The local Bristow Noon Lions Club held its 80th Annual Pancake Breakfast at Edison Elementary School on Saturday morning, March 5, 2022. This annual pancake fundraising event was postponed for the last two years, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The attendance was good, stated Lions Club Treasurer, Melvin Taylor. Residents of this community anticipated this annual event to start up again. With the COVID-19 pandemic causing so many local events to cancel, it was great to see the Bristow Lions Club hold our event and know that the proceeds go to support college bound scholarships for local high school students. It supports our “Kid’s Sight” programs, where the club provides early
eye screening for local youth in the Bristow area schools and head start centers. Taylor stated that the community support was good. We had over 70 residents walk-up and pay at the door, and over 120 ticket holders attend the breakfast. Also, we had over ten
deliveries.
Pancake committee chairman, David Barnett, a 48-year member, noted that the
attendance was good. As always, you hope for more attendees, however with the current
environment, we are appreciative of the residents that attended our annual pancake breakfast. Barnett noted that this was his 48th year attending and serving at this breakfast.
He wanted the community to know that we (Bristow Lions Club) are still here serving our community. We had new Lions Club members participate, as well as their family members come, support, and help in different areas of the event. We are very appreciative of their time and efforts to support our annual event.
Barnett said, it is also important that we appreciate the local business support and their donations for this annual event. Business supporters were Fishers Egg & Feed Mill; Williams Discount Food; Walmart store #324; United Linen Services; Highland Dairies; Community Bank-Bristow, and Bristow Public Schools.
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Lastly, Barnett noted that we had attendees from the Bristow area, Tulsa and Tishomingo attend this year.
This year’s pancake breakfast was in honor of our local Bristow members who passed
away and are recovering from illness in 2021.
• Dub Denney for 51 years of service passed in 2021.
• Clifford Smith for 46 years of service passed in 2021.
• Leo Howard for 16 years of service passed in 2021.
• Calvin Crenshaw is recovering from illness and is in a rehab facility.
New member, Stacy Shields, the daughter of David Barnett, said that her Dad loves the Lions Club, and he loves Pancake Day. His love of Lions Club inspired her to join. He has been a member longer than I have been alive (40+ years). For as long as I can remember, there has been a Pancake Day. During the KREK era, Clifford Smith would broadcast live from Pancake Day and encourage the community to come and support the fundraiser.
Leo Howard worked tirelessly until the day was over. Marland Armitage is famous for his
ticket pre-sales and outsells other members every year. It is the Lions Clubs main fundraiser each year. No other plans can be made on that Saturday in March because it is Pancake Day, a tradition in our family and in our community. Sitting back and observing the crowd and their interactions will show you how important this tradition is to our small town. Catching up with old friends is a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning. Shields stated, “I like the diverse age groups in the Lions Club. We have high schoolers to 80- something. I really enjoy hearing about old traditions around town and in the club.”
As a new member, Shayna Thompson noted, “I feel more connected to the community because I know about events happening around town.” At Lions Club, we also learn about the Lions’ global cause to serve to prevent avoidable blindness and improve quality of life for people who are blind and visually impaired. We have been able to send people for eye glass assistance because of the knowledge we gained at Lions.
The Leo Club and the Leadership Teams from Bristow High School, attend the Noon Lions Club meetings to learn proper business and meeting protocols. They learn ways to serve the community through volunteering and community service projects.
Vision Screening Chairman, David Baker, while cooking the sausage, noted that the Lions Jumpstart and Pre-K Centers have verbal commitments for eye screening in the next couple of months. We have reached out to area school districts like Depew; Gypsie; Stroud, and Kellyville. Also, the private schools in the Bristow area. Our goal is to have
them all screened by the end of the semester.
For more information about Lions Clubs International, visit www.LionsClubs.org, thenfollow the Bristow Noon Lions Club on Facebook at https://m.facebook.com/BristowLionsClub/.