Osseo Lions Club – We Serve!
In early August of 1944, with World War II still raging, a group of Osseo businessmen met with members of Lions International and the Lions District President to discuss forming the Osseo Lions Club. Within two weeks, they had the required 20 members to form a Club!
Our Lions Club started small but strong.
Since that night in August, over 75 years ago, the Osseo Lions have had hundreds of members volunteer their time and talents in the hope of helping to make other people locally, nationally, and worldwide live a better life through educational programs, hearing and vision/eye health initiatives, donations of medical and food supplies to local service organizations or emergency situations, and through other projects benefiting the communities in which we live and serve.
In the Lions Club, our motto is “We Serve,” but that is more than a motto to us in the Osseo Club, it is a way of life.
Even in the fast-paced society we now live in, our members still take time from their busy schedules to organize local events to help raise money for those in need. From the annual Pancake Breakfast and Steak Fry, to the ever-popular Lions Roar Weekend and family-friendly community holiday celebrations, your Osseo Lions are there to serve!
We have helped our community with simple things like putting lights on Central Avenue for Christmas, throwing Christmas parties for local children and participating, and organizing or hosting “Welcome Home” celebrations for returning service men and women. Over the years, Audiometers have been purchased for hearings tests in Osseo Schools, eyeglasses have been paid for to the benefit of those who could not afford them, and sales during community events like the ROAR, pull tabs, and other organized benefits have helped to fund local projects and community needs. The list is long and impressive.
But for us to continue to grow and serve, we need new members who are willing to take up the “We Serve” pledge!
Back in 1944, it was a group of businessmen that formed our Club and we are forever grateful to those men for doing so. But now, in 2022, it is not only men in the Club – many women serve alongside these great men! And it’s not only businesspeople, it’s anyone that has the heart to serve! I am proud to be an example of the ever-changing makeup of membership in the Lions Club. I am a thirty-something-year-old woman who has not only been welcomed into the Club with open arms but who has been given the responsibility of leading the Club for the second year in a row as President.
I feel fortunate to be part of the Osseo Lions Club and would love more people to join us – new people, talent and ideas are always welcomed.
In the Osseo Lions Club, there is a lot of work to be done, but there is also a lot of fun to be had. We work hard, we play hard, and most importantly “We Serve!”
Thank you,
Lion President, Jayme Kruse
Osseo Lions Club
