FORT THOMAS — Lions from the U.S. and Mexico converged on Fort Thomas on Saturday for a rededication to service.
“That simple touch to the community, or that special project statewide (or) internationally, is touching thousands, millions of lives,” said Sheila Palazzolo, president of the Melvin Jones International Memorial board.
The Safford Lions Club hosted the annual rededication at the Melvin Jones Memorial, which included remarks by Arizona District Governors Chris Gibbs and Ken Leya.
Following the event at the memorial, Lions participated in a special luncheon at Eastern Arizona College, with the keynote address given by Lions International Board member and past International Director Carolyn Messier, of Connecticut.
Melvin Jones, the founder of Lions Clubs International in 1917, was born in Fort Thomas in 1879. The memorial, a 50-foot spire and adjoining museum, was designed and erected in 1965 under the direction of Safford Lions Club members Roger David and Bill Lewis.
Lions Clubs International focuses of five causes: diabetes prevention, vision, hunger, the environment and fighting childhood cancer. The Safford Lions Club addresses the goals in a number of ways, including accepting donations of unwanted eyeglasses, distribution of produce through Health Department gleanings and the monthly Produce on Wheels Without Waste, vision screening of area elementary school students, and fund-raising by grilling hot dogs and hamburgers at various community events.
