Again . . . the Lions roar in Springfield!

After an absence of several years, Springfield again has a Lions Club.

Twenty-three men and women were inducted into the new Springfield Area Lions Club during a Charter Celebration Saturday afternoon at the Springfield Golf Club.

Lions are Linda Anderson, Gilbert Anderson, Justin Asmus, Cory Brand, Tyler Brand, Jay Drury, Darlene Fretham, David Fretham, Doug Gatzlaff, Angie Gode, Rachelle Halvorson, Cresent Ludewig, Andrew Mathwig, Paul Pieschel, Joel Pingeon, Deb Rasset, Mary Salonek, Ramona Schmitz, Robert Schmitz, Sharon Stern, Craig Valentin, Loribess Valentin and Phil Weller.

Officers of the organization are Deb Rasset, president; Craig Valentin, first vice president; Gilbert Anderson, second vice president; Sharon Stern, third vice president. Linda Anderson, secretary; Mary Salonek, treasurer; Joel Pingeon and Phil Weller, directors; Mary Salonek, Tail Twister; David Fretham and Darlene Fretham, Lion Tamers; and Phil Weller, Craig Valentin and Cory Brand, membership chairmen.

The New Ulm Lions Club is the sponsoring club.

Lions Clubs International is a service membership organization of over 1.4 million members worldwide. The Lions motto is “We Serve.” Lions Club programs include sight conservation, hearing and speech conservation, diabetes awareness, youth outreach, international relations, environmental issues, and many other programs. The discussion of politics and religion is forbidden. The LIONS acronym also stands for Liberty, Intelligence, Our Nations’ Safety.