Tim Smith Joins Club

The Sanford Lions Club welcomed a new member at its weekly meeting Thursday, March 12, and heard District Governor David Martin speak on membership development. President John Walden, Jr. presided with the invocation given by Roy Jernigan and Cliff Pepper led the Pledge of Allegiance.

The newest Lion is Tim Smith who was sponsored by his father, Dowe Smith. District Governor Martin presided over the induction. Smith resides in Sanford with his wife, Donna. They have two daughters, Ashley and Devon, both of whom are students at UNC-Wilmington. Smith is a real estate broker with Interstate Companies of America. They are members of Jonesboro Heights Baptist Church.

Martin’s address on membership was timely as he related the experiences of helping organize a new Lions Club in Fayetteville this month. As he and a representative of Lions International visited community leaders in the west Fayetteville area they found them to be receptive and eager to join a club with a well-established mission and reputation throughout not only the community, but the nation and world as well.

Martin urged Sanford Lions to continue efforts to attract new members by stressing the club’s many accomplishments over the past 73 years and its support of providing assistance to the blind, sight impaired, hearing impaired, and programs for youth. From helping fund eye exams and glasses for the disadvantaged to fairground fields where thousands of youth play baseball and soccer, the club’s work has benefited tens of thousands of people in its long history, Martin stressed. And this is the message Sanford Lions need to share with supporters and prospective members.

Big events coming up soon to help raise funds for these charitable causes include opening of the Lions Fairgrounds Flea Market on Saturdays starting April 4; hosting the Cancer Society’s Relay for Life at the fairgrounds on May 15-16 with a club team participating; and the annual Sanford Lions Golf Tournament set for May 30 at Quail Ridge Golf Course. The club’s biggest fundraiser is the annual Lee Regional Fair scheduled Sept. 15-20.