Great things are happening with the Elizabethtown Lions Club, and that's great news for the community. The Lions have a number of initiatives in the works, said John Lerch, club treasurer.

"We are bringing bingo back to the Elizabethtown Fair," he noted. "We did it for 40-plus years but stopped a number of years ago. We'll be offering it every evening from 6 to 9 p.m., and we'll be holding senior bingo on Wednesday (Aug. 24) from 2 to 4 p.m." The fair will run from Monday, Aug. 22, through Saturday, Aug. 27, at the fairgrounds, 900 E. High St.

The Lions are also working on bringing military banners to Elizabethtown to honor heroes who have served, Lerch said. "This is in the works, but we're looking to collect names of people who are interested in participating," he stated.

On Saturday, Sept. 17, the Lions Club will hold a car show and chicken barbecue at the Rheems Fire Department, 350 Anchor Road, Elizabethtown. Tickets will be for sale during bingo at the fair as well as at other locations throughout Elizabethtown. "We'll also be holding a blood drive with the Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank that day," Lerch noted.

Along with community events, the Lions Club honors a Lancaster County Career and Technology Center student from the Elizabethtown Area School District each month during the school year. "We discovered that this was an underserved area in terms of honoring these students," Lerch explained. "We want to highlight their achievements."

The Lions Club also has a mission of giving back to the community, Lerch noted, with a focus originally on helping to eradicate blindness. "That's one of the main focuses as a national organization," Lerch said, noting that the Lions Club collects used eyeglasses. "We're also about supporting our immediate Elizabethtown community. We do a lot to address needs right here, whether it's supporting the fire department, ECHOS, the food bank or students in the school district."

He emphasized that the Lions are looking for even more projects to support. "If people are aware of a need that is not being served in the community, we'd like to know about it," he said. "We'll look at it and determine, 'Is this something we can address, or do we need to get a partner organization to help?' We can't help if we don't know there's a need."

He also encouraged anyone who's interested to come to a Lions Club meeting to learn more about the club. The group meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month at the Elizabethtown Fire Department, 171 N. Mount Joy St. Meetings begin at 6:15 p.m. with a meal and typically include a speaker. "We bring in people on a wide variety of subjects," Lerch said. "Our meetings are also an opportunity for fellowship and fun, and they are a chance to get together to work on upcoming projects like the car show or bingo. Our service projects are a great opportunity to get to know each other."

For more information on the Elizabethtown Lions Club, contact Greg Hitz at 717-367-6616 or ghitz@comcast.net.