Even occasional readers of this column will have noted my endless enthusiasm for civic involvement. I’ll never tire of singing the praises of working alongside like-minded folks to improve your community. It’s one of the great delights of life.
And so I was pleased to see that the good people of Napavine are having an organizational meeting this coming Thursday to create (actually to recreate) a Lions Club for the greater Napavine area. The meeting will be at 6 p.m. on Jan. 11 at the Lewis County Fire District 5 headquarters. All are invited.
I don’t know a lot about the Lions, although I remember it being an active group in several smaller local towns over the years.
The Lions International website greets you with a winning slogan: Kindness in Action.
Their self-description sounds perfect to me:
“When caring people join together, roll up their sleeves and take action to make their community better, it’s a beautiful thing — and an incredible feeling for everyone involved. That’s Lions. Being a Lion is about leading by example, building relationships and improving the world through kindness.”
One of the leaders of the Napavine Lions effort is Gregg Peterson, the interim fire chief at Fire District 5. Peterson, who actually lives in Boistfort, previously served as president of the Napavine Lions and said he is willing to serve as president again if that’s what people decide during the meeting on Thursday.
“I think the goal of the group is just to help facilitate activities and events around the community — helping out,” he said. “I don’t want to see the Lions Club take over anything that exists, I just want to see them enhance what exists.”
He sees the club as a way to bring people together, creating a fresh pool of energy to help sustain existing beloved events as well as perhaps creating new ones if enough young people join up.
“Someone suggested drone races,” Peterson said, then laughs. “We have a lot of construction people in town. Maybe we need to add some construction skills contests — who can use an excavator to pick up an egg without breaking it?”
Another advocate for bringing back the Napavine Lions is Ivan Wiediger, who serves on the Napavine City Council and said he has lived in Napavine his entire life except for his service in the Navy.
He’s looking forward to bringing more people together to support cherished community events such as the Funtime Festival and the Christmas parade.
Wiediger has treasured memories of the Funtime Festival when he was a child in the ‘80s: carnival rides, burnouts, a demolition derby, “mud bogs where city hall currently is.” He wants to bring people together to bring back some of those types of activities.
With enough involvement from people in Napavine and the surrounding areas, he can envision other events in town as well: street dances, block parties, bringing the Napavine Amphitheater back to life, fixing up the baseball fields and skate park, barbecue cook-offs, maybe a Thanksgiving parade. The club could also help out at the school.
“I’m not seeing that sense of community that I would like to see within the city of Napavine and the outlying area,” Wiediger said. “I believe the Lions Club could help us do that and expand.”
He’s hoping to see a good turnout on Thursday from “anybody and everybody. Citizens of Napavine, members of outlying community, anybody is welcome to come.”
In a town known for its Tiger sports teams, it sounds like there is room for a pride of Lions, too.
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Thank you to all who are leaving up their Christmas lights! I love driving around and seeing them bringing cheer to the darkness.
You might consider taking photos of your home or your favorites around your neighborhood and posting them to social media with the hashtag #JanuaryLights. It’s great to celebrate these outposts of joy bringing brightness to an otherwise bleak midwinter.
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Brian Mittge can be reached at brianmittge@hotmail.com.
