Spring Lake Lions Club

Founded as the Spring Lake Lions Club in 1977, our club has established a track record of service to our community extending over three decades.

When Nick Schlinger the club’s first President banged the opening gavel on March 3, 1977 for the charter day of our club, Lions began to gather at weekly meetings to plan how we can better serve West Michigan and North Ottawa County, Michigan in particular and at the same time advance the efforts of reaching out to the rest of the world. While many lion programs have centered on the support of the visually impaired, we have worked with other individuals and groups that support the community. Many of these efforts are highlighted in the "Programs and Services" section of this web site.

Our membership has included countless individuals from all walks of life, including business, farming, educatators, civic leaders, church leadership, scout leaders and many that work with and for organizations within the community. These fine people distinguished themselves not only in their daily lives but by "Serving" fellow man.

The Name when the club was formed is "Lions Club of Spring Lake, Michigan" which was chartered by and under the jurisdiction of Lions Club International and continues to be chartered with this name. You will note that this Club also refers to itself as "Spring Lake Lions Club" both are currently used in the club efforts to reach out with our web site and use both domain names to make access by search engines easier.

www.springlakelions.com and www.lionsofspringlakemi.com

The Lion Emblem is derived from being part of the Lions International which has supported the community efforts throughout the world. Support is given to lion efforts through the international offices in Illinois to all the various sub- groups including countries and states/providences such as Michigan Lions, regional districts such as District 11 C 1 and clubs.

The Slogan of the Club Liberty, Intelligence, Our Nations Safety encompasses all of what our collective membership has as a core of being.

The Motto "Together We Serve" was recently changed from "We Serve" to properly reflect the emphasis of a group of people serving the community.

International Lions Clubs Information

The Lions Name

On June 17, 1917 at the invitation of Melvin Jones, delegates met in Chicago. The only point of contention was the selection of a name for the new organization. Melvin Jones researched the idea of calling the new organization Lions. He was convinced that the lion stood for strength, courage, fidelity and vital action. On a secret ballot the name Lions was chosen over several others.

The Lions Emblem

At the 1919 convention, there was a move to change the symbol, but a young attorney from Denver, Colorado rose to speak. His name was Halsted Ritter. "The name Lions stands not only for fraternity, good fellowship, strength of character and purpose, but above all, its combination of L-I-O-N-S heralds to the country the true meaning of citizenship: LIBERTY, INTELLIGENCE, OUR NATION'S SAFETY." The emblem above is the officially trademarked symbol of the International Lions Clubs. Spring Lake Lions Club has incorporated this emblem into most of the materials used by the club.

The Lion Magazine

The January 1931 issue of THE LION Magazine featured this interpretation of the association's name:

Our name was not selected at random, neither was it a coined name. From time immemorial, the lion has been the symbol of all that was good, and because of the symbolism that name was chosen. Four outstanding qualities – Courage, Strength, Activity and Fidelity – had largely to do with the adoption of the name. The last mentioned of these qualities, Fidelity, has a deep and peculiar significance for all Lions. The lion symbol has been a symbol of Fidelity through the ages and among all nations, ancient and modern. It stands for loyalty to a friend, loyalty to a principle, loyalty to a duty, loyalty to a trust.