What do the Lions do? When I mention “lions” this way, I’m not talking about the animals we see in the zoo or on the wild plains in parts of Africa. I’m referring to the local human variety: the West Windsor chapter of Lions International, the nearly century-old international organization of business leaders who support a variety of humanitarian needs for people everywhere. Since its 1917 founding in Chicago, Lions Clubs International has supported humanitarian projects around the world. From their outset, Lions clubs everywhere have made a special effort to emphasize programs that promote the maintenance and restoration of eyesight for all that need them.
And the local club, chartered in 1952, has been actively involved ever since. I have mentioned some of their projects and prominent members before, but now is the time to focus on our local chapter and what it’s been involved with during my time here. By the way, although it was originally an all-male organization, since 1975 both men and women have been eligible for membership.
Although I have lived and worked in West Windsor since 1957, I have never become a member of the Lions Club. That’s mainly because I didn’t know much about them. Also, for the first few years I was here my research job required a lot of attention. I didn’t see having time to join outside organizations then. But as time went by, I came to know many of the local members personally, and came to admire their efforts in supporting the community.
I have also taken part in and benefited from some of their activities. Among others, these have included pancake breakfasts at the Dutch Neck and Princeton Junction fire houses and, more recently, community picnics and the renaissance fair at Community Park. Today the West Windsor Lions Club sponsors both Cub Pack 66 and Boy Scout Troop 66.
The West Windsor Lions Club was organized in the early 1950s. Starting in 1953, it began a monthly publication West Windsor News Letter. It was mailed to every residential and business address in the township free of charge. For the most part it was paid for by advertising proceeds that came from much of the surrounding area, not just West Windsor.
Looking at an old copy from 1967, it’s interesting to see Farr Hardware Co. in an ad on the outside. That was the main hardware store in the area for many years, long before the advent of places like Home Depot, and even before Lucar Hardware in West Windsor. A lot of the hardware in my house — from nails to brass doorknobs — came from Farr’s on Nassau Street — not far from the present location of Labyrinth Books. (Next door to Farr’s then was the Woolworth’s 5 and 10.)
A typical newsletter issue from that era raised over $4,000 in ad revenue from the surrounding area. The masthead for the issue of March 1967 contains the names of those Lions who produced it, some of whom will be familiar to some of our readers: Frank Stiefel, Ed Di Polvere, Walt Dimitruk, Norm Bergstrom, and Steve Guzy. The Lions Club newsletter stopped publishing in 1974. By that time the West Windsor-Plainsboro Chronicle was in business.
One can’t say much about the accomplishments of the West Windsor Lions without talking about Bernt Midland. Yes, he’s been featured in several stories in the past, but as a Lion, he personified what the club is all about, at least on a local level — community service, especially starting around 30 years ago. When he became aware of something in the town that seemed to need attention, he got on it. Traffic problems, saving open space, recreational facilities, parks — you name it, Bernt got involved — and for all the right reasons. He never sought credit for anything he did. And he first went to the township people who were supposed to be responsible for taking care of the problem.
But if he got little response in a reasonable time — instead of “banging his head against the wall” or simply complaining to others or the press, he got on it himself and figured out a way to handle it — sometimes to the chagrin of township officials who should have been able to do it themselves. Nowadays, of course, we’re supposed to believe that the township can take care of anything. We’ll see.
Back when I was heavily into distance running in the so-called Masters group (over 40), I took part in several Lions Club-sponsored five-kilometer races here. The course started and ended at what we now call High School South and included — I think — Penn Lyle Road, Village Road West, and South Mill Road. The first time I ran in it — because it was close to home — my wife and a friend who was visiting for the day came to watch.
Well, I expected to do pretty well among the over-40 crowd, but for the first time ever during a race or workout, I stepped on a curb awkwardly and fell down, suffering a bloody scrape on my shin. Not wanting to quit several miles from home, I got a couple of paper towels from a nearby water stand, wrapped them around my shin, and, holding them against the bleeding every so often, managed to finish the race — somewhat slowly.
My wife’s friend told me she hadn’t been aware that running could be such a dangerous sport. Neither had I. But after a few days of healing, I was back to my usual 40 miles a week. And the Lions Club 5K had provided a lot of extra incentive.
Another interesting personal encounter with the local group occurred when they invited me to one of their meetings to tell them about our new West Windsor-Plainsboro regionalized school system. This was in the mid-1970s, a few years after it was formed in 1969 and about when our new high school (High School South) was going to open.
As school board president, I was eager to spread the word about what a terrific system we had. After giving the group a rundown on what we had, the discussion turned to how it was all going to be paid for — no surprise. Trying to sound both hopeful and optimistic, I think I was able to answer the tough questions to their satisfaction, especially if it meant that taxes might have to go up only a little.
But I will never forget that someone in the group then started talking about the stock market and how it had been fluctuating recently — what else is new? During that era, the Dow-Jones Industrial Average was usually in the 600 to 900 range. Then someone said, “You know, one of these days it might even get up to 1,000.” Nobody believed him, and there was a lot of laughter. Things have changed.
Today the West Windsor Lions Club continues its important work in support of long-standing Lions programs. And it continues to sponsor popular community events and activities that invite everyone’s participation. Monthly meetings are held on the first Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Bog Restaurant at the Cranbury Golf Course on Southfield Road in West Windsor.
