California club plans COVID-safe fireworks and recruits 12 new members
For many, days in quarantine often begin with the question, “Now what can we do?” But for a guy like Lion Joe Barss, the better question during these uncertain times is “How can we keep doing what we do best, but in a safe way?”
Despite the worldwide shutdown, Barss, the second vice president of the Exeter Lions Club in California’s central San Joaquin Valley, brought a dozen new members – 9 men and 3 women – to his club during the pandemic. In April, they had a mass swearing-in ceremony outdoors, following social distancing guidelines.
“It’s a pretty common excuse. Everybody’s too busy (to join a club),” says Barss, a landscaper currently in his busiest season. “But because of COVID-19, it wasn’t as bad. People were sitting at home and realizing they weren’t doing a whole lot, and they wanted to be doing something good for their community. We’re a pretty active club and they chose to be a part of it.”
Just because you’re heeding safety restrictions doesn’t mean you have to stop everything, he says. “It just means you have to be creative.” A former soccer coach, Barss is known for his creativity, for injecting new life in an older club, and keeping club spirits high during tough times.
When their usual restaurant meeting spot was no longer feasible because of COVID-19, they didn’t stop meeting. About 35 of the current 74 members show up at 6:30 every Thursday morning for their weekly meeting at the park.
The Exeter Lions are known for their largest fundraiser, the Brewfest, held each May, as well an all-star baseball game for graduating seniors from close to 30 area high schools, and for putting on the town’s professional fireworks display, a town tradition that goes back to World War II.
But with Brewfest postponed until September this year, Lions had to come up with money if the fireworks show would go on. With strong support from local businesses and the community of 15,000, they collected US$16,000 in less than 30 days, says club president Scott Stults.
But there were still many adaptations to be made.
“When we sat down for the first meeting, there was a lot of nay saying, but I’m pretty dead set. When my mind is on something, it’s going to happen, so I said, ‘hey, let’s knock off the negativity,’” says Barss. “If you believe it, you can sell it. We have a goal, and we set out to achieve our goal.”
They will have the fireworks launched higher in the sky so people can safely watch them from their houses or their cars, like a drive-in movie. The traditional opening prayer and national anthem will be live on Facebook, and they will use a drone to film the fireworks show and stream it live.
“We can do it because we have a good group,” says 40-year-old Barss. Club members range from the 24-year-old, tech-friendly first vice president to members in their 80s who appreciate the young guys’ energy and the fun they have at meetings.
“The easiest thing to do in times like these is to sit on your hands and wait for somebody to tell you what to do,” says Barss. “We did that for a little while, but then we realized ‘We’re rottin’ on the vine here. If we don’t do something as a club, it’s going to fade away.’ You have to look at the guidelines and restrictions that were put in place, and you have to adapt.
“When I joined the club (in October 2018), the president told me, ‘If you’re going to join, be active, be involved, and let people know who you are.’ Everybody knows who the Lions are in this town.”
Let us know how your club has been Serving Safely. Post your stories on social media using the hashtag #WeServe, and inspire other Lions around the world to do what they can to continue serving their communities.
The story comes to you from the staff of LION Magazine. For more great stories, visit lionmagazine.org.
Joan Cary is the assistant editor for LION Magazine.
