindy Harbison Patricia Miller* Ron Seybold**
Angela Henderson Stephanie Mosteller Laura Shedd
Ginger Hogeland* Emily Niezer Gloria Williams
* denotes Lionesses ** denotes transferring Lions
PDG Charles E. "Ed" Henke and PDG Dr. Bruce Harbison were assigned as the Guiding Lions.
Dennis Berse** Lynn Holley Tumika Noblett
Shannon Berse* Chad Howard Charles Osborne**
Jimmie Sue Bruner* Stacy Howard Janice Osborne*
Milton Bruner** Ellen Hulgan Alice Page
Rhonda Bruner* Noah Johnston Kristy Patterson
Sammie Danford Wilmer King* Stephen Persall
Imogene Daniels Stacy Methvin Taylor Reid
Danny Hamby J.J. Miller** Karen Seybold
Cindy Harbison Patricia Miller* Ron Seybold**
Angela Henderson Stephanie Mosteller Laura Shedd
Ginger Hogeland* Emily Niezer Gloria Williams
* denotes Lionesses ** denotes transferring Lions
PDG Charles E. "Ed" Henke and PDG Dr. Bruce Harbison were assigned as the Guiding Lions.
The Planning Stage
During the summer of 2010 there was a growing interest in becoming a Lion among several ladies in the city of Cullman. Actual efforts to form a Lions Club with women members began in September, 2010. The women also wanted to allow men to become members of the new club. They began to meet on a weekly basis at the McGukin Civic Center and ate snacks as they planned the future of their club. By year's end there were enough men and women desiring to form a new co-ed Lions Club to submit an application to The International Association of Lions Clubs for a charter. The new club was required to have twenty members, a name for the club, and a sponsor before submitting the charter application. Club organizers met to discuss possible names for their club. Many name possibilities such as Hometown, Heritage, Pinnacle, Community, Legacy, Pride, Apex, and Beacon were discussed but all had one common link, service to the community. Therefore, the name Cullman "Community" Lions Club became the obvious choice for the club's name. Secondly, the club needed a sponsor and 1st Vice-District Governor Ron Seybold, the key organizer, presented the sponsorship opportunity to the Cullman Lions Club. The Cullman Lions Club accepted the responsibility of sponsoring the Cullman Community Lions Club. Officer elections were held and a charter application naming 23 charter members, made up of 7 women transferring from the Cullman Lioness Club, 5 men transferring from the Cullman Lions Club, and 11 women from the community, was submitted on January 7, 2011. The charter was approved by the International Association of Lions Clubs on January 24, 2011.