Story by Cary Griffin; Photos by Judy Griffin, Forney Messenger

Forney Lions Club members, their spouses and other guests attended the club’s annual year-end awards dinner and installation of officers Tuesday evening, June 9, in the Forney High School cafeteria.

Shortly after dinner, four of the Forney Lions Club’s charter members were called forward to receive their charter member pins. Each one had received a charter chevron in 2008, but presentation of the pins this year completed their recognition. Receiving their charter member pins were Lions Henry Sollers, Cary Griffin, D. D. McGee, and Larry Walthall.

Early in the program, Lions Don and Susanne Orman were recognized for being selected as this year’s Grass Roots Lions. The honor is given to a member of the club who has been a member for less than five years and promots Lionism, not only in their communmity, but throughout the district. The unusual step of choosing two recipients this year was taken because both Don and Susanne joined the club at the same time and both have worked tirelessly on projects the Forney club has sponsored since the time they joined.

The remainder of this year’s Forney Lions Club awards were awards for service rendered to the club during the club’s 2008-2009 activity year. These were presented as follows:
Richard Bruner: 2008-2009 President, Hometown Christmas Committee, Relay For Life team member
Linda Bryant: Club Secretary, Hometown Christmas Committee, Relay For Life team member
Shirley Norris: Club Treasurer, Hometown Christmas Committee, Relay For Life team member
Kenny Watson: 1st Vice President, Hometown Christmas Committee
Don Orman: 2nd Vice President, Hometown Christmas Committee, Relay For Life team member, Angel Tree
Darren Rozell: 3rd Vice President, Hometown Christmas Committee, Scholarship Committee, Relay For Life team member, Angel Tree
Johnnie Henderson: Chaplain
Mark Madrid: Tail Twister, Jackrabbit Stampede Chairman, Hometown Christmas committee, Relay For Life team member/Cook
Dale Ingersoll: Lion Tamer, Caller, Little Dribblers assistant, Elf Impersonator, Relay For Life Team Captain
Tammy Rushing: 1st Year Director, Hometown Christmas committee
Larry Walthall:1st Year Director
Whitney Rozell: 2nd Year Director, Hometown Christmas committee, Relay For Life team member
Ken Mendez – 2nd Year Director
D. D. McGee: Public Relations Chairman, Parade Chairman
Dan Chambliess: Scholarship Committee chairman, Santa Impersonator, Little Dribblers Chairman, Caller Chairman, Concession Stand Director
Barry Jones – Concession Stands director, Scholarship Committee,
Jerrel Julian: Caller, Co-Chaplain
Connie Ingersoll: Relay For Life Team Captain
Henry Sollers: Caller
Susanne Orman: Hometown Christmas committee, Angel Tree
PDG Julia Johnson: Sight & Tissue Foundation representative, Sports Extravaganza Chairman

Four members were formally inducted into the club June 9. Jason Stephens, Mistie Stephens and Don Jones are new members, and Dr. Darrell Brown was inducted but actually joined last year.

The program concluded with the annual installation of officers. The slate of officers for 2009-2010 follows:
President: Kenny Watson
Secretary: Linda Bryant
Treasurer: Shirley Norris
1st VP: Don Orman
2nd VP: Roland Tyler
3rd VP: Darren Rozell
Chaplain:?Johnnie Henderson
Co-Chaplain: Jerrell Julian
Tail Twister: Julia Johnson
Lion Tamer: Kris Kumar
1st-Year Director: John Rushing
1st-Year Director: D. D. McGee
2nd-Year Director: Tammy Rushing
3rd-Year Director: Larry Walthall
Past President: Richard Bruner

This story and any accompanying photo(s) were originally published in the Forney Messenger and are Copyright © 2009, Forney Messenger, Inc. and have been used by permission. The Forney Messenger is the publisher of Kaufman County’s oldest newspaper and may be found online at www.ForneyMessengerInc.com.