Our Mission

The Lake Zurich Lions Club is one of the foremost clubs in the Chicago area and indeed the world. While we actively support the interests if Lions Clubs International, our loyalties are deeply rooted in service to our own community.

Our club serves people in Lake Zurich, Kildeer, Hawthorn Woods, Deer Park and North Barrington, but our membership reaches even further drawing people from Palatine, Wauconda, Ingleside, Lake Villa and Barrington as well. These members are involved both because of what we do and because of the fellowship they enjoy.

The mission of the Lake Zurich Lions Club is two fold:

Service

We serve people who are in special need of sight and sound related services, in keeping with the Lions International charter. We also serve the more general needs of the community to enhance the lives of our disabled, our disadvantaged and our young.

Fellowship

Our club is open to those who recognize that the strongest fellowships and fondest friendships are those that are forged in an environment of work in service to others. Our concerns are serious. Our way of dealing with them is a lot of fun.

　

We welcome all of those who seek the bonds of friendship through service.

History of the Lake Zurich Lions Club

During the summer of 1939, a group of 25 Lake Zurich businessmen and citizens banded together in the interest of fostering civic and community improvement, and building cooperation between businesses and the community as a whole. By fall of the same year, the group determined that its interests would best be served, and its long-term survival enhanced, if it operated as a part of a larger service organization. Its charter as the Lake Zurich Lions Club became official on October 8, 1039.

The first collective project of the organization was the restocking of Lake Zurich with fish. Working with the State of Illinois officials, 25,000 fish were added to the lake.

In 1942, the Lions Club embarked on its largest single project. Combining personal funding, creative financing and a huge amount of committed manpower, the club purchased land that represented a portion of the right of way for the defunct Palatine, Lake Zurich and Wauconda railroad. Included in the purchase was a 25-ft. mound on 3 acres of land in the downtown area which was an approach to a trestle over the EJ&E railroad tracks.

In the years that followed, the members graded the mound and converted the land into a community park, playground and baseball diamond. The purchase of adjacent land several years later enabled the organization to add a food stand, meeting hall, and parking lot.

In 1944, the club took the steps to stop a private entity from owning the lake. The Lions Club raised funds to purchase nearly 300 acres of lake bed and some lake front property to assure public access to the lake. Since then, the club has led lake maintenance efforts, including weed elimination, dredging and restocking.

In the late 1940’s, the Lions Club continued its land acquisition effort, purchasing more of the railroad right of way and donating it to the Village of Lake Zurich for the construction of Lions Drive. That development also made possible the construction of the current American Legion Hall and new subdivisions on property that was formerly land locked.

Other early activities of the Lions Club included the purchase of the town’s first traffic light and manning the community’s first ambulance service. Today, the club continues its service, maintaining these properties and also supporting scholarships, community projects and a host of community activities.

Events

Alpine Fest

It began in the summer of 1945, partly in celebration of the victories of World War II. The newly acquired land in the center of Lake Zurich had been cleared and graded. What better opportunity to establish its purpose as a park than to have a carnival there?

Over the years, as more and more people became active in the Lions Club, the carnival grew. Today the event is bigger and better than ever, drawing an estimated 9,000 people to the park for the three days of carnival rides, games, food, family events and entertainment. The final day of the event includes a parade down Main Street. It is the biggest single event of the year.

Conducting this festival on the third weekend in July each year requires an enormous amount of planning, a major financial investment in food, bands, tents and carnival entertainment. It also requires the dedicated time of Lions members and hundreds of other volunteers from the community.

Funds raised from this event are poured back in to the community in a variety of ways. Top priority is to pay the taxes and maintenance of Lions Park, the Lions Den, the baseball diamond, and our share of lake maintenance. The funds also enable us to support a number of other worthwhile community causes that simply cannot be covered by fund raising events.

Children’s Candy Cane Hunt

The children in our community are important to us. On the first Sunday in December we hold a Candy Cane Hunt, no matter the weather, for the children. There are prizes, refreshments and a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Community Food Drive

Held in during the entire month of December, we sponsor a community food drive to help replenish the shelves of the local food pantry.

Holiday Bazaar & Market

The first Saturday in November is the date when we put on the Holiday Bazaar & Market, using the facilities of one of Lake Zurich’s area schools. We invited crafters/vendors to exhibited their wares, covering both of the gymnasiums floors. The bazaar makes it possible for our local residents to buy unique and creative holiday items. It also makes it possible for the Lions Club to raise funds to benefit others. Proceeds from this event go to support the Lions club Scholarship Fund. Vendors at this event, keep what they make from their sales, the Lions Club’s funds include entry fees from exhibitors, earnings from food sales, bake sale proceeds and half of the earnings from a 50-50 raffle.

Other Events

From time to time, the Lake Zurich Lions develop and host other events, either as fund raisers for a special cause or simply as fun for the community. In the past, we have held boat races on Lake Zurich as a way for people in the community to have fun with the lake as the central focal point.

The club has held pumpkin sales at Halloween with the newer members handling the event for a few years. The pumpkin sale was replaced by a village wide luminary distribution. We are always looking for other good fund raising events to benefit local causes.

