ATHOL — Immediate Past President of the Athol Lions Club Luanne Pierson of Orange was presented two prestigious awards during the club’s annual year-end awards banquet. It was the first time in the club’s 68-year history that a member won both awards in one year.
She received the Melvin Jones and Joseph J. Camarda awards. Recipients are chosen separately by secret ballot among members.
The Joseph J. Camarda Fellowship Award is given to a Lion or non-Lion, group or institution that has gone above and beyond in helping to prevent eye disease and preventable blindness. It is the highest honor that District 33-A gives for outstanding service and dedication to one’s community.
Pierson, who has been a Lion for nine years, launched a successful annual project two years ago recognizing “White Cane Safety Day,” an international holiday proclaimed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 and observed on Oct. 15 each year.
Pierson organizes Lions demonstrations in Athol to promote awareness that the white cane, a symbol of a blind person’s ability to navigate streets and sidewalks, is as important as a stop sign. Massachusetts White Cane Law states that all motorists upon seeing a pedestrian who uses a guide dog or white cane at a street crossing must come to a complete stop.
It has been Pierson’s goal to bring awareness to the law to allow blind or sight-impaired individuals greater access to their communities. A $500 donation in Pierson’s name was donated to the Sight & Hearing Conservation Fund, established with the purpose of assisting Lions of District 33A with sight and hearing cases.
The award was established in 1971 to honor an extraordinary club member from District 33A, Joseph J. Camarda, who served in many capacities as a Lion and became an international director representing Massachusetts.
The Melvin Jones Fellowship Award, named after the founder of Lions Clubs International, is the highest form of recognition given to an individual on the international level and embodies humanitarian ideas consistent with the nature and purpose of the Lions. In recognition of Pierson’s humanitarian work on the local, state and national levels, a donation of $1,000 was presented to the Lions Club International Foundation in her name.
She received wood plaques for each award and lapel pins designating each fellowship.
Pierson is active on the local and district levels, and has been selected by the District 33A governor to serve as zone chairwoman for the 2017 to 2018 year. She will be responsible for the Lions Clubs in: Athol, Barre, Hubbardston, Orange, Petersham, Phillipston and Westminster.