While the Lioness club has disbanded, the current members have made the decision to continue on with their Fisherman’s Picnic activities. Here, displaying some of the great food served at the 2016 banquet at St. John’s Catholic Church in Grand Marais are, from left, Martha Rosbacka, Ethel Johnson, and Irene Malner. Photo courtesy of Ann Mershon
On Tuesday, January 8 the Lioness Club voted to become an independent service organization.
It wasn’t an easy decision, nor was it quick in coming.
“This was something we had been discussing for the last 3-4 years,” said Ann Mershon, who is president of the local club. “It was an idea that had been bandied about a lot, but our options were limited. We could have either chartered as a Lions Club or form as a service club.
“Chartering a second Lions Club in the area seemed to us to smack of competition, and that didn’t seem like a good idea,” she added.
The reason to leave a well-known, well-respected club came about because the parent organization, Lions Club International, presented all of its Lioness clubs with a deadline to join the former men’s only club or go out on their own.
“I think the deadline to stay or leave is 2021. They keep pushing it back. There are very few Lioness clubs left in the U.S.,” said Ann.
When it came time to vote, Mershon said she was surprised. “Our vote (31 votes) was very strong for becoming an independent organization (two for chartering as a Lions Club, 22 for being an independent service organization, and seven who were happy with either choice).
“We expect it will be a slow transition, and our first decisions will be coming up with a new name and updating our bylaws.
“We will continue to serve as we have, putting on the Fisherman’s Picnic fishcake buffet and silent auction and helping the Lions with Fisherman’s Picnic.
“In our donations we focus on families and children, organizing and contributing to countywide education grants ($7,000 total each year, half from our funds and a half from the Lions Club), sponsoring a $1,000 scholarship, and donating over $3,000 to local nonprofits.”
None of that will change, but Mershon hopes the club with no name can grow and give even more money to local causes.
“Hopefully we can use the transition to revitalize our club. We could use some younger members. We have lunch meetings once a month, which is hard for women that are working. Night meetings might be an option to explore if that could help more people to join,” she said.
“And we need a name. Losing the Lioness name will be hard because we lose that recognition. Picking a name will be a gradual process.
“Other things to look at will be to see if we need to purchase insurance or whether we want to investigate becoming a 501c3. Having a 501c3 status would give us more options to pursue grants. But there is a lot to think about, a lot to do,” she said.
If losing the Lioness name will hurt, at least in the beginning, it will also give the club more control in the directions they might want to go, said Mershon.
“We will still work with the Lions. They raise a lot of money, probably twice as much as we do in a year, and they help the community in so many ways. I know they are recruiting more members. As for us, we currently have 54 members and look forward to bringing more energetic people into our club.”
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