Lions Marina

On the north shore of Lake Zurich, along North Old Rand Road, the Lake Zurich Lions Club maintain a small marina. Capable of handling about 50 boats, the marina makes the lake available to village residents and Lions Club members for boating recreation.

Boats moored at the marina must be registered with the State of Illinois, and fees must be paid both to the Lions Club for slip rental and to the LZPOA for lake maintenance.

The Lake Zurich Lions Club is a major player in the Lake Zurich Property Owners Association. An organization formed in the early 1980’s, LZPOA members are all owners of Lake front property. Even the Village of Lake Zurich, which owns three park properties on the lake are members of the group. Funds that are raised by the Lions Club with this project go back in to the lake project.

Classic Car Show

In the month of August, the Lions Club hosts a car show at the Lake Zurich High School. The proceeds from this event sponsor sending one of the 3 children that we send to Camp Lions each year, a camp for children who are visually or hearing impaired.

Endeavors of the Lake Zurich Lions Club -
this is a very small list of what the Lakes Zurich Lions have done for our community.

• We helped to build Kids Kingdom located in Paulus Park. The Lake Zurich Lions Club was the largest single contributor to the project

•We have purchased several reading machines for the Ela Area Library to help local resident with sight impairments be able to continue reading

•We support the Leader Dog and Canine Companions for Independence programs

•We have purchased numerous pairs of eyeglasses and hearing aids for those who could not afford them

•We have helped to pay for eye surgery for a local resident

•We give out over $10,000 in scholarships to local area high school students ~ "Dollars For Scholars"

•We sponsor campers each year to attend Camp Lions, an Illinois camp for visually and hearing impaired children and adults. There is no cost to the camper to attend.

Lions of Illinois Foundation

Through the Lions of Illinois Foundation, we participate in Candy Day in the fall. 40% of the proceeds are given back to the club to use for visual/hearing impaired causes.

Also through the foundation, we have the Mobile and Hearing Screening buses come out for area resident to have their sight and hearing tested. More information on the Lions of Illinois Foundation can be found at:

www.lionsofillinoisfoundation.org

Friendships

While benevolence is the hallmark of the Lake Zurich Lions Club, there is another significant benefit of membership – friendship.

Each of our general membership meetings on the Second Tuesday of each month are conducted to keep all members abreast of the activities at hand, but they are also opportunities to maintain acquaintances and friendships in a casual atmosphere. The bar is open after all meetings for a drink, as well as one-on-one conversations.

Our Tailtwister also makes sure there are several opportunities for parties during the year. Count on getting together for a Christmas party a Charter Night celebration and an Installation dinner, as well as several others.

The club’s board of directors meets on the first Tuesday of each month, and committee nights are on the third Tuesday. All meetings are held at 7:30 PM, unless otherwise contacted. Candidates for membership for membership must attend one of each of the meetings before being voted upon.

Our membership includes a cross section of people from the community, including doctors, lawyers, trades people business people and specialists in a variety of fields with an array of companies and organizations. Most of us have found that our Lions Club affiliations also provide us with the reliable resources to accomplish other objectives in our daily lives.

We appreciate you interest in the Lake Zurich Lions Club and invite you to join a member.

Lions Clubs International

The Lions organization began in 1917 when a Chicago insurance salesman named Melvin Jones found other local businessman who shared his interest in serving people with particular needs in their community. The founders knew the power of an organization to do collectively what they could not do individually.

Jones’ spirit of service was so convincing the 23 separate clubs had been formed by the time the first convention was held in Dallas, Texas on October 8, 1917. That convention established the service orientation of the Lions organization and adopted the royal colors of purple and gold.

World War I was still being fought, so Lions were intimately involved with supporting the war effort by selling Liberty Bonds, providing service to members of the armed forces or engaging in overseas relief measures. While the organization’s name, Lions, was initially adopted to recognize the benevolence and leadership of the "king of the jungle," the slogan and acronym Liberty, Intelligence, Our Nation’s Safety was not adopted until 1919.

Following the war, the focus of Lions shifted away from the wartime mobilization and was directed instead to local community needs. Lions used their resources to build community pools, parks, and community centers. They also supported schools and began meeting the needs of the disabled and disadvantaged, particularly children.

The association became international in 1920 with the formation of the Canadian clubs. Then in 1925 Helen Keller spoke to the Lions Convention in Cedar Point, Ohio and challenged the organization to become "knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness."

Today, Lions Clubs International encompasses more that 43,000 local clubs around the world in more than 170 countries. Blindness and hearing impairments continue to be a key focus of the international organization. Lions operate the majority of the world’s eye banks, support a number of educational facilities concerning blindness, eye research centers, and give employment to the blind. They also provide white canes and leader dogs to thousands of people each year and collect and redistribute used eyeglasses around the world.

In addition, Lions perpetuate their interest in community service. Lions Clubs international foundation grants millions of dollars to disaster relief projects, vocational training and other humanitarian services. Lion’s activities also enhance youth services, drug awareness, skills development services and outreach programs.

Lions strive each day to fulfill the Lions International motto, We Serve.