BEATTY — They began “roaring” months ago, but as of Sept. 3, they are now officially Lions. That is when the new Beatty Lions Club was chartered in a ceremony, party and dinner at the Beatty Community Center.
Brianna De La Mora was installed as president, with Lacey Cordova as vice-president, Ernest Childress as secretary, Amanda Swisegood treasurer, and Michael Watkins as board member.
When it was found that the new club did not have a “tail twister,” Julie Watkins quickly accepted the position, the duty of which is to add an element of fun to meetings by assessing fines to attendees for trivial, usually humorous “infractions.” She immediately assessed her first fine on her husband.
Starting with six members, and growing to 29 members by the time of chartering, the Beatty club did not waste any time in getting involved in providing service to the community.
With the help of other Lions clubs from around the state, their records show they had, by that time, put in over 300 service hours, serving around 360 people.
They put on this year’s Beatty Easter egg hunt, a two-day back-to-school event where they hosted a family dinner and passed out school supplies for about 70 kids. They plan to continue providing more school supplies for students who need them.
On the second day of their back-to-school event, they had a pediatric nurse who administered vaccines and did sports physicals and wellness checks. They also had a family doctor who saw ten patients, and an optometrist who served thirty people.
“E-Lions” also came to Beatty and provided 10 refurbished computers and training in their use for children in need.
The club also organized and hosted an Earth Day clean-up, a Mother’s Day breakfast and Father’s Day dinner. They gave the Beatty Volunteer Fire Department candy, bracelets, toys and other items for their Fourth of July celebration and bought neck wraps for Amargosa Valley School students.
All of this was accomplished with help from other Lions clubs from Reno to Las Vegas and some local businesses, county offices, and other individuals.
At the chartering event, Past International Director Jack Epperson said that the number of other Lions clubs present in support of the Beatty Club was the most he had seen. Several of the visiting clubs came with gifts for the Beatty Lions, ranging from checks to a pair of gavels for the president, jokingly presented as a right-handed gavel and a left-handed gavel.
De La Mora, the newly installed president, said that she used to think that the Lions Club was for old people, but she was happy to see it had plenty of younger members.
This is not the first Lions Club in Beatty. A previous club operated for over twenty years, before fading away with the passing of key members. Now the torch, rather than being passed, has been lighted anew.
The club’s Facebook page includes this statement: “We would love to have more members of our community involved. We have so many ideas we would like to do but need the manpower behind it.”
Richard Stephens is a freelance reporter living in Beatty.