06/15/2026
LaVale Lion vision screening team members were recognized at our June 2, 2026, meeting for their dedication to this service project.
Each August, all screeners complete a refresher course on the vision screening program’s practices, procedures, and requirements. The Head Start nurse works with Lion Gary Llewellyn to schedule those screenings first because they must be completed within a set time limit. The Allegany County Health Department oversees hearing and vision screenings in public and private schools, and we coordinate with its lead contact, Holly Hamilton, to arrange dates and times for LaVale Lions to conduct screenings. We also work with daycare centers as schedules allow. In addition, we regularly partner with the Judy Center for screenings at Frostburg Park and Country Club Mall and take part in other events when invited.
We have two PlusOptix screening instruments that quickly assess six different eye conditions including anisometropia, astigmatism, myopia, hyperopia, gaze asymmetry, and anisocoria. (You can look them up on your phone!) We can screen successfully for anyone ages six months to 30 years of age. When our subject passes the screening, we give a sticker that says, “A Lion Screened My Eyes Today.” When a child comes wearing glasses, there is no need for a referral, so we reward the child with a lens cleaning cloth. When a subject gets a “referral”, we give a sticker and send to the parents the results of our screenings, recommending that they seek professional follow-up. We do not diagnose, we only perform screenings that may suggest there could be a problem, or there is no problem. We keep no records of individuals or their screening results. The only thing we keep from the screening sessions are numbers of screenings performed, the number passed, how many were referred, and how many Lions were involved.
As part of Lions being Helen Keller’s Knights of the Blind, our service project helps our subjects and their parents to secure the best vision for each person. Our numbers this year reflect 48 screening sessions in which we screened 947 people. Fortunately, 842 of them passed, while 96 were recommended for follow-up with an eye care professional. (We have no way to know if they did, but at least parents were alerted.) One hundred Lions spent 163 hours performing this work. We gave 56 lens cleaning cloths to children wearing glasses, hopefully because of a screening we did last year. Thank you, LaVale Lions Club, for sponsoring and supporting this valuable service to our communities and people.
Pictured here are (all Lions): Jim Jenkins, Marty Tichnell, PDG Charlie Croft, Debbie Lang, John Warnick, Debbie Jenkins, Terry Hostetler and Gary Llewellyn. Absent from the photo are Val Llewellyn and Lion Gene Munro.
