Heart BEAT

Dayton Lions Sell Cinnamon Rolls To Help The Community

Dayton Lions Club Raises Money All Year For Services, Scholarships And Dayton Community

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AYTON - Pa- trons visiting the

Lions Club booth at the Columbia County Fairgrounds during Mule Mania are most likely to remember the taco salad and cinnamon rolls, but the club members and students staffing the booth had their minds on more charitable issues.

"We do everything," Dayton Lions Club President Randy Turner said. "The Mule Mania booth funds go to vision assistance and other pro- grams."

The Lions Club vision assistance program, which donates $129 for a vision exam and glasses for low-income people, is one of many programs the club provides for.

The Dayton Lions Club funds or helps fund local vision and hearing assistance programs, the 4-H achievement program, the Future Business Leaders of America, Youth in Government, little league and three scholarships for students.

During the second annual Mule Mania weekend in Dayton the third weekend of July, Turner and fellow club member Sharon Mendel prepared food for the Lions Club booth last weekend.

The proceeds from the booth are used to help fund the programs the club helps support, Turner said.

The booth was staffed by students who earn a "wage" that goes toward a group of their choice. During Mule Mania, the group providing the man hours in exchange for donation support was the Christian group, Young Life.

Because Mule Mania is such a new event, the Li- ons Club booth during the event is equally young. Turner said the booth opened last year during the first Mule Mania event in Dayton.

"It's been a learning experience for us," Turner said. "We don't know how much food to get or how much will sell."

Mendel said she thought the booth made a lot of money although it could have been more successful.

"We had a good lunch rush on Saturday," Men- del said. "Our new item was cinnamon rolls and they sold well."

She said the event will get easier as they continue to run the booth.

"As we have more years (of experience), we learn when it is a good time to have our booth staffed with more people," Men- del said. "We learn when we will have business and when we won't."

Mendel said they will likely open later on Thurs- day next year for the event but they do plan to run the booth again. Ultimately, she said, it was worth it to be there.

"We will be back be- cause it's nice to have local groups serving food at Mule Mania," Mendel said.

On Tuesday, Aug. 7, the Lions Club will help put on the National Night Out, which is hosted by the Columbia County Friends of 9-1-1 and the Columbia County Sher- iff's Office.

Mendel said the group volunteers will help cook and serve the food.

"This is at least the third or fourth time we've been a part of this event," Mendel said.

The Lions Club works with the Kiwanis Club during the event and will serve food until about seven in the evening.

"We're a small group and we try to do a lot of stuff," Turner said. "We're always looking for new members."

The Lions Club meets the first and third Wednes- days of every month in the Delany Building on Third Street in Dayton.