The Aberdeen Lions Club: We Serve

Spring officially began at 4:20 p.m. on Sunday March 20, according to the calendar.

But here in Aberdeen one event has marked the beginning of all things spring for more than 50 years—the annual Aberdeen Lions Club Pancake Supper.

And that event will be held today from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Aberdeen High School.

But that’s just one of the ways we serve our community. The Aberdeen Lions Club, of which I am a proud member, is now in its 79th year. 

In addition to the annual pancake supper, we host a spaghetti supper in October, sell Christmas trees in December and we will sell hot dogs on April 16 during the Harford County Earth Day event sponsored by the City of Aberdeen.

These are the major Lions Club fundraisers but we also have adopted a road for cleanup. We collect aluminum cans for recycling and we have painted the gazebo in Festival Park and the senior center.

Originally, held on Shrove Tuesday, the Lions Club Pancake Supper is now held on the fourth Tuesday in March. And this is the place to be if you want to renew acquaintances and see friends and neighbors you’ve lost touch with over the winter.

For many years, a group of nuns—their habits pressed and crisp—would be the first through the doors on the evening of the Pancake Supper. Many thought it was a sign of good luck and possible divine blessing that the Lions Club would have a good turnout.  There may have been something to that, as we’ve always fed hundreds and at times served more than 700 people.

And 100 percent of the money from our fundraisers is put back into the community. 

In 1925, Helen Keller challenged the Lions on a national level to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness." 

Consequently, much of our focus is on sight.  Each year the Aberdeen Lions Club provides eyeglasses to those in need.  This project, along with scholarships for area students, a medical loan closet, sponsorship of local parks and recreation teams and involvement in the Harford Fuel Fund, among others, is funded by events such as the Pancake Supper.

Our motto is “We serve” and the Aberdeen Lions Club works hard, day in and day out, to live up to those two words.  

So come on out to the Aberdeen Lions Club Pancake Supper.  Shake off the winter. See old friends and meet some new ones.

Feel free to visit our website by clicking here or for more information, contact me at Aberdeenhappenings@comcast.net

Hope to see you there!

(Mark Schlottman writes Aberdeen Happenings, a weekly column that appears on Tuesdays. If you have a column idea or would like to reach Mark Schlottman send  email to aberdeenhappenings@comcast.net.)