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At a gala June 13 event at the historic Pierpont Inn, members and friends of the Ventura Downtown Lions toasted and celebrated 85 years of outstanding community service. Past President of Lions Clubs International Kay K. Fukushima and his wife Denise, and Ventura Mayor Christy Weir were among the honored guests.

The Ventura club was founded on April 27, 1923 by 51 local business and community leaders. It is part of Lions Clubs International which today includes over 1.3 million service minded men and women in approximately 45,000 clubs around the world. The Lions motto is "We Serve." In July 2007, in a survey of 445 companies compiled by the Financial Times, Lions Clubs International and its charitable foundation (LCIF) were ranked as the best non-governmental organizational (NGO) worldwide with which to partner based on program execution, communication, adaptability and accountability.

Charter members of the Ventura Downtown Lions Club in 1923 included the then Mayor of Ventura, Charles Rea, Fred W. Smith, who went on to become President of Lions Clubs International for 1947-48 and who represented Lions Clubs International at the chartering of the United Nations in 1945, and Erle Stanley Gardner, the local attorney who later became famous as the creator and author of the Perry Mason books, television series and movies.

Over the last 85 years, members of the Downtown Lions have made monumental contributions to the local community and beyond.

There have been 10 mayors and at least 19 city council members. Many have served as public officials on the Ventura County Fair Board, Ventura Redevelopment Agency, Ventura Port District Board, school boards, as school superintendents, county coroner, county treasurer, county clerk, public health officer and county assessor.

Many members have also served as officers and on boards of innumerable private or nonprofit organizations that have contributed, and continue to contribute, enormously to the community and beyond. These represent a few: Ventura Chamber of Commerce, Ventura Boys and Girls Club, Community Memorial Hospital, Ventura County Medical Resource Foundation, Friends of the Library, Salvation Army, United Way, Heart Association, Red Cross, American Cancer Society, Ivy Lawn Memorial Park, New West Symphony, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Ventura College Foundation, Rubicon Theater, March of Dimes, Special Olympics, YMCA, Ventura Youth Basketball Association, AVID.

And members of the club, and the club itself, have supported these and many other organizations and causes down through the years. It was noted that if the thousands and thousands of volunteer hours put in by the members of the Ventura Downtown Lions Club over the years could be calculated, the number would be "staggering and enormous." In addition to "hands on" community projects such as BBQ facilities at Arroyo Verde Park, BBQ and picnic tables at Grant Park, providing and staffing a mobile eye unit for eye testing services, and a whole host of other projects, in the last 25 years alone, members of the Downtown Lions Club have raised and caused to be expended approximately $750,000 on community and other charitable endeavors. Most recently, the club has made a commitment to donate, or cause to be donated, no less than $42,400 over a 5 year period to save more than 7000 people from lives without sight as part of the worldwide Lions' Campaign Sight First II project aimed at raising $200 million to save over 37 million people from preventable or curable blindness.

Mayor Christy Weir presented a commendation from the City Council recognizing the Downtown Lions for their 85 years of service to the community. There was also a resolution from the Board of Supervisors and Supervisor Steve Bennett congratulating the Downtown Lions for over 85 years of "tremendous service to the Ventura community and beyond."

Kay K. Fukushima, President of Lions Clubs International for 2002-2003, praised the outstanding service the Downtown Lions have provided, including the fact that they have provided and supported 11 Lions District Governors, including the last three in succession (Charles Cassy, Jeff Roundy and William Dunlevy), a remarkable Lions service locally and beyond.

Major activities of the club have included providing its Cottage Home that since 1969 has sheltered and nurtured over 200 foster children, eye exams and care for needy students and adults, scholarships for local students, and support for innumerable local community and charitable projects.

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