Mountain Roar

By Lion Milt Fox 

Thank you for attending our Swimming Lessons dinner, held on Saturday May 2nd. What a great Mexican dinner! We had a nice turnout of 125 customers, with lots of kids attending, who enjoyed the Piñatas. The dinner was chaired by Lions Craig Calvert and Nolberto Perez, along with Norberto’s wife Benita and a crew of hard working Lions.Thanks to Mountain Building Supply, Welches Clackamas County Bank, Brightwood Tavern, Mt. Hood Cannabis, Coffee House 26, and the Whistle Stop Tavern for the sale of our presale tickets. Proceeds from this dinner help with funding for our Swimming Lessons program.

Remembering Lion Fred Thornberg: Lion Fred Thornberg passed away May 4th – a great loss to his family, his community, and our club. Fred was over 100 years old, celebrating his 100th (born September 15th, 1925) birthday September 15th, 2025.

Fred became a member of the Mt. Hood Lions Club in October of 1970. He was elected to Life Membership in April 2001 and was honored as a 50-year member in October 2020. Lion Fred served as a member of the Mt. Hood Lions Club longer than any member ever, over 55 years. He served on our club’s Board of Directors for over 20 years, and designed our present clubhouse. Fred loved working in the kitchen, chairing many club dinners. Our thoughts are with the entire Thornberg family. We miss you, Fred!

Coming Up:

Get your children signed up! Free Swimming Lessons will be held again this year at the Camp Arrah Wanna pool. We are able to offer these lessons free of charge to Welches School students and local Mountain children. Lessons will begin on Monday, June 15th and last through Friday, June 19th. They will begin again on Monday June 22nd and last through Friday, June 26th. We are offering beginner, intermediate, and advanced lessons. Exact times will be scheduled and families contacted. Our Swimming Lessons Program is chaired by Lion David Buoy. Lion Patti Buoy is heading up the registration and scheduling of students. Lion Patti has informed us that we are nearing our student capacity limit. Registration forms are available at Welches School. Patti will also be posting online at Next  Door Tim Rim as well as the Mt. Hood Facebook page. We are limited to 95 students, and the first completed registration forms will be first on the list. If necessary, we will have a waiting list. 

Blood Drive June 27th! We will be hosting a Red Cross Blood Drive on Saturday June 27th. Hours are 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. To schedule your appointment or for more information, please call 1-800-RED-CROSS or visit www.redcrossblood.org; Sponsor Code: MtHoodLionsClub Streamline your donation experience and save up to 15 minutes by visiting RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass to complete your pre-donation reading and health history questions on the day of your appointment. 

 Chuckwagon Breakfast: Please plan to attend our “Chuckwagon Breakfast” on Saturday, July 4th and Sunday, July 5th.  Hours are from 7:00am to 12:00pm both days. Tickets at the door are $6.00 for kids 10 and under and $14.00 for adults. Special adult presale tickets are available for $12.00 at Welches Mountain Building Supply, Welches Clackamas County Bank, Brightwood Tavern, Whistle Stop Tavern, Mt. Hood Cannabis, and Coffee House 26, or ask any Lion. Lion Candice Kelly is this year's Breakfast Chairwoman. A mountain tradition since 1958, we’ll be serving bacon, sausage, eggs, and hotcakes, with coffee and juice. We will be offering raffle items and our famous “Turkey Shoot” as well. We are having a car show on Saturday July 4th. If you would like to show your favorite car, spaces are available for $20.00 per car. Please contact Lion David Anderson at (971) 373-3869 for more details. So come out and enjoy a great meal and Mountain Tradition. Hope to see you there! 

Club Fund Raising Projects

Our club has needed fundraising projects to support our many programs. Most of these programs were health or youth related, and most of the community betterment type of projects were where Lion labor (sweat) was involved.

The first fundraising project that the club ever did was an auction. It was held very shortly after the club was chartered in 1951, and funds supported swimming lessons and health. This first auction was at the old Indian Pageant, where it was held for a few years until the club got its own building. The club held an auction every year for many years. It was always a great fundraiser. It was discontinued about 2016. 

This is pretty unique, I bet we’re the only Lions Club that ever had a Peeler Tree Sale! Few people can tell you what a “Peeler Tree” is. For several years, we were able to harvest one big Douglas Fir tree. They’re used for making plywood: the log is peeled into veneer on a giant lathe. The tree was harvested by Brightwood Logging Company (owned by Walter Koch), free of any charges, and hauled and sold to Milwaukie Plywood, earning the club up to $600, a lot of money in those days. 

The first Chuckwagon Breakfast was held in 1958. It was held at the mule pasture at Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp Zig Zag (now US Forest Service), just off of Lolo Pass Road. The breakfast was held there for two years. Then it moved to the old club when the new pavilion was completed. Funds made from the breakfast supported health, swimming lessons, and youth programs. The breakfast continues today and is our club's longest continuing fundraising project. Our largest breakfast was held at the old club where we served over 1,700 customers. The floor was covered with freshly cut Doug fir sawdust, which smelled wonderful. In 2024 we added a car show to our chuckwagon breakfast, and we hope it will continue to be popular.

Bingo began, in the very early 1970s. It has always been a good way to raise funds for the club. Today it funds two of the club’s $1000 scholarships, with any remainder going to help support other club projects and our building.

Raffles are usually a good way to raise funding. Twice our club, with the help of Pete Carlson Chevrolet in Sandy, raffled a brand new Chevrolet pickup truck. We got the truck for a special dealer price and sold a lot of tickets. 

The first truck (1968) raffle was to help a family who tragically lost their home in a fire. The fire also cost the life of the mother and one daughter. The pickup was won by Brown Enterprises, the developer of Timberline Rim. Brown Enterprises donated the truck to the family whose home and loved ones had been lost in the fire. 

The second truck (1978) raffle was used, along with the help of other fundraisers (crab feed, Italian dinner) along with plays for entertainment, to fund a new ($10,000) Heart Aid machine. The Heart Aid machine was donated by the Lions to the Hoodland Fire Dept. 

Most of the club's fundraising is done through dinners, since we moved into the present club in 1991. We are very well supported by our community members and businesses, and we as a club are very grateful for this wonderful support. 

 It’s great to be a Lion.