Seeley Lake Lions-December News
GIVING THANKS
At a time when families are planning for the holidays with lavish meals and relatives traveling to be with one another, not everyone is as fortunate. Some families wonder if they will see relatives or what kind of meal they will have. One of our own members , Lion Cory, who owns Cory’s Valley Market here in town, each year, puts together food baskets to be distributed to those less fortunate. In the baskets will be either a turkey or a turkey breast, complete with stuffing, vegetable, milk and of course a pumpkin pie!
Members of the Lions in Seeley have already met months in advance to find out who in town is in need of such a wonderful gift. Then we gather a few days before Christmas and load up the boxes to be hand-delivered to each house in need. I can tell you from first-hand experience that every one of these deliveries are received with grateful arms. We hand out at least 35 of them in conjunction with a local church that also has a list. True Lionism in action in Seeley Lake!
CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS SEELEY STYLE
Submitted by Michael Feretich
Christmas would not be the same if it wasn’t for a Christmas Party with the Lions! This year was a little unusual dealing with adverse weather conditions. Just a day before the meeting we were hit with a violent wind and ice storm that left most of the town without power. Crews from Missoula Electric Cooperative worked round the clock to take care of families in the dark.
Unfortunately our hall, where our meetings take place and all the decorations had been set up, was without power for several days. We had to wait it out, but they came through for us and had the hall up and running in a few days. So we rescheduled and had about 35 members show up with all the small finger foods, hors d’oeuvres, and desserts to make this a festive party. We had an ugly sweater contest and a White Elephant gift exchange. Of all the many good things I can say about this club is we have fun and I am proud to be their president.
By Seeley Lake Lions ClubDates to Remember – December 2025
DECEMBER CLUB ANNIVERSARIES
893 years of service!!!
Forsyth 12/03/1924 – 101 years!
Columbia Falls 12/03/1952
Missoula 12/04/1928 – 97 years!
Shepherd 12/05/1967
Cut Bank 12/06/1929 – 96 years!
Bozeman Sweet Pea 12/08/2004
Conrad 12/10/1928 – 97 years!
Seeley Lake 12/11/1978
Big Timber 12/12/1925 – 100 years!
Great Falls 12/20/1922 – 103 years!
Roundup 12/22/1925 – 100 years!
UPCOMING DISTRICT MEETING DATES
District Cabinet Meeting – January 10, 2026 @ 9:00am VIA ZOOM
MT Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation – January 20, 2026 @ 6:00pm VIA ZOOM
2026 DISTRICT 37 CONVENTION
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!
MAKE YOUR HOTEL RESERVATIONS!!
APRIL 17-18, 2026, COLUMBIA FALLS, MT
LIONS CLUB INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION SCHEDULE
2026 Hong Kong – Jul 3-7
2027 Washington DC – July 2-6
2028 Singapore -June 23-27
2029 Minneapolis, MN
2030 San Antonio TX
2031 – Helsinki Finland
UPCOMING USA/CANADA FORUMS
USA/CANADA LIONS LEADERSHIP FORUMS CAN BE RELATED TO ALL AREAS OF YOUR LIFE – NOT JUST LIONS
2026 Memphis TN – September 3 – 5
2027 Huntsville, AB – September 16-18
2028 Grand Rapids, MI – To be announced
2029 Shreveport, LA – To be announced
By Lion Peggy TobinSeeley Lake Lions Receive Membership Satisfaction Award
Yay Seeley Lake Lions Club!!!
Seeley Lake Lions Club was the proud recipient of the Membership Satisfaction award from our International President Fabricio Oliveira. For our little town in Montana to be recognized in this fashion is truly an honor.
All of the members are part of this and the reason we continue to succeed in Seeley Lake. This award is not frequently given. We are hot!!
Once again because of our hard work and drive to sustain and increase our membership, we have been recognized by the International President for the great work we continue to do. I can’t stress enough the importance of continuing to get out the word about our club and getting new members in to help move us into the future. Remember, every little bit helps when it comes to the activities we perform in our town and that comes from you, the members. Thank you for all that you do!
Seeley Lake Lions – Having Fun!
Each year the Lions in Seeley Lake not only gather to have our General Monthly meeting, but October is especially fun as we don our costumes for Halloween – funniest, scariest and of course a Lion President!
