The Washington Lions Club was organized on April 9, 1957, with the Romeo Lions being the sponsoring club. We began with 18 members, which included four transfers from the Romeo Lions. Our first meeting was held on Wednesday, April 24, 1957, and our Lions club continues to meet the second and fourth Wednesdays of every month at 7:00 PM in our Washington Lions Hall at 58000 Van Dyke. If you would like to visit our Lions Club as a guest, e-mail us at info@washingtonlions.org or call us at 586.992.1120.

The charter members were: Carl Alward, Richard Alward, Walter Alward, (President) Herb Bliss, (Director) John Coryell, (Director) Rex Dingman, (Tail Twister) Pete Hixon, (2nd Vice) Howard Johnson, (Treasurer) Treat Marsh, (Lion Tamer) Robert O’Brien, Frank Payne, (Secretary) Richard Poljan Sr., (Director) Harold Rowley, Bruce Sable, (1st Vice) Frank Shereda, (3rd Vice) Walt Sewell, (Director) Nerborn Towell, and Ray Wilson.

In 1966, our club built a 4,000 square foot pole building on our present Washington Lions site to store horse show equipment. In the following years, we added a club meeting room, restrooms, and a bar, and we finished the back portion of the hall and began renting the building for small functions as well as community use. This continued until March 2, 2001 when our building burned beyond repair.

A Washington Lions building committee was formed to look into and consider the feasability of the reconstruction of our club hall. The membership made a decision to rebuild on our present site and to continue to lease the park property adjacent to our Lions building to the Washington Township Parks and Recreation for one dollar per year.

On October 6, 2001, we held a formal ground breaking ceremony. Then, on September 21, 2002, we celebrated our ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the building for the community. To all who have helped in the new construction of our Lions community center, we would like to express our gratitude and thanks, especially to the business community for their donations, and to all the individuals who contributed their time and labor. A very special thank you goes to the Washington Lions members who have spent so many days and hours working, donating their expertise and labor that made our new facility something of which our community can be proud.