Village Lions Honor Three East Hampton Residents

The Village Lions honored three East Hampton residents on June 12 at Angelico’s Lake House Restaurant. Joan Youngs was named their Citizen of the Year for 2012, Kristina Lintz was the winner of the Third Grade Essay Contest at Memorial Elementary School, and Adam Michaud was their High School Scholarship winner. 

After welcoming Lions and guests, President Linda Brogan highlighted some of the projects in which the Village Lions is involved, both globally, such as saving sight world-wide and more importantly, locally, contributing to community-based projects for our town.

Each year since 1998 the Village has chosen a Citizen of the Year for East Hampton. Lion Nancy Kraft presented this year’s recipient, Joan Youngs, with a plaque for her home. For many decades Joan gave tireless service to the Red Cross and the local Food and Fuel Banks. Joan’s name has also been added to the list of other awardees on the plaque in the East Hampton Public Library.  Look for her in the Old Home Day Parade.

For nearly two decades, the Village has also sponsored a third grade essay contest to promote good writing skills at an early age. Each year the third grade teachers at Memorial Elementary School assist the Village Lions in finding a student who writes passionately about a theme. This year’s theme was “Who is Your Hero?” Teachers chose the top three essays then turned the stories over to the Village Lions for final judging. In May, representatives from the Club attended a school assembly to present certificates and gifts to all the semifinalist writers. The grand-prize winner was Kristina Lintz, who wrote a stirring essay on why her Mom, Ruth Lintz, was her hero. A plaque, with the engraved name of each grand-prize winner from previous years is displayed in the foyer of the Memorial Elementary School. Kristina’s name has been engraved on the plaque.

At the recognition dinner, Mari Bentley, chairperson of the essay contest, introduced Kristina and her family to the Club. Kristina enthusiastically read her essay and answered questions about her school and her family. 

Lastly, the club honored its High School Scholarship winner. The Scholarship is presented to a student who has shown academic promise, demonstrated service to their community and school, financial need, and who wrote a persuasive essay describing something important to them. This year’s recipient is Adam Michaud, one of many commendable applicants. Although he was unable to attend the recognition dinner, Lion Mike Brogan spoke of Adam’s accomplishments and announced Adam will be attending Southern Vermont College where he will pursue a career in the field of nursing. Adam accepted the Village Lions Scholarship at the High School’s Annual Awards Night. He also joined the Village Lions at their June 26th installation night dinner to receive his check.