Here is the Polo Lions Club Officers for 2008/2009.

(Not in order) President, Judy Bocker;  1^st VP – Terry Naylon (not pictured);  2^nd VP – Scott Armstrong;

3^rd VP – Eileen Ebert;  Secretary – Curt Erickson;  Treasurer – Jeremy Heller;

2^nd Year Director – Gary Chipman;  2^nd Year Director – Dennis Christen;  1^st Year Director – Dave Bucher

1^st Year Director – Janice Wagner;  Tail Twisters – Mark Ebert, Randy Ocken (not pictured) and Lyle Printz (not pictured)

Lion Tamer – Paul Wiemken;  Membership Chair – Bill Lane;  Pianist – Paula Rademacher (not pictured)

Chorister – Gene Schmidt;  Bulletin Editor – Paula Rademacher (not pictured)

The Belvidere Lions Club Installed their new officers for 2008-2009. Doing the installation were DGE Judy Shaw and her assistant was PDG Duane Shaw. Everyone had a great time and the food was wonderful. This year's event took place at the Bel Mar Country Club in Belvidere.

Time is being preserved in Belvidere, thanks to the Belvidere Lions Club. On June 28^th, 2008 at the new “Hub Plaza” the Belvidere Lions Club turned over ownership of a clock they purchased for the City.

On Tuesday the 24^th Lions Bill Villont, Club Secretary and Project Chairman, along with President Chris Montalbano, drove to Rock Island Illinois to the Fancy Street Clock Company and picked up the clock and delivered it to the construction site.

The project began when Lion Villont saw an article in a magazine about the street clocks and since Belvidere has never had an official City Clock; Villont thought it would be a great project for the Lions Club. One day by chance, Lion Villont ran into the mayor, Mayor Fred Brereton, at a local bank and said that he had a project he would like to discuss with him. Villont told the mayor about his idea and the mayor immediately got a big smile on his face. He, the mayor, related to Villont that the city was in the process of establishing the Hub Plaza and had intentions of putting up a town clock but it was not in the city’s budget to purchase the clock. The city was going to run the conduit and wiring in preparation for a future clock not knowing when they would be able to get one installed.

Well, the timing could not have been better. The Belvidere Lions club had recently been named in a trust from a local farming couple who left a 20 year trust to ten local agencies, the Lions being one of them. In an effort to come up with a project to use some of the money, and to honor the couple for their kind donation to the club, Lion Villont came up with the clock idea.

When he ran into the mayor, Villont wanted to know what the requirements, special permits, zoning changes etc. that were needed to do such a project and the mayor said that none were needed and when did we want to put the clock up. After a meeting with the mayor, Lion Villont and the mayor agreed that they would like to dedicate and reveal the clock at the city’s Heritage Days Celebration during the weekend of June 27^th-29^th. Lion Villont contacted the clock company and they said it was possible to get the clock built by the middle of June and ready for installation in time for the celebration.

A formal presentation was made by Lion Villont at the Committee of the Whole for the City Council and the committee unanimously accepted the Lions offer to purchase the clock and donate it to the city. At the next week’s City Council Meeting, the proposal was unanimously passed and the clock was ordered, later received and unveiled at the Heritage Days Celebration.

The clock was unveiled at 1:15 P.M. on June 28^th during a short ceremony where the Mayor, Director of the local Belvidere Museum, Lion Villont, and Janet Knutson (wife of Lion Del Knutson) gave short talks about the project and the couple who made it all possible. The couple leaving the trust was Harold and Marjorie Pratt of rural Boone County. The clock was dedicated in their honor and will be named “The Harold and Marjorie Pratt Memorial Clock”.

The clock “The American Eagle Clock” stands 16 feet tall and has four faces with the Lions Logo adorning each face. The clock lights up at night and is an atomic clock so it will always display the proper time. Anyone setting their watches or clocks by the City Clock can be assured of accuracy and will always be reminded that the Lions are alive and still active in the City of Belvidere. (Photos are included with article.) (Cost of the project to Lions Club, excluding City labor, $16,600.00).

To download the flyer for posting on your club's bulletin board or for mailing, go to the download page  and open and print the flyer for the Cooking with Chris class: