[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 26, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S1487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



               RECOGNIZING THE FORT SMITH NOON LIONS CLUB

 Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam President, today I wish to recognize and 
congratulate the Fort Smith Noon Lion's Club on its centennial 
celebration.
  The Fort Smith Noon Lions Club first met on March 8, 1919, only 2 
years after the creation of Lions Club International. With 25 charter 
members, the club's mission was to encourage fellowship and civic 
participation by local businessmen. Many prominent business leaders 
were part of that founding group, including Dr. Charles Holt, founder 
of Holt Crock Clinic; Fagan Bourland, who served as the city's mayor 
for many years; and W.E. Harding, the founder of Harding Glass, one of 
the city's largest companies at the time.
  The club met for many years at the historic Goldman Hotel in downtown 
Fort Smith and, later, at the Ward Hotel on Garrison Avenue. Among its 
earliest projects was supporting the Victory Loan Campaign designed to 
pay off debt from WWI. In the early days, it held festivals, hosted 
free concerts, and played an annual baseball game against the local 
Rotary Club.
  In addition to supporting local causes and providing a networking 
tool for businessmen, the club's mission came into focus after Helen 
Keller spoke at the Lions Club International convention in 1925. She 
concluded her speech by saying, ``I appeal to you Lions, you who have 
your sight, your hearing, you who are strong and brave and kind. Will 
you not constitute yourselves Knights of the Blind in this crusade 
against darkness?'' Her eloquent plea transformed the Lions and made 
sight conservation the organization's primary mission.
  Throughout its 100-year history, the Fort Smith Noon Lions Club has 
contributed greatly to this mission by raising money to provide eye 
exams and glasses to local students and adults. Lions Club members have 
also collected thousands of pairs of glasses which are donated to the 
Southern College of Optometry in Memphis where students take the 
glasses on international mission trips.
  In recent years, the Fort Smith Noon Lions Club has donated more than 
$100,000 to help local residents with sight preservation and provided 
support to many local children's organizations including the Fort Smith 
Boys Club, Good Samaritan Clinic, Clearinghouse Backpack Program, 
Special Olympics, and the Children's Emergency Shelter.
  In addition, the club has provided all of the equipment and support 
needed for the Safety Patrol program in the Fort Smith Public Schools 
since 1946.
  As an optometrist whose hometown is Fort Smith, AR, I am proud of the 
great work done by this club and Lions chapters around the world.
  I congratulate the Fort Smith Noon Lions Club on its 100th 
anniversary and hope that these Knights for the Blind continue to 
prosper in their mission.

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