4/06/2016

The 19 Lions And Other Fraternal Organizations

By Janet Snyder


Service clubs are non-profit, voluntary organizations where the members get personally and directly involved in performing charitable acts. There are many examples of service organizations. Among them are the Rotarians, the Kiwanis, the Freemasons, and the Elks. The 19 Lions are one chapter in the Lions International. Service Clubs used to be populated only by men, but they are now opening their doors to women.

Lions International was founded in 1917 by a man named Melvin Jones. Jones subscribed to the code that you couldn't get far in life without doing something for somebody else. The headquarters for Lions is in Oak Brook, Illinois. As of 2015, there were 46,000 local chapters and nearly 1.5 million members all over the world. Melvin Jones was also a Freemason, another service organization.

The official colors of the organization are purple and gold. Membership is by invitation only and is open to people of legal majority and sound reputation within their local community. This doesn't mean you have to wait around and hope a club member gets to hear about your wonderful work in the community and contacts you out of the blue without any prompting from you, nor do you have to drop hints. People interested in joining should contact their local chapter. Lions Club Multiple District 19 (MD 19) includes clubs in Washington state, North Idaho and British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. The MD19 headquarters is in Bellingham, Washington.

One of the older fraternal organizations is Rotary International. This group got its start by four businessmen, organized by a lawyer named Paul Harris. These men set themselves the mission to raise standards in the conduct of professional business. They gave themselves the name Rotary because they rotated from one office to another. Eventually, the group got so big they had to take to arranging external venues for their meetings.

The Rotarians have established a set of four guidelines to implement when determining whether a particular project fits in with its aims. Their projects are usually aimed at getting businesses that are on the rocks back in the right direction. These criteria are truth, fairness, promotion of goodwill and friendship, and profitable to all parties.

The Freemasons is another very famous and successful fraternal organization. Its roots go back to the stonemasons. The Freemasons are steeped in history and have many traditions, ceremonies and rituals. They can be controversial to some people. For example, they have strict criteria for membership, in that members must be free and have a good character. The basic organizational unit of the club is the Grand Lodge. Most Grand Lodges expect their members to publicly declare a belief in a Supreme Being, with some having a preference for a specific religious denomination.

George Washington was one of the more famous and noteworthy members of the Freemasons. He had a portrait of himself painted in which he was serving in his capacity as Master of his local lodge in Virginia. When he died, he was buried with full Masonic ceremonial honors. Other famous Rotarians have included Colonel Saunders, John F. Kennedy, and Pope Francis.

The Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks is one of the older service organizations. It was founded in 1868 as a social club in New York City. Like the Lions and the Rotarians, the Elks have their headquarters in Chicago, Illinois.




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