Club to Honor 75 Years of Service to Sanford

The Sanford Lions Club will celebrate the 75^th anniversary of its founding this Thursday, Aug. 5, at the Lions Fairgrounds. Guest speaker will be Lions International President Sid L. Scruggs, III, of Vass who assumed the club’s worldwide top post a month ago in Sydney, Australia at the Lions International Convention.

Local President Dr. Marvin Joyner said this hallmark event will showcase the outstanding contributions and service made to Sanford and Lee County by Sanford Lions since 1935 when the club was sponsored by the Raleigh Lions Club. The Sanford club has gone on to sponsor eight new Lions Clubs and has produced twelve district governors from among its ranks.

Six of those past district governors have worked for months as a committee planning the Aug. 5 celebration, led by Chairman Avron Upchurch. Others are Russel Mann, Milton Somers, Tony Williams, Roy Jernigan and David Martin. Club members and their spouses and guests will enjoy a dinner prepared by Sanford’s Chef Greg Hamm amid special decorations. Banquet expenses are covered by private member contributions and not charitable funds raised by the club.

At the club’s weekly meeting Thursday, July 22, former Lee School Board Chairman Bill Tatum was the guest speaker, introduced by program chairman Charles LaRue. Tatum stressed that Lee County’s school system and its more than 9,600 students are in good shape and rank well when compared to area counties, even Wake County where some business leaders think students get a superior education. In fact, student testing data in recent years shows Lee Schools outpacing those in Wake and other surrounding counties.

Tatum pointed out the great diversity in Lee County public school students where now whites make up only 45 percent of the student population. Hispanic is second with 26.4 percent while blacks make up 22.6 percent followed by American Indian and Multi racial with 5.1 percent. Asians make up less than one percent of students. There are 24 native languages spoken by students in Lee County schools, he added.

Tatum, whose current term runs to 2012 on the school board, said he is confident in telling everyone with whom he talks that Lee County Schools provide a top quality education and operate as efficiently as any in North Carolina with the resources made available. He praised the work of all local educators from the central office staff to teachers in the classroom, saying they work very hard often under very difficult circumstances Lions President Joyner thanked Tatum for his remarks and also praised the work of everyone in education.

Teen Drivers Do the Craziest Things

Teaching teenage drivers can be a daunting duty, but there are still brave men and women who accept the challenge to mold tomorrow’s safe motorists. Sanford Lion Theron Womble is one who faced the challenge and lived to tell about it. And tell about it he did Thursday, July 8, at the weekly Sanford Lions meeting.

Womble, a retired Lee County teacher and driver’s education instructor, described what it was like to sit in the passenger seat of those driver’s ed cars with a foot inches away from the safety brake mounted on the passenger’s side. The state requires all school-age teens who want a driver’s permit and license to take the 30 hour course that requires both classroom work and driving practice. In fact, Womble said the graduated licensing process has done more to improve driving skills of teens and make the roads safer than anything else. It even requires that students maintain passing grades to remain in the program.

He said many students show no signs of having practiced driving before the course. As they learn to turn the steering wheel to round curves or the proper braking pressure, or changing lanes in traffic, the instructor learns quickly not to take an eye off the road or the results can be harrowing.

And then, as with most teenagers, things just happen. There was the time a mother had given permission for Womble to pick up her daughter for a Saturday morning driving session at a friend’s house where she spent the night. The 15-year-old hopped into the car scantily clad with a sheer top supported by spaghetti straps. Womble said he reminded her that school dress code went for driver’s ed too. She explained that she didn’t want to put on the same clothes she had worn the day before, so she just kept on her pajamas. The retired teacher and pillar of First Baptist Church clasped his wrists together, saying he could just see the police slapping handcuffs on him if caught riding around with a teenage female in her in PJ’s. She returned inside and changed clothes.

Local Lions are now engaged in work on the club’s biggest fundraiser each year—The Lee Regional Fair. Advertising for the Fair catalogue is now being solicited from area businesses and professional organizations with Lions making contacts. The public’s support of this project is very important. The catalogue lists all program events, schedules, and the many exhibit categories for which prizes and ribbons are awarded. Fair proceeds help fund the many charitable causes supported by the Sanford Lions Club, which last club year topped $31,000.

President Marvin Joyner presided at the meeting and Theron Womble gave the invocation. Lion Jimmy Bridges led the club in the Pledge of Allegiance. Richard Wallace was welcomed as a guest of Lion Ed Paschal.

75th Anniversary Plans Coming Together

Plans for the Sanford Lions Club’s 75^th Anniversary celebration on Aug. 5 are quickly taking shape now, according to Avron Upchurch who chairs a committee of past district governors from the local club that was charged with making arrangements for the historic mark. Upchurch reported on the group’s progress at the club’s weekly dinner meeting July 1 which was the first meeting led by new President Dr. Marvin Joyner.

Heading the program will be a special visit and address by new International Lions President Sid L. Scruggs, III, of Vass. Also expected to attend will be two members of the International board of directors, according to Upchurch. The ladies’ night banquet will be catered by Sanford’s Chef Paul with a reception beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Lions Fairgrounds followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. Special entertainment is also planned.

In addition to Upchurch, the committee consists of other past district governors still active in the Sanford Lions Club including Russel Mann, Milton Somers, Tony Williams, Roy Jernigan and Dave Martin. The local club has been a statewide leader in producing district governors with a dozen since 1938. The club was chartered in 1935.

Guest speaker for the weekly meeting was Dr. Angela Bright-Pearson of Sanford, a clinical audiologist who owns Bright Audiology on Carbonton Road. She described the latest technologies available to persons with hearing disorders and stressed that the number one cause of hearing loss is noise. She urged everyone to use ear protection devices when in the presence of noise such as any type of machinery or lawn care tools. Also, people are warned to reduce the volume of music, especially the use of earphones as seen with many young people.

She urges citizens to seek the services of audiology professionals who provide effective analysis and diagnosis of hearing loss problems and who will refer patients to other medical professionals if problems indicate the need. Her education includes a master’s degree in audiology and speech pathology from UNC-Greensboro and a doctorate in audiology from the University of Florida. She has taught at UNC-G and UNC at Chapel Hill and served on state audiology boards. She was accompanied by daughter, Hannah, who assisted by distributing literature to the group.

Preston Spence was program chairman and introduced Dr. Bright-Pearson. He also delivered the invocation while Bob Nelson led the club in the Pledge of Allegiance. A special guest and prospective member was Jon Joyner, a math teacher at Lee County High School who is the faculty liason with the Brick City Leo Club, a teen organization affiliated with the Lions Club. Song Leader John Byrd led the club in the singing of “America, the Beautiful,” in honor of the July 4^th holiday.