The Dexter Lions Club have a new president and the team is important to her

In thinking about how it feels to be the first woman president of the Dexter Lions Club, Becky Walters thinks about each member of the club, what they all mean as a team, and how they all work together to help the community they serve.

The Sun Times News (STN) recently connected with Walters knowing the importance of this moment for the Dexter Lions and community. STN asked her some questions and certain themes stood out.

“I am very proud of the club and all that we do for the community,” Walters said.

The real focus, she said, should not solely be on her, but rather on what the Lions stand for and what they do, as a group. She added, when you join the Lions you are not an individual in the club, you are a member.

Walters became a Lion 13 years ago when she joined the club in Napoleon, Michigan. She served as club secretary for five years there and then transferred to the Dexter Lions Club to be a member with her husband, Terry Walters.

She was asked three years ago to step in line to become President of the Dexter Lions. That gave her time to learn all about the club and what they do for the community.

“I was very honored to be asked by the members to take on the role of President for 2023-2024,” Walters said.

She added, “I am only one member of the club of many.”

New Dexter Lions Club President Becky Walters serving food at Dexter Daze. photo by Lonnie Huhman

The club is comprised of 19 women, 47 men and 12 couples, for a total of 66 members.

“We welcome members of the community to become a member,” Walters said.

For her and the club, she said they plan many projects each year for the community.

They start their calendar year in July. The first project comes in August with Dexter Daze, where the club has a food wagon in downtown during the festival and serves pizza, hot dogs, brats and fries.

In October, they move on to the Apple Daze project where at that annual festival they set up games and activities for the community and neighboring communities to enjoy for the day each fall.

And then in November, they set up their annual Christmas tree lot and start selling trees the Friday after Thanksgiving. The lot is open until all of the trees are gone.

Walters said their last project of their year is White Cane Day in May. They spend a couple of days standing at various locations around town to collect donations to support the Lions Clubs’ world wide effort to help the blind.

“The remaining months of the year we continue to work on other community activities such as Luminaries at Christmas, the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run, and serving ice cream in the park during the Music in the Park season,” Walters said. “We also work to honor requests by local residents, children and adults that might be in need of new eyeglasses. We also have several eyeglass collection boxes around Dexter where people can drop off their used glasses. The glasses are then sent to Grand Rapids. There, the glasses are repaired and donated to various medical organizations to be distributed to countries where there is a need for glasses.”

She said Helen Keller asked the Lions to be “Knights for the Blind.” That is the focus of the International Lions Club Organization.

Locally, Walters said the funds that they collect from their yearly projects are returned to the community in the form of High School Academic Scholarships, eyeglass requests and support for other community groups and activities.

The Lions Club Motto is “We Serve.”

“We, as members of the Dexter Lions Club, work to serve the Dexter Community and the world,” Walters said.

To learn more about the Lions, go to https://www.dexterlions.org/.