Chartered in 1951, on April 23rd, Fairfax Lions celebrated at the Chantilly National Country Club 72 years of service to the Fairfax community.

The top Lion officer in Northern VA, District Governor Rose Burrus, spoke of personal satisfaction from participating in community service helping others.

Fairfax Club President Greg DeRosa receives top individual award for a Lion – Melvin Jones Fellowship. Karen DeRosa accepts the award pin from Bill Bartlett, to pin on Greg.

The “CHARTER” establishing Fairfax Lions Club:

Our guest speaker, at our March 7th meeting, was VA State Assembly Delegate David Bulova.  David represents VA’s 37th District which includes the City of Fairfax and parts of Fairfax County.  David is a life-long resident of Fairfax and works for us to build a vibrant and caring community, with common-sense leadership in the General Assembly to continue to build on our quality of life and to invest in our future.

David started his talk with a short VA civics quiz, and most of quickly realized we do not know too much about the VA legislature that originated 400 years ago (1619) as the VA General Assembly – the legislative body for the Colony of VA.  The House of Burgesses was added in 1642.  See:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Burgesses

At this meeting, he told us about the progess made in the recent legislative session, areas of common agreement and where differences exist.  David believes in working with, and not against, county and city governments to solve common challenges.  He also believes strongly in the value of public service, responsibility, honesty, hard work, and fairness. 

Gerard Culipher, Deputy Clerk of Fairfax County’s courts, spoke to Fairfax Lions at their Feb 7 meeting, on “Tips on Fraud Prevention.”

For 35 years, Lions Clubs have encouraged youth (age 11-13) to create art posters reflecting peace.  Those children everywhere have the chance to express their visions of peace and inspire the world through art and creativity. 

This year’s Peace Poster contest theme was “Lead with Compassion.” Congratulations to Meryem Gurbuz, of Rocky Run Middle School, for winning the Fairfax Lions Club Peace Poster Contest and two cash awards. In addition, Meryem’s poster will be featured on the cover of this year’s program for Student Peace Awards of Fairfax County.

Fairfax Lions held their January 17th dinner meeting at the Pan Am restaurant, during the temporary closure of the American Legion facility.

Ashleigh Conrad of the local office of “Girls on the Run” told us about their activities with girls between grades 3-8, to underscore the connection between physical and emotional health, and address the whole  girl when she needs it the most. See: https://www.girlsontherun.org/

Guests are cordially welcome to visit any Lions Club meeting. Email us at: info@fairfaxlions.org or leave a message at 703-879-5795.

On December 19th, Lions Cub members assembled holiday food baskets to present through our partner – Main Street Child Development Center – to 30 qualified local families.