A personal account of the origins of the Superior Lions Club food and gift program

Last Christmas in a story about the Superior Lion’s Club’s Christmas food and gift program you asked the Lion’s how it started.  Since the program began just after Christmas in 1957 or 58, all of the current Lion’s were too young to remember.  

This is what happened.   

There was a very nice young family with four daughters between the ages of infant and about 9 years old who had recently moved to Superior. The father was working.  The mother was a good manager.  I remember playing with the children.  

Their parents were kind, fun, loving, hard working, and movie star beautiful.  

There was some kind of genetic illness in their family that affected the children.  They had lost several babies; some of the surviving children had medical problems.  

All of this led to great financial difficulty and Christmas had come to their house without festival toys or food.  

Marvel Nichols, one of their nearby neighbors, learned of their circumstances on Christmas Day.  Mrs. Nichols had food but wanted to also at least get some toys for their children, however the stores were closed.

Her daughter Connie (now Ireland) had already given her own dolls to younger cousins, so that was not possible.  In desperation, Mrs. Nichols decided to call my family, Jo and Jim Howell, and my Uncle George, thinking that they might have some better ideas.   At least with four girls of their own, perhaps the Howell’s had some spare dolls.   

My folks decided they would buy new dolls for these little girls.  They called their friend Ed Freer, who owned the Gambles Store, but Freer’s were not home.  Clarence and Rosemary (later Conrow) LaCombe at the Grocery Store had carried a few dolls but they were all sold.  Similar situations happened with the Castles’ Store, the Riefflin’s at the pharmacy, at Pike’s drug store, Hilton’s grocery, Mayo’s Store and Pearl Boyer’s Variety Store.  

So, my more generous sisters each gave their dolls, my baby sister contributed two (notice I did not give any) and my folks added food for a dinner.  After Christmas, George told the story at the Lion’s Club.

All the Lion’s wanted to prevent such a situation from happening in Superior again.  The Lion’s knew the generous people of Superior would gladly help their neighbors.  

The store owners volunteered to collect the toys.  Lion’s members found families who might benefit, then packaged and delivered food and gifts.  I do not know what happened with the original family, they left Superior before 1960, but their struggles have moved hearts for over 40 years.