by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewlseaders.com
Of all the 21 members who signed the Lions charter in Sartell 50 years ago, only one is still among the living – Charlie Schafer, 86, who now lives in Sauk Rapids but who remains a loyal, active Sartell Lions member.
Just last April, the only other surviving member, Dale Sorell, passed away.
Schafer can still remember signing the document that gave birth to the Sartell Lions Club a half century ago, on Oct. 27, 1965 at the old Sartell Village Hall. The formation of the Sartell Lions was sponsored by the Sauk Rapids Lions Club, which was chartered way back in the 1920s.
Schafer and younger Lions, like Mike DeLuca, are looking forward to the 50 birthday celebration they are planning for this fall at the Blue Line Bar and Grill in Sartell. DeLuca, who joined the Sartell Lions 17 years ago, hailed originally from Connecticut. He vividly remembers how Schafer became one of his mentors in the club, helping guide him in so many projects.
Recently, Schafer and DeLuca met with the Sartell Newsleader at Schafer’s Sauk Rapids assisted-living apartment to talk about their years as Lions. Despite his age, Schafer is very bright, very alert, with a sharp memory and a keen sense of humor.
“There were only about 690 people in Sartell when we founded the Lions Club,” Schafer said. “At that time I was co-chair along with Bob Borgert. One our first projects was putting in a tennis court at Watab Park.”
In the five decades, the Sartell Lions did so many good projects it would take a book to list them all: constant help for the vision-impaired, scholarships for students, donations for any good cause that came down the pike, recycling and clean-up programs, purchasing defibrillators for the school system and the police department, helping Scouting programs, contributing time and money to schools, and in more recent years raising money for and then developing Lions Community Park in Sartell across from city hall – a project DeLuca spearheaded.
One-hundred percent of donated money to the Lions goes for good-cause projects. Operational money comes from dues paid by members.
“It’s good to see what can be done locally, naturally and intentionally thanks to the Lions,” Schafer said.
The camaraderie and team work were very special, both men agreed. Then they began to reminisce about members present and past, many now deceased, and how they were all valued and respected by other members.
“I had so much support from members like Charlie (Schafer) and Bob Borgert and Jack Paulsen and so many others,” DeLuca said.
“We learned if you make the right connections, you can move mountains,” Schafer said. “We learned that from the Lions Club.”
At the 50th birthday celebration (time and date to be announced later), the Lions plan to have guests and guest speakers that will include a member of Lions International, at least one of the past directors, a past district governor and the current district governor. There will also be former Sartell mayors and possibly the current one, Sarah Jane Nicoll. Awards will be given. And there will be plenty of feasting, the drinking of toasts and happy memories.
Schafer
Charlie Schafer was born in St. Cloud Hospital and raised on a farm east of St. Cloud. He graduated from Sauk Rapids High School, became a building contractor and later a brakeman and then a conductor for the Great Northern Railroad. He spent almost 43 years with the railroad before retiring in 1992.
He married Delores Madsen of St. Cloud in 1953, and they had two boys, two girls. One of their sons, Craig, died in a snowmobile accident at age 40.
The Schafers moved to Sartell from St. Cloud in 1932 after they bought a place along the river. In 1995, they moved from there into a patio home in the city.
Schafer has many awards from the Sartell Lions, including Champion Christmas-Tree Seller of 1969 when he sold more trees than he could count. He has attended virtually every meeting in the 50-year history of the Sartell Lions, and he is still a very active member of the club.
DeLuca
When Mike DeLuca joined the Sartell Lions 17 years ago, he didn’t know the main mission of Lions International was to help the blind and the visually impaired, an ongoing project suggested by the renowned Helen Keller, who was blind all of her life.
DeLuca was pleasantly surprised at the club’s mission because his own mother, Charlotte Oakerson, had gone almost totally blind gradually, the result of macular degeneration.
She lived most of her childhood in the Detroit Lakes area. Later, she met her husband-to-be, Frank DeLuca, when they were both in the U.S. Army. Frank was born in Stamford, Conn. and that is where they lived for many years, along with Mike and his brother, Steve.
After Frank and Charlotte retired in Arizona, their health began to deteriorate, including Charlotte’s vision problems. They then moved to Minnesota to be closer to Charlotte’s family. Mike found them a place in Sartell where he had also moved.
DeLuca has won many awards from the Lions for spearheading many good-deed projects, particularly for his long-term ambitious and successful development of Lions Community Park, which is accessible for the visually impaired and people who are blind.
The charter
When he visited Schafer’s apartment, DeLuca brought with him the original framed copy of the Sartell Lions Charter from 50 years ago. There on the large charter document were the signatures of the men who signed it, with Schafer’s third from the bottom.
The other names, in order, are Raymond Stoner, Charles Laudenbach, George Hovanes, W. R. Steven, Harold Penny, Jim Opatz, Claude Kosbab, William E. Johnson, Hisle Cashman, Dean G. Stevens, Donald Gilman, Ripley Sartell Sr., Dewey Sullivan, Dale Sorell, Jerry O’Driscoll, Ripley Sartell Jr., Orebie Webber, Bill Galarneault, Floyd Detlefsen, LeRoy Schulte. The signatories from the Sauk Rapids Lions Club on the document are John Vogt, secretary; and Dr. Walter Campbell, president.
All of those names are bound to be remembered fondly and celebrated happily at the big birthday party.
Sartell Lions members Mike DeLuca (left) and Charlie Schafer hold up the original Lions charter signed 50 years ago in Sartell Village Hall by new Lions members, among them Schafer, who is still an active member of the club. Schafer is the only surviving original charter member of the 21 men who signed the document. The club is about to celebrate its 50th birthday party, which DeLuca is helping to organize. Behind the men are some of the awards given to Schafer throughout the five decades. At left is his Lions bell.
Guests of honor in the Sartell SummerFest 1991 parade were Lions members Jack Paulson (left) and Tim O’Driscoll, driven in style by Jan Sorell. O’Driscoll’s father, Jerry, was one of the founding charter members of the Sartell Lions 50 years ago.
Sartell SummerFest 1992, hosted by the Lions Club, featured a carnival in Val Smith Park.
Dale Sorell, who passed away just two months ago, was one of the last two surviving members of the 21 men who signed the charter establishing the Sartell Lions Club years ago. This photo was taken at the Sartell SummerFest Carnival (June 13, 1992), an event originally started by the Sartell Lions.
