Holliston Lions Club to Celebrate 79 Years of Service
Bearing in mind that at the time, Holliston was truly a “small town” in the scheme of things, the 1940 census showed a population of about 3,000. The Club was chartered with 26 members which was impressive given the number of residents in town at the time. The last charter member, Lion Walter Rossini passed away during the 2016 – 2017 Lions year.
More About Lions in MA
The first Lions Club in Massachusetts was organized in Boston on December 31, 1920 but cancelled in 1942. The second club was in Springfield on May 16, 1922 with 50 Charter members. Worcester (Host) remains the oldest active club and celebrated its 80th anniversary on July 13, 2002. Later in 1922, clubs were organized in Pittsfield, Holyoke and Lynn. At that time, all New England was considered a part of District 23 and included Connecticut and Rhode Island.
In 1923, New England formed District 33, which contained seven clubs in Massachusetts, one in Maine, and none in Vermont or New Hampshire. The membership of eight clubs was 422. In 1939-1940, District 33 became Multiple District 33 composed of Sub-Districts 33-A, 33-B, 33-C and 33-D with 83 clubs and 2,619 members. The clubs in 'D' were in New Hampshire or Vermont, whereas the clubs in A, B, and C were in Massachusetts.
At the 1945 District Convention, Sub-District 33-D separated from Multiple District 33 and became District 44. At the 1949 convention, held at Magnolia, Massachusetts, June 17-19, a resolution proposing the division of District 33 into five sub-districts, to be known as 33 Y-A-N-K-S was adopted. Today, that remains the same and the Holliston Lions Club is part of District 33K.
Currently, there are 231 Lions Clubs with 7121 members in Massachusetts. The Holliston Lions Club continues their long tradition of service with 81 members.
A History of Service
While many residents of Holliston may recognize the Holliston Lions Club because of the annual Carnival and other fundraising events, the Club has a long history of serving the needs of the community. Going forward, we’ll be talking about some of the contributions the Holliston Lions has made to the Town of Holliston over their 79 years. You can learn more by visiting the Holliston Lions Club website.