Sunday, April 3, 2016

19 Lions And Other Fraternal Organizations

By Janet Snyder


Service clubs are non-profit, voluntary organizations where the members get personally and directly involved in performing charitable acts. There are many examples of service organizations. Among them are the Rotarians, the Kiwanis, the Freemasons, and the Elks. The 19 Lions are one chapter in the Lions International. Service Clubs used to be populated only by men, but they are now opening their doors to women.

Lions International was founded in 1917 by a man named Melvin Jones. Jones subscribed to the code that you couldn't get far in life without doing something for somebody else. The headquarters for Lions is in Oak Brook, Illinois. As of 2015, there were 46,000 local chapters and nearly 1.5 million members all over the world. Melvin Jones was also a Freemason, another service organization.

The official colors of the organization are purple and gold. Membership is by invitation only and is open to people of legal majority and sound reputation within their local community. This doesn't mean you have to wait around and hope a club member gets to hear about your wonderful work in the community and contacts you out of the blue without any prompting from you, nor do you have to drop hints. People interested in joining should contact their local chapter. Lions Club Multiple District 19 (MD 19) includes clubs in Washington state, North Idaho and British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. The MD19 headquarters is in Bellingham, Washington.

Rotary International is a similar organization. The club got its start with just four businessmen in an office in Chicago. They met for the purpose of fostering high ethical standards in the conduct of business and professions. They called themselves Rotary because their meetings rotated from one office to another. Within a year, the membership had grown to such an extent that they adopted the practice of meeting in larger venues.

The Rotarians have established a set of four guidelines to implement when determining whether a particular project fits in with its aims. Their projects are usually aimed at getting businesses that are on the rocks back in the right direction. These criteria are truth, fairness, promotion of goodwill and friendship, and profitable to all parties.

The Freemasons are one of the most ceremonial and traditional of the fraternal organizations. Their origin can be traced back to the stonemasons. They have extremely rigid membership criteria. For one, members must be free and they must have a sound character. They also expect their members to publicly affirm that they belief in a Supreme Being. Some go so far as to expect them to belong to a specific religious group.

George Washington was one of the more famous and noteworthy members of the Freemasons. He had a portrait of himself painted in which he was serving in his capacity as Master of his local lodge in Virginia. When he died, he was buried with full Masonic ceremonial honors. Other famous Rotarians have included Colonel Saunders, John F. Kennedy, and Pope Francis.

The Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks is one of the older service organizations. It was founded in 1868 as a social club in New York City. Like the Lions and the Rotarians, the Elks have their headquarters in Chicago, Illinois.




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