Lions in Sight #3
Article & Photos by Donna Tamasese
Posted: Thursday, February 16, 2012

Saturday, January 28, 2012, was another bustling day at Walmart on Ke’eaumoku Street. Adding to the busy-ness there however, were many gold and yellow clad D50 Lions and LEOS who definitely made “Lions in Sight” a reality! View the photo gallery.

From early that morning (before 8am) many members were already in force setting up and getting prepared for the few hours ahead with “hopes that used eye-glasses soon would be there!” Although I was not there that early, I saw the “staged” table when I did arrive, with many glasses on display hoping to entice shoppers to drop off all the old spectacles they might have laying around!

Walmart is a very busy store and if you want Lions to be seen, this definitely is “DA PLACE.” As usual we attract a lot of attention and questions and there are always shoppers who take time to ask about our clubs and this project in general.

The LEOS were a nice addition this year as they patiently held the Lions banner in front of the store from 8am – 2pm. When one Lion showed up (unexpectedly) with seven HUGE trash bags full of old glasses and cases that her club had collected, the LEOS were a “ready and able” part of the work force that quickly went to task! They helped to sort and box over 1200 glasses (and cases) that will eventually make their way to a foreign country where they will be distributed to people with vision problems. Many times, these will be the first pair of glasses some of these people have ever owned.

It was also heartwarming to have two shoppers who stopped by to make a donation. One gentleman needed something to clean his glasses with . He was given a “hand wipe” as that was what we had available, and he generously put a $20 bill into the collection box. A woman with a wagon full of heavy electronics was in dire need of some help. She spied the young LEOS and asked if they could help her to put the boxes in her car. As we organized the help for her, she also pulled out a $20 bill and said it was her donation as she was grateful to get the help! Other shoppers also made smaller monetary contributions throughout the day.

At the end of our 6-hour “workday” over 3,000 glasses and cases had been collected and boxed. Although most of these were from Lions Clubs, it was still nice to have all of these eyeglasses and cases that will eventually end up helping people to see who might never have been able to before.

(Members of the Lions Club of Honolulu who participated were Lions Masue, Kin, Donna and PDG Bernard and ten Damien School Leos.)

Snapshots of Other Lions in Sight Locations
Article & Photos by Bill Malone
Posted: Thursday, February 16, 2012

Here's small collection submitted from several Lions from our collection day. This one is from Bill Malone of the Lions Club of Honolulu. View the photo gallery. Here wrote a brief caption:

Hello Fellow Lions...Had a wonderful fellowship with several Lions on the Leeward side on 28 January Eyeglass collection at the WALMART Kunia location.

Lions from Kapolei, Wainae, Ewa Beach, Lion Club of Honolulu. Mona Loa Nimitz among others, were host, with vision testing and collection of used glasses. See my photos, there were others from their respective clubs as well.

Final Tribute to a Grand Lion
Article & Photos by Donna Tamasese
Posted: Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Services were held January 22, 2012 at the Fort DeRussy Chapel to bid a final farewell to Lion Marlys Pendleton who was a faithful Lioness and Lion for a total of 32, almost 33 years. Thanks to Honolulu Lions PDG Bernard, Jack, T.C., Charlotte, Masue, Vickie and Donna and Miu Lan from the Aloha Pono LC for helping to make this a very special sendoff for Marlys. View photos of the services here.

A very nice picture of Lion Marlys was displayed along with her vest (of many years) and a very significant wooden piece inscribed with the significant Lions motto, “We Serve.” Marlys’ son, Ray, graciously donated this to the LCH. I later found out that this wooden piece (made of one piece of wood) was made in Japan and probably given to either Lion Marlys or her late husband PDG Lion Ernie Pendleton by someone named Furukawa.

Chaplain Bezanson, who knew Lion Marlys for many years, conducted the service. He personalized many parts of the service and used scriptures from the Old Testament that were taken from the St. James Bible as this is the older Bible that Marlys had learned scriptures from when growing up.

Marlys’ daughter, Marsha, who was unable to attend yesterday, sent a very poignant tribute to Marlys, that was read by daughter-in-law Michelle. Marsha wrote about the wonderful things that her mom did not only for her own children but for most of the neighborhood children. Their home, she said, was a haven for all the children who lived around them.

The Lions service conducted by PDG Bernard was very well done and the eulogy by Lion Charlotte was very personal and meaningful. Talking of the days when she drove Lions Marlys, Dodee, Alyce and Sally around and taking them to places where they did so many projects together brought tears to Lion Charlotte’s eyes as well as to many others there. Thank you Charlotte for taking on the task with a few days notice.

Thanks to Lion Miu Lan for leading us in Aloha ‘Oe accompanied by the organist, Win Hancock. I think we all felt a great sense of closure for Lion Marlys and also gained more respect for this wonderful Lion who was also a super Mom and volunteer in many, many organizations.

We know that Lion Marlys is in peace now with her dear husband, PDG Ernie, and her wonderful Lion friends, Dodee, Murray, Ed and Wui. We thank you Marlys Pendleton for your contributions to the Lions Club of Honolulu.