The Lions Den

by Ann McLarty

This past week the Lions said farewell to one of our former Lions members, Jim Loe. Jim was a 1959 graduate of Walker High School and helped his parents operate Loe’s Resort and later Bayside Resort for a number of years.

The present Lions club vests are maroon, but Jim’s vest was the original gold vest from years ago. It was on display at his memorial with many pins and buttons from past Walker celebrations. Among them were the wooden buttons from 1986, which I believe were made by the high school shop class.

Attending his memorial was a “bittersweet” occasion as we got together with many friends and Jim’s classmates from years ago. Rest in peace, “Big Jim.”

This week the Walker Lions Club will be hosting the meeting of the 5M9 Cabinet at Hope Lutheran Church Sunday. We are expecting about 55 attendees.

May is a busy month for the Lions as we also host the annual Lions Scholarship Banquet and award ceremony that will be held May 8. We will be awarding four scholarships of $1,000 each to deserving WHA seniors. We are proud to be a part of the future plans of these graduates.

Prior to the banquet we will be holding our regular May meeting. Upcoming summer events include the Fourth of July parade and fireworks, and we also hope to once again be part of the Walker Bay Live events this summer.

There have been several requests to change the starting time of the Fourth of July parade. Many individuals and businesses have indicated they would prefer going back to an earlier starting time. Reasons expressed are that people may watch the parade and then enjoy the rest of the day with family enjoying the day on the lake or participate in the many events held at the City Park

I do remember in the past when my own children would participate in the “kiddy parade.” It was held earlier and this worked out well for our family activities. Also it is felt there would be less traffic on the highway going through town, and so it would be a little safer and less congested. I think most truckers already know that the Fourth of July is not a good day to go through Walker and hopefully do not do so.

We are also looking at safer ways to distribute candy to the children. Parents can cooperate by making sure their children do not run out into the street. Floats have been instructed to have individuals walking with the candy and going over to the curbs to hand it out. Our wish is always for a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July.

In spite of the cooler weather the trees and grass are turning green seemingly “overnight.” Because of recent rains, drought conditions no longer exist in parts of southern Minnesota. We are still considered dry, and I believe there are still burning bans in place. We have had a lot of cloudy weather so hopefully enough rain will fall to combat the dryness. I did see the DNR had a controlled “burn” and that will soon all turn bright green!

We Serve!