The Jim Thorpe Lions Club was awarded the Club Excellence award for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. The award was presented at the District 14U Convention held April 5-7 at The Woodlands in Wilkes-Barre Township.

“It sure does take a village,” Jim Thorpe Lions President Pam McElmoyle said in an email to club members, “and all of you played a role, even if you are behind the scenes and a long time member keeping up our numbers or if you helped on the front lines with one of our many initiatives.”

Keri Gallagher, Jim Thorpe Lions Secretary, received the LCIF Presidential Award. The medal is bestowed upon those who achieve the Lions Club International Foundation goal during a fiscal period.

McElmoyle was also honored with the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award, which is presented to those who donate $1,000 to the LCIF. The award is named after Lions Club founder Melvin Jones.

“I am truly honored to receive a Melvin Jones Fellowship Award,” McElmoyle said. “I am glad to be following in the footsteps of Sandy Gallagher, our grand marshal of the Halloween Parade in 2023. She has been an active member of the Lions since she joined and was the first woman in The Jim Thorpe Lions Club. Everyone in our club has contributed in some way and has helped support our mission and goal to serve our community.”

The Jim Thorpe Lions will be installing new hometown hero banners around Jim Thorpe within the next few weeks.

In May, they will be presenting Student of the Month awards at the Jim Thorpe High School and the Jim Trainer Scholarship at the Carbon Career and Technical Institute.