HYDE PARK—The Lions Club met Thursday night to discuss ways to better their community such as park construction and management, upcoming Eagle Scout projects, and eyeglasses for local citizens.

What is the Lions Club? It is a worldwide organization of about 1.35 million members who meet monthly to plan activities and raise money to better their communities.

Why is the Lions Club so involved in providing eyeglasses for people? “That’s part of what the Lion’s are all about. Helen Keller was one of the first that challenged the Lions Club back in the 1920s to become ‘Knights of the Blind’ and that’s been their main focus for years,” said James Nell, senior member and Lion Tamer of the Lions Club in Hyde Park.

The club also focuses on fundraisers in order to help citizens.

“Our big fundraiser is the Memorial Day breakfast. Last year we had a community member that was diagnosed with two kinds of cancer all within one week. We dedicated the breakfast to anything we could raise to help her out. We’ve done that a few times,” said Nell.

Who can join the Lions Club? Anyone who is 18 and has the desire to serve their community and fellow man can be a member. “We’re always looking for people to join,” said Nell.

There are currently 14 members in Hyde Park and Mark Hurd, a city councilman, is president.

The members discussed the sewer predicament Hyde Park is in and how the city should go about billing businesses and households. The same topic was discussed in last week’s council meeting and it is a question that has not been answered yet. One of the dilemmas regarding the topic is whether or not sewer and water bills should go hand in hand and because businesses do not use as much water as households, should they be billed the same amount? Should the city charge per building, per apartment, per business, per duplex? These questions and more are under investigation.

“All in all, Hyde Park City is improving a lot,” said Mike Grunig, club vice president.

The Lions Club meets at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month in the Hyde Park city building.

Published in cooperation with the Hard News Cafe. Original story is here.