Serving the greater Munising area since 1937, the Munising Lions Club has had a longstanding commitment to enriching the lives of community members by supporting various health and social programs, youth activities and scholarships, and much
more.
The Munising Lions are part of Lions Club International, the world’s largest service organization with more than 1.4 million members in roughly 46,000 clubs in around 200 countries. Clubs in the U.S. are set into different state districts, with the entire U.P. set as District 10.
Aligning with the goals of LCI, the Munising Lions Club focuses on providing free vision screenings and eyeglasses and hearing aid assistance to those in need.
While the club helps individuals throughout the community, it also donates to various nonprofits such as Alger County Communities that Care, 4-H, Friends of Valley Spur, the Women’s Center, Bay Cliff Health Camp and Alger County Food Pantry; sponsors local events including Pictured Rocks Road Race, Concert in the Park and Munising’s Fourth of July; and offers two $1,000 scholarships to students furthering their education.
For 31 years, the Lions have partnered with the bowling alley and other service groups like Kiwanis of Alger County to provide a fun-filled New Year’s Eve party for sixth through 12th graders. The free event features glow bowling, prizes, food and beverages. Ninety-one kids attended last year and welcomed 2025 at Happy’s Place.
Since the beginning, Lion Deane Pokela has been instrumental in overseeing the New Year’s Eve event and ensuring kids have a safe space to come together and celebrate the new year.
The Munising Lions Club hosts yearly fundraisers, such as the Open Eyes Golf Outing, which is held the first Saturday of June at Pictured Rocks Golf Course, and its community birthday and anniversary calendar to help fund these initiatives.
Recently, new Lions Maggie Thoune and Sara Beth Holloway proposed the idea of hosting a soup cook-off in the dead of winter. After a couple months of planning, the first-ever Munising Lions Club’s Soup Cook-Off took place on Saturday, Feb. 8, at Life on the Rocks. The event was a success, with 15 soup recipes submitted and over $1,000 raised.
The winning contestants are as follows: Suzette Carberry placed first with a mulligatawny soup and won a $50 gift certificate for Tracy’s; Tammy DeBree took second with a chicken cordon bleu soup and received a $50 gift certificate from Hillside Party Store; and Tim Colburn got third place with an Italian sausage soup, receiving a $25 gift certificate for Happy’s Place.
Like many service organizations, the Munising Lions Club always encourages new ideas and members to join. While there have been a few new faces within the last year, other members have been around for decades.
This year marks 60 years since Lions Don Paajanen and Duke Snyder joined the Munising Lions Club in 1965. Through their efforts and dedication, Munising is a better place. If you happen to see these gentlemen, please thank and congratulate them.
Whether you’re a Lion from another area, someone interested in becoming involved or you just want to visit, we welcome anyone who would like to attend our meetings to do so.
Meetings are held on the third Monday of every month at 6 p.m. at the VVA Chapter #237 building in Christmas.
If you have any used glasses or hearing aids that you wish to donate, you can drop them off at Northern Lights Vision Center, Peoples State Bank or Embers Credit Union in Munising.
For more information about the Munising Lions Club, visit facebook.com/munisinglions/ or e-clubhouse.org/sites/munisinglionmi.
