Vital Volunteers – June 2025
COVID-19 WAS CHALLENGING, including the tragic deaths of so many people, the basic shutting down of our nation’s economy, and the two-year loss of education for our school kids. Also, hard hit by the pandemic were service clubs, and the Jacksonville Lions Club was no exception. Long-time member Jim Davidian relates, “After Covid, the Jacksonville Lions Club, which was founded in 1948, just about died as we were down to eight members and some of them were inactive.” Rather than give up, the Jacksonville Lions Club helped form a new club, the Rogue Valley Lions Club with a base in Central Point, with a strong connection to and with Jacksonville. This has proved to be a good move as the new club has grown to twenty-eight active members and is making its presence known in the Rogue Valley.
Current President, Charlie Brotherton, is excited about the progress the Rogue Valley Lions Club has made. “Having a strong connection with Central Point has been beneficial for several reasons. For one, Central Point has a younger population than much of the rest of the valley, opening an avenue for membership recruitment. Our average age of members is now fifty-three, and this has given us new energy.” Member Hew McElroy has been instrumental in bringing the club into the digital age. “We have our own Facebook page and advertise all our projects and activities through social media. We get a great turnout at our events largely because of our social media projections.” McElory goes to relate, “Men and women of all ages are welcome. One merely needs a desire to have fun while doing good things in a no-pressure group of great folks.”
As the Rogue Valley Lions Club membership has grown, so has its projects and activities. The Lions International organization for years has focused on sight and hearing, something the Rogue Valley Club does through the Southern Oregon Lions Sight and Hearing Center. For example, they recently completed screening of 3,600 students in the Central Point school system for glasses and hearing needs. Jim Davidian, a retired optometrist, says that from these screenings they have about a 20% referral for eyeglasses or hearing assistance, something that can be provided at the Sight and Hearing Center if needed.
Other causes that the Rogue Valley Lions Club supports are local educational endeavors such as art contests, spelling bees, American Flag education and the annual Jacksonville Elementary School musical theater production at the Britt Festival stage. They assemble and deliver one hundred Christmas food bags to shut-ins every year through the Jacksonville “Food and Friends” program. They even do a biannual road clean-up on Old Stage Road, starting at West Side School. President Charlie Brotherton is especially proud of the American Flag program of which he is a key player. “We focus on first grade students and do a Power Point presentation based on Betsy Ross. We teach flag etiquette and how to respect the flag. At the end of the presentation, each student is presented with a small American flag. We just finished a presentation at Central Point Elementary School and Jacksonville Elementary is next.” A relatively new member, Harry Gerhard, lends his response, “I was looking for a service club that did things more than just raise money, and, when I went as a guest to a flag presentation before becoming a member, I was hooked. This club was for me.”
While the Club raises funds through various activities, the major fundraising effort is their bi-annual Wine Walks in historic downtown Central Point. The most recent was held on May 31, featuring thirteen local wineries hosted by Central Point businesses. The Club advertises that men and women of all ages are welcome, membership fees are modest, and their meetings combine fellowship and dinner. They currently meet on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. Their current meeting spot is the Black Bear Diner in Medford. Anyone interested in joining is encouraged to contact Charlie Brotherton (541-210-0425) or Hew McElroy
(573-864-7753) or visit their website at RogueValleyLions.org.
Featured image: Jacksonville Lions Club teaching these students about the Stars & Stripes. Photo: Hew McElroy