By Sadie Hunter
Since its start in 1942, the Noblesville Lions Club has never had a female member.
That changed on Sept. 9 when Hamilton County Elections Administrator and State Rep. Kathy Kreag-Richardson was inducted into the club.
Richardson said once Noblesville club president Dave Marsh asked her to consider joining, it was easy to say yes because the club is involved in many activities that are important to the Noblesville community.
“I find that many of the events I attend and support, Lions Club is there, too,” she said. “For many years now they have worked with Noblesville Main Street on projects, they support our youth through sponsoring teams, provide vision testing and scholarships along with many other projects all year long.”
Lions Club District Governor Betty Weist said when the service became Lions International, they allowed women off and on, which is why some Lioness Clubs began popping up.
“Eventually, Lions International wouldn’t let new Lioness Clubs start because they wanted women to be Lions,” Weist said. “Some (Noblesville) members have told me that they voted 10 years ago to accept women (into the club), but none stepped forward, so it’s really nice that someone has.”
Two additional members were inducted on Sept. 9 as well, Kevin Schwarz and Jimmy Carter.
The Noblesville club now has 57 members.
“It is important to keep the club growing and allowing women to join, not only because it broadens the perspective of this organization, but also increases the group of people to choose from in the future,” Richardson said. “Most service clubs struggle with attracting and keeping new members, but I feel men and women have a duty to give back to their community.”
The Lions Club was founded in 1917 and has more than 1.4 million members in more than 45,000 clubs all over the globe, holding the title of the world’s largest service club.
