Virginia Beach Host Lions Club

12/16/2023

This year's Lions Christmas party at Broad Bay Country Club was filled with delicious food and fun. During our Dirty Santa gift exchange, there were adorable gifts like the train inside the TV, sloth on a mug, and snowman. Then, there were a few surprise gifts like the pine scented oil diffusor disguised inside of a bag of Christmas Reeses Snowman and packages of Fruit Cake so heavy one wondered if there was a nice bottle of wine. In fact, Lion Gary smartly tested out the weight of the gifts before choosing one. He was tickled to see the bottle of Crown Royal, which ended up in the hands of another before being taken back by his sweetheart. Two other hotly contested items were two sets of scratch-off tickets, one with a pair of back scratchers. Lion Ruth Ann was our lucky first contestant. Lucky because the first to play is also the last to play which means she can keep her gift or exchange it. Did she outwit herself? You be the judge. After checking out the other set of scratch off cards, she decided to trade her scratch-off cards and back scratchers for the other set of scratch off cards. She thought they were a definite win. However, she ended up with zero dollars. The scratch-off cards she gave up were winners, a welcome surprise for Lion Jacqueline who won $30.00 dollars.

Give us a call if you are looking for a place to make friends, have fun, and serve our community.

02/28/2023

Lion Jimmy’s heart for community service is reflected in his more than fifty years of service with the Virginia Beach Host Lion’s Club, involvement in Virginia Beach Crime Solvers, and so much more. He graciously hosted our monthly club meetings at the Beach Breakers where we enjoyed a delicious meal and a family atmosphere.
Back in the days when Jimmy taught students and coached football, a friend and fellow coach invited him to attend a Lion’s Club meeting. Astonishingly, there were over 70 Lions present that night. The comradery and service projects immediately created within him a desire to become a fellow Lion.
Over the years, he has enjoyed working with the district and regional Mobile Unit that provides vision screenings and hearing tests at community events and collaborating with local service organizations. One such collaboration fondly remembered was serving the homeless through the Christian Judeo Outreach Center. Another was a time when Lions walked door-to-door selling White Cane brooms to raise money. He enjoyed reconnecting with people year-after-year listening to their concerns and ways they were thankful for the volunteer work completed by the Lions Club.

Thank you Lion Jimmy for hosting so many meetings in your beautiful hotel.

02/21/2023

Even before she became a Lion, Lion Kathy volunteered as a Lionness in the Lions Club for a couple of years. At that time, women joined the Lioness Club and men joined the Lions Club. Wow, hard to believe since it was in the 1980’s.

Ironically, Kathy became a very active non-Lion as an audiologist and business owner representing the Lions at board meetings with the University of Virginia’s Hearing Foundation. The Virginia Lions funded hearing loss research like cochlear implants.

In October 1987, Kathy became the first women Lion in Virginia Beach joining the Oceana Lions Club. That day became even more special because her father sponsored her. He started his journey as a Lion with the Oceana Lions Club in 1972.

Kathy, what do you like most about being a Lion? My favorite part of being a Lion is serving the community with other Lions who become an extended part of your family.

Kathy enjoys the SPOT eye exams from long ago back when eye charts, finger pointing, and flippers covered an eye. Since today’s advance technology allows Lions to quickly learn of visual health concerns, Kathy would like our club to complete SPOT exams with students in junior high. The large number of students from military families moving in and out of the area every three or less years means a child or teen may miss receiving a SPOT exam.

One fundraiser remembered fondly by Kathy is the Oceana Lions Club Fish Fry at the Dome. Despite the hard work, everyone enjoyed meeting members of the community while eating delicious food. It felt like one big family. Why? Because throughout the years the community looked forward to the event. After a couple of years, names and faces became familiar making it feel like a homecoming event.

Throughout the years, Kathy has encouraged many others to join the Lions Club. The Lions Club has become a family tradition. Her husband of 17 years, Randy, joined while they were dating. Kathy’s daughter, Kim, later became a Lion as a young adult. And now, her granddaughter, Lexi, recently joined the Virginia Beach Host Lions Club. There are four generations of Lions in Kathy’s family. Wow! I and my husband in addition to countless others joined the Lions Club under Kathy’s sponsorship and Randy’s encouragement.

During this year's holiday festivities, Kathy received a Lion's costume and a wonderful gift card to Cracker Barrel. I am sure she will enjoy the gift card. I wonder if we will see her or a family member dressed up as a LION?

02/14/2023

02/14/2023

January was the perfect time for our Lions Club Holiday meal and gift exchange. We missed those who were unable to come and learned a new way to receive a gift, lose a gift, and receive again. Loads of fun and laughter.

02/14/2023

Lion Gary grew up hearing stories from his grandfather who was very active in the International Lions Club. He loved the trinkets his grandfather brought back from the National Lions Club where he met other Lions from all over the world. Thus, he was ready to volunteer when he saw a group of Lions at a fundraiser.

Lion Gary’s favorite memory has become his passion, screening student’s vision for medical concerns and need for eyeglasses. Lion Gary has always enjoyed the challenge of learning something new and different. When he was initially trained, the process was laborious and expensive. Thankfully, a fellow Lion developed the equipment we use today during SPOT screenings. The ability to quickly communicate a child’s visual needs is priceless.

Doing SPOT vision screenings in the classrooms. Lion Gary enjoys interacting with the children and seeing their reaction when they look at the burst of beautiful lights inside the SPOT screening technology. He remembers one group of children who called the device, Zoomie Eyes.

Lion Gary’s hard work contacting school nurses and coordinating SPOT vision screening have changed the lives of 191 students found to need a comprehensive vision exam. During the school year 2022, and 2023, Lion Gary and his team of volunteers screened 1, 782 Kindergarten and third grade students. Wow! We also attended numerous community wide events screening children.

Lion Gary’s commitment is an inspiration to his community. Thank you, Lion Gary!

12/02/2022

Do you want to make a difference; meet new people? Join the Lions, the world's largest service organization. There are so many different ways to volunteer:

Collecting eyeglasses

Cleaning and sorting eyeglasses

Mailing eyeglasses to other countries

Raising money for vision screening equipment and more

Our club works hard to screen the vision of preschoolers and elementary students. When concerns are found, a recommendation to see an optometrist can reveal reasons for academic struggles. Would you like to help change a child's life?

We help those who meet financial need guidelines with the cost of visual evaluations and getting eyeglasses; hearing evaluations and getting hearing aids; support food pantries and disaster relief efforts.

12/01/2022

Come meet and enjoy lunch with us at Gus & George's Spaghetti and Steak House. Lunch is self-pay.

When: 2nd Tuesday of every month
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.