Joliet Noon Lions still active after 101 years

Mark Turk of Joliet rarely attends a Joliet Noon Lions Club meeting without his sidekick, “Socky.”

“Socky” was inspired by a birthday card featuring a sock puppet that a Lion sent to Turk.

Turk said he thought, “OK, I can go a little further. I’ve got an old sock.” Turk brought the makeshift puppet to the next meeting, where it helps with monthly raffles and club business.

“We Lions are dedicated,” Turk said. “But we like to have fun, too.”

How dedicated?

Well, current president Phil Martinez said when meetings and fundraisers were canceled during the pandemic, Turk and Socky held monthly raffles instead. When the club reinstated meetings, it kept the raffles.

“We just had our 30th raffle last month,” Martinez said. “We’ve been doing it two and a half years. So a lot of our fundraising has come out of the pockets of our members.”

For 101 years, Lions International has had a presence in Joliet. Turk himself joined 35 years ago and stayed because, “We do a lot of good work. We help a lot of people,” he said.

The club’s main focus is service to the blind and visually impaired of all ages, including people who can’t afford glasses and kids who struggle in school because they can’t see well, Turk said.

Through the years, the club has held free diabetic screenings, free hearing screenings, free vision screenings, and it bought an eye screening machine to test the vision of students in Joliet-area schools, he said.

The Joliet Noon Lions even helped a woman who needed her prosthetic eyes replaced but couldn’t afford it, he said. The club worked in conjunction with other area social service agencies to get her the eyes, Turk said.

Turk recalled the teen who lost most of his vision because of Leber hereditary optic neuropathy, a rare genetic disorder. The club sent him to Camp Lion, a camp for kids with vision and hearing impairments, Turk said. The teen is now a physical therapist, Turk said.

“His success makes what we do worthwhile,” Turk said. “We have a lot of fun doing it.”

The Lions have raised funds in a variety of ways through the years. Two mainstays are the annual pancake breakfast and Candy Day, typically held in October.

Past president Pat Kaveney of Joliet said she loved working the Candy Day in front of the former Certified Warehouse in Joliet.

“People couldn’t give a lot, but they gave what they had,” Kaveney said. “Time after time, somebody would say to me, ‘I got my first pair of glasses from the Lions,’ or ‘My sister got her glasses from the Lions.’ ”

Turk said the Joliet Noon Lions Club is a “very earthy club; we don’t stand on ceremony,” which contributed to its longevity, he said.

“If someone else really wants to help other people, they need to contact us,” Turk said. “Because we can always use a good Lion.”

Meetings are held at noon the first four Thursdays of the month at the Silver Spoon restaurant, 1601 W. Jefferson St. in Joliet. For information, call Turk at 815-922-4065.

A LOOK BACK:

· The Lions began in 1917 in Chicago, when founder, Melvin Jones wanted to gather men for community service.

• In 1920, Homer Lentz of Joliet, an organizer for Lions International, asked his friend Pence B. Orr to start a Lions Club Chapter in Joliet. Orr became the first member. Orr’s associate, Frank G. Brumund, became the second member. Fifty-six Joliet businessmen became the first charter members.

• The first meeting was held Jan. 19, 1921. Orr was elected president and Brumund was elected secretary. The Charter Night Banquet was held March 29, 1921. Members started holding a children’s picnic for the former Guardian Angel Home in Joliet, which continued every year through 1971.

• By 1935, Lions membership dropped since many couldn’t pay the $10 membership fee.

• The Lions raised $500 in 1937 by sponsoring a concert of the Joliet Symphony Orchestra.

• In 1940, William J. Burke, past president of the Joliet Club, was elected district governor.

• In 1946, the Joliet Lions raised $3,000 by hosting the Horace Heidt Show in the gym at Joliet Central High School. Heidt was an orchestra leader and had a weekly national radio show.

• In 1954, Joliet Lions raised money by selling brooms and garbage cans door-to-door. This included brooms made in Chicago by blind individuals. The brooms cost $2 and metal garbage cans for $3. The broom sale fundraiser continued through 1993.

• In 1962, in cooperation of the Illinois State Department of Rehabilitation, the Joliet Lions started a tape service for blind. Inmates from Stateville Correctional Center and Dwight Women’s Reformatory recorded books on tape, which were mailed to the hundreds of students, grade school through college. The Lions provided the recording equipment and tapes. Samuel Greenberg, club president from 1968 to 1969, recorded hundreds of books for college students.

• In 1967, member Clarion Johnson was elected to the international board of directors. The Joliet Lions became the Joliet Noon Lions after it sponsored an evening Lions Club in Joliet.

• The Joliet Noon Lions held John Houbolt Day on Sept. 18, 1969.

• In 1973, Joliet Noon Lion Andrew J. Honiotes was elected as the first District Lieutenant Governor of 1-B. Honiotes received the International Presidential Award.

• The Joliet Noon Lions also sponsored the Joliet Breakfast Club in 1975.

• The Lions started its pancake breakfast fundraiser in 1979 and hosting the Chicago Cubs Caravan in 1984. Other fundraisers through the years: Candy Day, raffles, and selling gumballs and nuts.

• Joliet Noon Lion Glenn K. Larson served as District 1-B governor from 1989 to 1990. Larson later served five years as district trustee for the Lions of Illinois Foundation; one year as foundation president. Twice Larson has Glenn received the International President’s Leadership Award, an International President’s Appreciation Award and the International President’s Award.

• The Joliet Noon Lions sponsored the Joliet Renaissance Lions Club in 1997.

• In 1999, the Joliet Noon Lions Club welcomed the Joliet West High School Leo Club into its Lion family. And, the Joliet Renaissance Lions Club in 1997.

• The Joliet Noon Club entered the new millennium with its first female president, Lion Anneta Drilling-Sowa, daughter of Joliet Noon Lion Bill Drilling.

• Joliet Noon Lion Marc Krakar served as District Governor from 2001 to 2002

• The Joliet Noon Lions turned 90 on Jan. 19, 2011. President was Pat Kaveney.

• The Joliet Noon Lions has contributed to the Illinois Eye Research Institute in Chicago, Cornerstone Services in Joliet, Easter Seals, Joliet Region; the former Wish Upon A Star, local nursing care facilities, Cub Scouts; restoring the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet; and building the Lions Sensory Trail in Joliet’s Pilcher Park. The club also supports Camp Lion, Lions Foundation of Illinois, Leo Club.