Our Club’s 86th birthday is coming up this Saturday. And, if you have not heard, we are losing our food concession stand at the State Fair after 80 years! So we decided to have some of our most experienced Lions tell some tales of their youth and things that they remember about our club from years long gone.
First up was former Apex Mayor Larry Jordan. Larry remembered Lion Papa George Rogers, the first District Governor from Apex and several other very popular Lions as well. Like the rest of us he is sad to see the State Fair booth go, of course. Larry was a child in the 1950s and he remembers working at the fair when we had wood shavings on the floor and used to take orders and bring the food to the tables. He also spoke about some of the old projects that we used to do like the club calendar which people could purchase space and advertise birthdays, anniversaries, etc. It was a different time, then.
Next Lion James Herndon spoke. He reminded us that the club used have an azalea sale and also used to sell mints by placing them at various businesses around town. And he even brought some old newsletters called “Roaring Along” from back in 1983-1984 when he was the club president.
Lion Bill Booth was the next person to speak. He shared a story about how we used to meet at a restaurant called “Spains” where his aunt was the manager and one night someone thought that the ranch dressing was creamer. It did not dissolve in his coffee very well! Bill’s father was a charter member of our club and owned a Lumber yard. They provided the wood shavings for the floor at the fair booth and they also provided some seats made out of wood circles mounted on pipes. We have one at the booth today as memorabilia. Bill was also instrumental in getting the Apex High School / Apex Lions Relays started. At one time it was the biggest invitational event in the state!
Finally, Charles Livengood shared some memories as well. He reminded us about when we started the scholarship program back in the early 1980s. We have been giving out scholarships every year ever since. But now we don’t have just one High School in Apex! This program is named after T.B. Holland who was a long time teacher at Apex High School and a member of the Apex Lions Club.
It was very interesting hearing the stories of these long time Lions. There is so much history in our club that most people (even current Lions) just don’t know.