HSV Evening Lions Club Installation of Officers and Awards Banquet 2022-2023
Celebrating its 50th Anniversary, the Hot Springs Village Evening Lions Club held the 2022-2023 annual Installation of Officers and Awards Banquet at the DeSoto Club on Thursday, June 16. Although there was a lot of laughter and gaiety at the banquet, the group is not primarily just a social group.
The members of the HSV Evening Lions are very serious about what they do, tackling with much dedication some very important societal issues. According to the HSV Evening Lions, “We are focused on supporting sight, hunger, the environment, childhood cancer, and our new global cause, diabetes, to help address some of the biggest challenges facing humanity. Lions have set an ambitious goal of helping 200 million people per year so we can bring even more service to more people than ever before.”
In order to serve others, the HSV Evening Lions host fundraising events such as Pancake Day, White Cane Day, and Hamburger Day, All of the proceeds from these events go to help support basic vision and hearing services to those who need a hand to grab onto but who are not looking for a handout. The Lions help people who help themselves and they do it with a smile on their faces and joy in their hearts.
At the banquet, President-Elect of the Hot Springs Village Evening Lions, Terry Sterzik, introduced the CEO of Mid-South Lions Sight and Hearing Service, Brad Baker, and his wife Mona. Mr. Baker talked about Mid-South before the installation of the new officers.
Mid-South Lions, located in Memphis, Tennessee, “has been restoring quality and independence to the lives of men, women, and children affected by preventable sight and hearing loss through a compassionate and comprehensive approach to opening avenues to costly medical care and assistance. Over 35,000 people have received the precious gifts of sight or hearing through our program. Many of these people do not have any alternative for receiving care.” Mr. Baker said a lot of the people who receive the services are working two and three jobs, not sitting out on their porch waiting for a check to come in the mail. The average income of the recipients of the cataract surgery make only $7,000 to $8,000 a year.
Mr. Baker said that last June, Mid-South Lions held its seventh cataract-athon, explaining that a cataract-athon is “where we gather up together about 25 people and try to give them cataract surgery all in one day.” The doctors, med techs, anesthesiologists, etc. all donate their services. The facility also donates the use of the surgery rooms. There are still many costs associated with the surgeries and the funds for this come from the Lions Clubs, individuals, businesses, foundations, and corporations. The organization was also fortunate to qualify for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan/grant. (The PPP was a program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) for the purpose of helping smaller organizations during COVID challenging times.)
The HSV Evening Lions presented Mr. Baker with a check of $14,900 to help pay for more cataract surgeries.
Hot Springs Village Evening Lions Installation of Officers
- President – Terry Sterzik
- 1st V. Pres. – Lloyd Sherman
- 2nd V. Pres. – Bob Peterson
- Imed. Past Pres. – John Sawyer
- Secretary – Christina Davis
- Treasurer – George Parker
- Service Chr. – Nell Rockett
- Market/Com. Chr. – Pete Beck
- LCIF Coord. – Dave DeGraff
- Program Coord. – Jack Wells
- Membership Chr. – Russell Tessier
- Bingo Chr. – Ed Smith
- Lion Tamer – Jim Sebestyen
- Tail Twister – Larry Bauer
- Website – Dominic Listermann
- Board of Directors
- Yr. 1 – Ford Williams
- Yr. 1 – Karen Sterzik
- Yr. 1 – Jan Peterson
- Yr. 2 – Linda Sherman
- Yr. 2 – Jim Welch
Hot Springs Village 2022 Evening Lions Award Winners
- Silver Cane (WSB) – Terry Sterzik
- Roy Kumpe (WSB) – Bob Peterson
- Crystal Cornea (AR Eye Bank) – Christina Davis
- Ed Dalstrom (Mid-South) – Lloyd Sherman
- Ed Dalstrom (Mid-South) – Russell Tessier
- Melvin Jones Fellow (LCIF) – Jim Sebestyen
- Life Time Achievement – Stan Luczkowski
- Life Time Achievement – Ed Smith
- Life Time Achievement – Jim Welch
- Lion of the Year – Larry Bauer
- Presidential Certificates – Bonnie O’Day, Marlene Beck, Christina Davis, Jim Sebestyen and Stan Luczkowski
- Balboa Lake Park Recog. – Larry Bauer, Pete Beck, Terry Sterzik, Lloyd Sherman, Christina Davis, Bob Peterson, Jan Peterson, John Sawyer, Jim Sebestyen, Nell Rockett, Jack Wells, George Parker, Ed Smith
- Outgoing President – John Sawyer
- Outgoing Secretary – Jackie Parker
* WSB = World Services for the Blind in Little Rock
*Mid-South Lions Sight & Hearing in Memphis
*LCIF = Lions Clubs International Foundation
2021/2022 Deceased Lions
In addition to honoring the Lions Club members, there is a special memorial held each year at both the district and state convention to honor the passing of Lions during the year. At the state convention, a crystal rose is presented to be passed along to a family member of each deceased Lion. The Hot Springs Village Evening Lions that passed were:
- Bob Kostelecky
- Paul Grasse
- Jim Bigg
- Jack Eatinger
- Gary Ruebush
In addition to fundraising for medical treatment, HSV Evening Lions organize a cleanup every year and pick up trash along DeSoto Boulevard. The HSV Evening Lions also are building a wonderful park and playground at Balboa Beach in Hot Springs Village. This project is nearing completion and the entrance was just approved by the Architectural Control Committee.
HSV Evening Lions Club Installation of Officers and Awards Banquet 2022-2023
Note: The accoustics in the room were poor and the video may be difficult to watch at times.
Special thank you to Nell Rockett for her invaluable help with providing the lists of names, titles, etc. I could not have written this report without her.
Also, special thanks to Lloyd Sherman for inviting us to the event.
Photos courtesy of HSV Evening Lions Facebook Page.
By Cheryl Dowden, Videography by Joe Dowden
Thank you for this e-mail and pictures. Wonderful. Would have come to annual mtg had it been on Sat. Family was here at the time.
Lion Lynne Harkleroad
Thank you, Lynne! It was a wonderful evening. – Cheryl Dowden