Houston Founder Lions Club
By Lion Talal A. Kayyal, Immediate Past Club President, District 2-S2 West Region Chair
Melvin Jones … an ordinary man with an extraordinary vision! In 1917, the formerly known “Business Circle” transformed into Lions Clubs, which later became Lions Clubs International after the first Canadian Lions Club was chartered in 1920. Just a little below thirty clubs out of 46,000 Lions clubs in the world are “Founder” clubs. My club was founded on the second of April in 1917 and was known as the “The Central Lions Club of Houston.” In 1995, its name was changed into “Houston Downtown Lions Club” and recently during my presidency in 2012 it was changed for the last time to “Houston Founder Lions Club”. The club’s original charter with Melvin Jones signature on it and having founder in its name indicates the true heritage of this almost 97 years old club. Recently, International President Lion Barry Palmer visited Kerrville, Texas. I had the privilege to meet him in person and present him with a copy of our club’s original charter signed by Melvin Jones. President Palmer in return presented me with a “Follow Your Dream” flag representing his motto as a gift to our club. I also had the pleasure of meeting International Director Lion Joe Al Picone from Texas. Currently, our Houston Founder Lions Club’s charter is on display at President Palmer’s office in Chicago. We, Lions, should always follow our dreams because this is the only way to make them a reality and hopefully we will continue “To Serve” for many more years to come!
Octber 2013 • District 2-S2 PawPrints • 11