image description

Adams Lions Award Three $7,500 Donations to Mark 75th Year

Print Story | Email Story

ADAMS, Mass. — The Adams Lions Club celebrated 75 years of community service and financial support for youth, the needy, and hearing and sight by awarding $7,500 each to the Adams Youth Center and Louison House and $7,500 to Lions District 33-Y to purchase an additional "Spot" high-tech hand-held diagnostic camera to detect eye problems that can hinder children's learning in the classroom.

The $7,500 awards were presented at a dinner celebration attended by 100 people on Nov. 1 at the Bounti-Fare Restaurant. In addition to the surprise gifts, the anniversary event featured speakers Markell Ripps and Judge Michael Ripps.

The club was chartered Nov. 2, 1939, with 21 members, eight of whom remained Lions until their deaths and six of whom eventually served as club president. The club grew to 66 members in 1989 and currently has nearly 50 members.

Adams Lions began with an activities budget of $50 in 1939 that grew to more than $6,000 at the 50th anniversary and $12,000 today. Over the years, the activities budget has consistently supported local youth and seniors as well as initiatives directed at preserving hearing and sight.

Support for youth over the years includes donations to the Adams Youth Center and sports leagues ranging from Babe Ruth and Youth Football to Police Athletic and Lassie Softball. Lions support fun through Halloween Parades, a tradition begun in 1945. Since 1954, the club has annually recognized academic achievement through a banquet for high school seniors who are Honor Society members. In addition, fund raising allows Adams Lions to provide scholarships for area high school graduates.

Adams Lions President James Dynes said the anniversary grant for the Youth Center is to support the Youth Center’s hoped-for move to larger space in the former Adams Memorial Middle School.

The $7,500 grant to the Louison House, for its building fund, will help an Adams organization that the Lions Club has supported since it opened in 1990. A program of Family Life Support Center, Louison House provides transitional housing for the homeless.

Efforts aimed at preserving hearing and sight include collecting no-longer-wanted eyeglasses for recycling and reuse and supporting the Massachusetts Lions Eye Research Fund. In addition, Adams Lions raise funds to help people locally and regionally through the District 33-Y Emergency Sight and Hearing Fund, which provides medical coverage that may be beyond the means of a single Lions Club. The 75th anniversary grant for Massachusetts Lions District 33Y, representing Berkshire Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties, will Lions Clubs expand use of the "Spot" device to screen youngsters in the region for seven vision disorders including nearsightedness, farsightedness and irregularly shaped corneas and lenses.



Adams Lions volunteer to work the district’s Eyemobile, which provides free vision tests in a variety of community settings, such as fairs and festivals.

All Lions support is provided by the hard work of members to raise funds. Over the years, Adams Lions have conducted pancake breakfasts and steak fries, hosted concerts and variety shows, presented wine tastings and golf tournaments, and sold light bulbs and candles, among other wares, to raise money. Club members in the Adams Lions Club trailer sell hamburgers, hot dogs, fried dough and other snacks at Movie Nights, Ramblefests, Thunderfests, Bike Nights and other events.

Dynes said the Lions are grateful for the community’s support of these fund-raising efforts and for the generous response of residents to an annual mail appeal in support of the club.

Dynes said one of the club’s proudest accomplishments is creation of the Hoosac Valley High School Leo Club in 2001. The club provides high school students with the opportunity to perform community service.

Markell J. Ripps, a 2003 Hoosac Valley graduate and charter member of the Leo Club, credited the Leo Club with helping her realize she had leadership skills that could make a difference to her community. Ripps, an attorney at Grossman & Ripps in Norwich, Vt., credited her experience as a Leo with inspiring her continued commitment to serving as a community leader. She is co-chair of the Upper Valley Young Professionals Network in the Hanover, N.H., area.

In his remarks, guest speaker Michael J. Ripps of Adams contrasted the voluntary community service provided by Lions to community service performed as part of judicial proceedings. Ripps, First Justice of the Northern Berkshire District Court, described voluntarism by people like the Lions as, "the ultimate community service, when you use your lives to make others’ better."

Guest speakers are frequently featured at Lions Club meetings. The speakers offer Lions the opportunity to learn about the community and its organizations. Over the 75 years of the club's existence, members have met in at least 50 different places, including club halls, the county jail, church basements, on top of Mount Greylock, in an airplane hangar, and at a number of local restaurants.

The Adams Lions Club is part of Lions Clubs International, the largest service club organization in the world, with 1.35 million members in more than 46,000 clubs serving communities in more than 200 countries and geographical areas around the globe. Since 1917, Lions clubs have aided the blind and visually impaired, championed youth initiatives, and strengthened local communities through hands-on service and humanitarian projects.


Tags: Adams,   Lions Club,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Hoosac Valley High School is Moving and Shaking

There have been some major shifts within the Hoosac Valley Regional School District recently, all of which have focused on enhancing the student experience to make it a place where ALL students can find their path.
 
In 2023, Hoosac Valley High School was designated an Innovation Pathway School by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and has since restructured the Program of Studies, utilized creative scheduling, and expanded internship opportunities. Part of this transformation includes participating in a "Portrait of a Graduate" cohort alongside four other Berkshire County schools to determine a collective vision for student success, in partnership with the BARR Foundation.
 
The Innovation Pathways at HVHS are designed to give students coursework and experience in a specific high-demand industry, such as technology, engineering, healthcare, or life sciences. Currently, Biomedical Science & Healthcare and Environmental Studies have received official state IP designation. In addition to the IP designated pathways, HVHS offers programs in Engineering & Technology, Business & Entrepreneurship, Arts & Entertainment, Education, and Sports Medicine. The result is that students have an opportunity for a transformative experience – enabling them to build essential skills, gain awareness of future career opportunities, and make informed choices about post-secondary education in promising fields.
 
Principal Colleen Byrd notes, "What makes our program special is that entry into the Pathway of your choice allows a student to access Advanced Placement and dual enrollment college courses, as well as internships in the community to set them up for success after high school."
 
The Portrait of a Graduate initiative consists of a team of Hoosac educators and students who exemplify the essential skills, practices, and beliefs that define learning experiences across the district. They work to outline the competencies, values, skills, and knowledge that define our vision for student success – keeping in mind that not every student's pathway will look the same. The District's goal is to ensure that all students graduate as responsible people, prepared individuals, lifelong learners, global citizens, critical thinkers, and thoughtful communicators.
 
Another recent change district-wide in grades K-12 is the "Crew" culture. Teachers and students now have time each day to create positive connections and build authentic relationships with one another. Through Responsive Classroom at the elementary school and Crew at the middle and high schools, students and staff gather for 30 minutes each day to engage in meaningful experiences rooted in mutual and shared interests. 
The Crew block is a prioritized structure that allows staff to support all students socially, emotionally, and academically – anchoring them and promoting the Portrait of a Graduate competencies. Crew takes many forms at the high school, such as gardening, bird watching, yoga, and sports talk with visits to college games.
 
View Full Story

More Adams Stories