Oakland Lions induct four new members

OAKLAND — The Oakland Lions Club on Oct. 3 inducted four new members into the club.
President Ray Watson said it was special to have four new young members in the the club. “With many young people today having such busy schedule,s it is great to see these men willing to serve their community,” he said.
Three of the inductees — Ben Weeks, Tom Weeks-Williams and Ted Weeks — are grandsons of Past District Governor Wayne Weeks. Ted and Ben are also sons of current Oakland Lions members. The fourth new Lion, Richard Rimkus, is from Lithuania and immigrated to the United States with his mother when he was 11 years old.
Recruiting new members is a priority today for service organizations. The Lions Club is the largest service organization in the world with emphasis on sight preservation. The Oakland Lions Club has a SPOT camera that takes a picture of the child’s eye and can help detect the possible presence of six vision problems that can be effectively treated if caught early. These eye disorders include near-sightedness, far-sightedness, astigmatism, eye misalignment, unequal refractive power, and unequal pupil size.
In the last three years, the club has screened close to 200 children per year, with about 15% having at least one of the six vision problems. Of those children, 75% were between 8 months and 6 years old, although children as young as 6 months can be screened. The remaining 25% have been 6 years and up. The screening if done mostly through school programs.
For more information about the sight preservation program and other Lions service projects, or information on how to become a member of the Oakland Lions Club, contact Watson at rjwatson@roadrunner.com.

PHOTO: The Oakland Lions Club recently inducted four new members. Taking part in the ceremony were, from left, John Weeks; Ben Weeks; Tom Weeks-Williams; Raymond Watson, president of the Oakland Lions Club; Ted Weeks; Wayne Weeks, past district governor; Richard Rimkus; Tia Knapp, district governor. (Submitted photo)