For the Cloverdale Lions Club, Monday evening was a moment of reflection of the past and towards the future during its 26th Annual Appreciation Dinner.
Cover photo: Cloverdale Lions Club President Dakota Lanham, left, and Jenna Lanham, right, present Vivian Whitaker, center, with the Cloverdale Lions Club Civic Award during Monday's Appreciation Dinner.
The night featured guest speaker, Nick Xinopoulos, past International Director of Lions Club, who reminded those in attendance of the work they do daily, especially when it comes to vision screenings.
Nick Xinopoulos, past International Director of Lions Club
He told a story about an interaction he once had with a third grade student at an elementary school in Danville, who had eyesight of 20/200.
"She couldn't even see anything. I asked her if she can see the blackboard and she said her teacher moved her to the front of the class. From what I've seen, there is no way possible she could see that. I asked her if she ever told her mommy and daddy she has a hard time seeing and she said, "yes, but my mommy told me we can only afford one pair of glasses and that's for my daddy to go to work," Xinopoulos told the audience.
The Cloverdale Lions recently received an $11,500 donation from 100+ Men Who Care of Putnam County and those funds were used to do vision screenings and purchase vision charts, according to president Dakota Lanham.
Lanahm said the Cloverdale Lions Club was able to screen 1,075 students in four days.
The evening was capped with the announcement of the annual Civic Award, which was awarded to Vivian Whitaker, whose father, Charlie Whitaker, was one of the founding members of the club.
In introducing Whitaker, Jenna Lanham, said the award began in 1995 as a way for the club to say thank you to individuals for their efforts in helping maintain and improve the quality of life in the Cloverdale area.
Whitaker is a 1968 graduate of Cloverdale and a retired educator, principal and serves as principal of the Cloverdale School Board.
Whitaker recalled the first time she ever attended a Lions Club meeting with her father.
"It was with my dad on Father and Sons Night, and it was out at the Legion. He took me because the guest speaker that night was Carl Erskine. He is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers. I was never a Dodgers fan, but I've always been a Carl Erskine fan. Dad said, at that time, you know more about baseball than any of the other little boys who are going to be there, you're going," Whitaker said.
Whitaker said she hasn't done much, but it is the little things that have added up that make the impact.
"It is always the little things. I look around at what people have said I have done around here. I haven't done much. I've done a lot of little things and those little things start to count at some point in time. If we can make our world a little better, than that's what we were put on this Earth to do. I am incredibly humbled, incredibly honored and the group I have joined tonight, I look at that list and there is only one person I do not know, but all of you have done something in your life to make my life better and those around us better," Whitaker said.
The next meeting for the Cloverdale Lions is November 27.
