District Governor Larry Williams attended the Bowmanstown-Parryville Lions banquet to help with the installation of officers and presentation of awards. The banquet was held June 12 at the East Penn Sporting Club.

Chaplain Burdell Steigerwalt said it is a night for Lions to thank all the people who make Lions so proud. The Lions and Lioness toasts were given and a moment of silence honored those members who passed on.Lion Larry Engle presented scholarships for $500 and plaques, each in the recipient's school colors, to three graduates from the Palmerton and Lehighton schools.Kody Kolnik of Palmerton Area High School plans to take business courses at Moravian College. Accompanying him was his mother Melissa.Mary Grace Collins of Lehighton Area High School will study anesthesia at the University of Pittsburgh. Her mother, Mary Collins, accompanied her.Sessa Lenhardt of the Carbon Career & Technical Institute will study occupational therapy at Lehigh Carbon Community College. Loretta Smith, her grandmother, attended with her.Williams installed the officers for 2017-2018. They are Ronald Engle, president; Kathy Nunemacher, first vice president; Norman Engle Jr., second vice president; Richard Deluca, third vice president; Albina Engle, secretary; Wayne Engle Sr., treasurer; Raymond Nunemacher, lion tamer; Earl Reabold, tail twister; and Burdell Steigerwalt, chaplain.Joseph Herzog, William Ravert, Heather Zellner, Emma Moyer, Violet Steigerwalt, Jean Smith, Henry Altemose, Jean Reabold, Kevin Snyder Jr., and Loraine Neal are on the board of directors.The Melvin Jones Fellowship awards are named for the founding member of Lions Clubs International to meet needs around the world such as river blindness and avoidance of drugs. Awardees have provided $1,000 in monetary support to the organization.Williams said he is proud that the club gets so many Melvin Jones awards, 36, with two new ones to be added at the banquet. The names are kept on a list for all to see at Lions headquarters. The money is applied to humanitarian uses, one of which the district has benefited from in the form of a Kids Sight grant for $14,500 to buy two more eye-screening machines.Jean Reabold and Nancy Herzog were called forward as Melvin Jones recipients.The Lions PA Foundation award is for a contribution of $500. Matching grants from the foundation are for recreational equipment. Loraine Neal received this Pinnacle award for doing whatever needs doing.Larry Engle, outgoing president, said the club is smaller in numbers than it used to be but it's doing more. "We help the fire companies, hold block shoots, and set up tarps for other organizations to raise money, but we need younger members."Melvin Jones said if they wanted to succeed the clubs have to keep growing.He asked Lorraine Neal and Kathy Nunemacher to tell about the Kids Sight program.Basically for preschoolers who may not get eye care until school age, the program accepts older people also. It uses a special camera to check for eye problems and refers those who appear to have a problem to an optometrist. Thirteen children were sent for further diagnosis in the past year.With a new camera they expect to be able to do more this year and will be setting up at the fair.Norman Engle received a silver certificate with 100 printed on it for bringing in one new member. The 100 is for the Lions 100th anniversary being celebrated this June.Williams asked what Lions would do in the next century. "We won't be here but we built the foundation. We need more young help, young at heart, not necessarily young in body."