New Officers in the Lake Chelan Lions Club 2024-2025

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As we commemorate our national holidays, it's important to take a moment and reflect on the history behind the American flags that adorn Woodin and Emerson Street in Chelan. The tradition began with Ruth Pingrey, a beloved Chelan Elementary school teacher who took it upon herself to decorate Woodin Avenue with US flags during national holidays in the early 1970s.

Ruth discovered a program where US flags were flown over the Capitol building for one day and then made available for sale for projects like hers. Over the years, she collected enough flags to decorate two downtown blocks of Woodin Ave. Ruth did this for many years until it became too challenging for her to continue her own. That's when the Lake Chelan Lions Club stepped in to help her.

Ruth would load up all the flags in the back of her car, and with the Lions Club's assistance, she would drive along Woodin Avenue, putting up and taking down the flags. One of the flags has a brass tag on the pole that commemorates the life of Chelsea Chitty a student of Ruth’s at Morgan Owens Elementary, who passed away in 1996 of cancer at the age of six. Ruth was a stickler for detail, and it was essential to get that flag in the right place.

Eventually, the task of putting up and taking down the flags became too much for Ruth, and in 2000, the Lake Chelan Lions Club took over the responsibility, including storing the flags. They even added enough flags to decorate one block both up and down Emerson St.

Today, the Lions Club of Lake Chelan Valley continues to participate in raising the flags every major US holiday, carrying on Ruth's tradition. This act of patriotism has become a symbol of unity and pride for our town, reminding us of the sacrifices made to protect our freedom and way of life.

It's an honor to be part of this tradition and receive the thanks of the people along the street as the flags are put up. Wearing the Lions Club vests helps the community identify who is responsible for this beautiful display of patriotism.

As we celebrate these holidays, let us take a moment to reflect on the history of this tradition and the values it represents. We must continue to honor and support our veterans and active-duty military personnel, who work tirelessly to keep us safe and free. May the flags on Woodin Avenue continue to wave proudly for generations to come!

Article by The Lake Chelan Lions Club:

Craig Boothe, Keith Carpenter, Chuck Robinson, John Page

 It was a fun community event for the whole family! Our Lions Club presented ways to recycle used eyeglasses and pill bottles to be used again in other parts of the world. We also got to use our new canopy for the first time! Great job by Barbara and Jon and the supporting crew of Keith Carpenter, John Page, Rich Watson, Eric Page and Ann Congdon.

The Lake Chelan Lions welcomed Annette, Konnar and Payton from Feed My Starving Children.  Saturday March 18th, 2023 at the Lake Chelan Community Gym.  You can contact them at 509-679-1414

Every year, millions of children die from preventable causes such as pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and undernutrition. Hunger is still causing nearly half of deaths in children under 5 years old. From this data, we estimate at least 6,200 children die each day from causes related to undernutrition. This is heartbreaking.

Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) believes hope starts with food. As a Christian nonprofit, FMSC is dedicated to seeing every child whole in body and spirit. FMSC works with food distribution partners that stay with communities for the long haul, empowering them to move from relief to development.

FMSC meals are developed by food science and nutrition professionals to supplement nutritional needs and reduce problems with malnutrition. Nutrition allows children to grow, thrive and develop to their full potential. To learn more, please go to:

https://give.fmsc.org/chelan

The Lake Chelan Lions Club Presented a check to the Lake Chelan Food Bank, a  wonderful non profit that serves clients in a manner which treats each person with dignity and respect and allows Individuals to choose food that helps meet their specific needs.  

You can help the Food Bank by donating Food, Funds or Your Time.  Visit there web page for more information. https://www.lakechelanfoodbank.org/ 

After many years at the Apple Cup we will be moving our regular Club meetings to the Manson Parks Building at 142 Pedoi Street in Manson (monthly Board Meetings will continue to be held in the Apple Cup Lounge).  We want to thank Ryan & Erin Peterson who have been hosting our Club meetings from the mid 1990's until now!! The number of people attending meetings has increased and the new venue will allow for future growth.   

The Club has also decided to meet less frequently and move to a morning time slot.  Meetings will now be held on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month at 9:00 am.

This is quite a change for our Club, but at the same time we know there's excitement around our ability to serve  the Lake Chelan Valley in 2023.