History
The Apex Lions Club was founded by 31 local businessmen who wanted to make Apex a better place to live and to help others. Apex Lions Club was sponsored by the Sanford Lions Club and chartered on October 7, 1937. Charter Night was held at the Apex High School on November 17, 1937.
In 1943 the club, being mostly business men, secured a spot at the N C State Fair. We are very lucky that our founding Lions had the foresight to secure such a long-lasting income project for our club. Not only does it provide our Club a great source of funding to support our projects but it also gives us great exposure for our club and Lions activities. Thousands of people get to support Lions projects while enjoying some of the best food at the fair. Especially our biscuits and “Piiiie”. The year 2012 marked our 70th year at the North Carolina State Fair.
As the town grew some of the Lions decided to establish a Boy Scout Troop. In 1948 the Apex Lions Club signed on to be the Charter Organization for Boy Scout Troop 209. One of our own, Lion Bill Booth, a second-generation Lion, was a charter Boy Scout from the first troop established in 1948. Lion Bill’s dad, Lion Williams Jennings Booth, was a charter member of the Apex Lions Club.
Let’s tie this all together further. The Lions built the Scouts a hut in which to meet. Well that is not all. Lion Jennings Booth, mentioned earlier just happened to be the timber and lumber man in Apex. So guess who provided the lumber for the Scout Hut?
The Apex Lions looked at the Scouts motto of service and realized how similar these two groups are “youth who serve and men who serve.” Today we maintain very close ties to our Scout troop and them to us.
The CC Jones Community Building also has a tie to the Apex Lions. A local physician, Dr. C. C. Jones, also a Charter member of the Apex Lions, built and setup a community center for the town to enjoy. So when you go to an event at the C C Jones building or swim in the pool outside, remember, a man who wanted to make things better (A Lion) made that possible.
The Apex Lions Fish Fry event has become one of the best supported community fund raisers in our Town. This started out as a Bar B Que and later switched to our Fish Fry. The club in recent years has focused on finding a specific family, individual or organization to receive the benefits of this event.
A V Baucom School is named after a Charter Lion and the town Druggist. His drug store as was located where Anna’s now sits across from the sweets shop which was the town bank back at the time. In fact, you can still see part of the bank name in the pavement in front of that building.
Jordan Oil had a father and son charter members. Now grandson Larry Jordan continues that Lion tradition.
Lion James Herndon is another Lion member whose dad Lion Mack Herndon was a Charter member of our Club.
Is this all starting to sound like a group of men who cared about their community?
That tradition continues even today with Lions Wayne Faber, Joe’l Lynde, Bekki Bennett, and John Lynde all following family ties to the Apex Lions Club.
Little things you might notice when you dig into the history: Of the 31 charter members, there was only one Lion who was not a business person as such. Lion Kenneth Stephens. He was Athletic Director at Apex High School. Ever wonder how our club became the sponsor and key supporter of the Apex High School Sports Track Event. Or why we have for so many years provided scholarships to graduating Apex High seniors? There is the connection.
On November 16, 2012, we celebrated 75 years of Lionism in Apex. We honored those 31 men who stepped forward in 1937 and decided they wanted to serve, help others and make their community a better place to live and raise their families and now ours.
We have a very proud tradition, indeed! The Challenge for today’s Apex Lions is to ensure that the Apex Lions Club is stocked with men and women who are willing to serve and continue this tradition of excellence that has been established in all by all those who served as Apex Lions before. Not just anyone can become a Lion… It takes someone who truly cares for others and wants to make things better for all. That is the challenge of the Apex Lions Club as they move forward to find those who truly want to serve.
To see a list of people that have served as President of our club, check out our Past Presidents Page.
If you believe you have what it takes to become an Apex Lion contact us.