Old Missoula

Lions Club Organizes In Autumn of 1928

The Missoula Lions Club organized in the fall of 1928 and received its charter Jan. 19, 1929.

The first officers were George R. Mallick, president; J. A. Lundstrum, first vice president; Alex F. Peterson Jr., second vice president; A. B. Murphy, third vice president; Ralph L. Arnold, secretary; Leonard Larson, treasurer; L. W. Goodfellow, lion tamer, and Donovan Worden, tail twister.

First Directors

The first directors were E. K. Badgley, T. A. Harkness, George T. Moris and Guy T. Stegner. Of the 27 charter members only two are still active.

Active membership of the Lions Club in 1960 is 160. Officers named for 1959-60 were Dr. Virgil C. Overcast, president; John F. Gibson, first vice president; Cecil E. Cook, second vice president; Lester W. Emery, third vice president; Russell L. Neal, secretary; Richard T. Stegner, treasurer; Max R. Swanson, immediate past president; Albert H. Ham, lion tamer; Clarence D. Beagle, William L. Barnett, Robert J. Gillis and Harold L. Holt, tail twisters.

Directors Named

Directors named were Jack V. Hangas, Larry Livingston, Owen T. Nielson and Peter Orsola. Other officers designated were George L. Blakeslee, club chaplain; Claude Elder, club historian; O. B. Parsons, club auctioneer; Melvin Bouck, pianist; James E. Eversole, Clarence Cunningham and Harry Edwards, song leaders.

Sight conservation is the major project of Lions International and was adopted by the local club when it was first organized. For this project the Lions have an annual Christmas tree sale in December and an annual Treasure State Charity Horse Show in late July or early August. The first annual Christmas tree sale was in 1943 and the first annual Treasure State Charity Horse Show was in 1950.

In 1937 the Lions Club built a model home at 605 Evans Ave. to raise funds for the Sight Conservation Program. In 1945 the Missoula – Hamilton Lions Clubs celebrated Lion Harry Johnson Night. The Missoula Lions Club Quartet introduced Lion Harry Johnson’s new song, “Have You Ever Seen Montana” as part of a musical tribute to Lion Johnson of Hamilton.

In 1948 the Lions sponsored “The Original Black Hills Passion Play” at the Student Union Auditorium at the University. For two years the Lions Club has sponsored the Miss America Pageant for western Montana.

Other Projects

The Lions also send two boys to Boys State in Dillon, sponsor youth organizations and give camperships to Camp Fire Girls. Girl Scouts, Girl Reserves and Boy Scout camps, support the Babe Ruth and Little League baseball program, furnish Interscholastic Meet trophies, two scholarships to students who are studying to become teachers, and an adult blind scholarship to the Adult Blind Summer School at Montana State College. The Club conducts an annual White Cane sale for the State Blind Association and furnishers Christmas toys annually to children of needy families.

In 1946 the Lions obtained permission to establish a news stand in the Missoula Post Office for a blind individual. The stand is still operated by the original operator, Lion Melvin Bouck.

The Lions of Missoula and Hamilton have had four district conventions in Missoula in 1931, 1940, 1950 and 1960. The Missoula Lions Club sponsored clubs at Hamilton, Libby and Hot Springs.