Our Culinary Committee, headed by Lions Clay and Sharon Creek coordinated the meeting’s meal, and this one was prepared by Lions Sherry and John Fulton. A meal made of beef , lamb or chicken skewers was prepared as well as a salad and cheesecake for dessert. Yum!
We changed our format of the meeting and inducted three new members before going through our meeting agenda.
Then the fun began with a parade of the members in costume judged by other members to decide the winners of the contest. Mother Nature took First Place while Cleopatra and King Tut took Second place. The Cheerleader and The Graduate took third. The one thing I have to say is we have fun at ALL of our meetings and events, not just Halloween.
And we continue to bring in new members. Since June we have inducted at least 12 new members and more to come. Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Global Membership Team Report – Clubs Helping Clubs-October 2025
Global and Montana Membership – October, 2025
Clubs Helping Clubs!!
On September 28th, the East Missoula Lions Club hosted a community BBQ to share with their neighbors who Lions are and what we do.
They were joined by several Lions from the Seeley Lake Lions Club, and together they created a very successful day with over 30 community members in attendance.
Results:
- At least 10 new member applications were turned in, with hopes that these individuals will inspire even more friends and family to join.
- President Jack Ballas of East Missoula led the effort, supported by an enthusiastic crew.
- Zone Chair Rob Shaffer and Lion Clay Creek worked the grills, while Lions Jayne Lux and Mike Feretich (Seeley Lake Club President) welcomed guests and answered questions to spark interest in Lionism.
A big thank you to everyone who made this day such a success!
If your club would like to host a similar event to boost membership and visibility, please reach out to your Zone Chair for guidance.
Not sure who your Zone Chair is? Check the listing here: District 37 Zone Directory
Some zones are currently without a Zone Chair—if that is the case for your club, please contact DG Corinna Christensen for support.
Together we can keep growing the strength of Lions across Montana.
By Global Membership TeamSeeley Lake Lions Respond – We Serve
One of Seeley Lake’s Residents, Mary Welch, was viciously attacked by a dog on July 27, 2025 near her home, leaving her hospitalized for a week. She required over 200 stitches and two surgeries with the possibility of a third coming up. She had power washed her house and was saving up to have a local carpenter build her a new porch, but the attack left her unable to do anything.
Lions John and Sherry Fulton sprang into action forming a special committee to get quotes on materials and enlist the help of other members and residents. A few weeks later, with some hard labor in the sun, nine Lions, two volunteers and 215 hours of time resulted in not only building the porch, but painting her house complete with trim! We then sent over a truckload of firewood for the upcoming winter season from our wood shed that we keep stocked for residents in need in Seeley Lake.
Seeley Lake Club News-Park Stewardship Award
Seeley Lake Lion Recognized by Missoula County for Stewardship –Kai Williams | Aug 14, 2025
An enthusiastic crowd of Lions Club members, families and friends gathered at the Seeley Lake Lions Park on Wednesday, August 6th to witness Missoula County commissioners award a longtime Lion for his stewardship.
Rich Westin was the 2025 recipient of the Missoula County Parks and Trails Steward Award. A press release from Missoula County stated this award is given to people and organizations who dedicate years of service to building and improving facilities across the county for the public to enjoy.
Missoula County Commissioner Juanita Vero delivered a proclamation celebrating Westin’s work with the Seeley Lake Lions Club to kick off the celebration.
Honored Leaders in Seeley Lake
We give out all kinds of awards to dedicated Lions within our organization. Some are fun awards like the Repeat Offenders award or Rookie of the Year award. However, sometimes members just go above and beyond the “We Serve” credo to really serve their community. In that case we have the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award.
The Melvin Jones Fellowship (MJF) is the backbone of our foundation. Presented to those who donate US$1,000 to LCIF or to people for whom a donation was made by others, it’s a tremendous contribution to humanity and to the legacy of our founder, Melvin Jones.
This year we were proud to present the award to to a husband and wife team of Lions Cheryl and Gary Lewis for all the time and effort the they donate not only to the club but to the town of Seeley Lake. We are lucky to have them and we lean on them for their past experiences to help guide us along the way. Both have served as President over 8 times over the years and several committee chairs. Currently Lion Gary is our 2nd Lieutenant Governor while Lion Cheryl is assisting in the duties of our Treasurer.
We thank them sincerely for all they do for us!
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