Lions Celebrate 50 Years

The Lions Club of Ravenswood will hold its 50-year gala celebration on Saturday night April 12 at Riccardo's by the Bridge. Throughout its history, the club has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to local charities, given assistance to the blind, provided seeing eye dogs for handicapped blind individuals, and has collected thousands of used eye glasses for distribution to Third World countries.

The Lions Club was started and formed by Joseph Calabrette (deceased), attorney at law, assemblymember in Albany and state Supreme Court Judge. The sponsoring associated clubs headed by John Bretone and Tom Perite guided us in the early years of our formation.

Initially there were 43 charter members which included James Paretti, many doctors, businessmen and store owners. The Club's Chaplain was Damian Pitcaithly and after serving many years, he went on to found the Samaritan House, which became one of the two largest centers of drug rehabilitation in New York state.

Under the aegis of the Ravenswood Lions, a women's "Lioness" Club was started in 1982, with Mary Robotti as its first president. With changes in the constitution of Lions International, the Lioness Club was merged into the Lions Club in 1992. The women have since played a pivotal role in furthering the goals of Lion's. The Club looks forward to its next 50 years of service to the community, as part of the largest international service organization in the world.