[Yarmouth, Maine – December 31, 2020] The Yarmouth Lions Club had broken a new record in 2020 for their Trees for Tuition holiday program, selling out over 360 Maine-grown Christmas trees in less than 18 hours.
As trees were being unloaded from the truck on Friday, November 27th, Yarmouth residents were arriving to pick out their tree, and by the end of the first weekend, almost all trees were sold. The remaining Lions trees sold over the next few days.
Each year, the Yarmouth Lions Club sells Christmas trees to raise money for scholarships awarded to deserving Yarmouth High School graduating seniors. By selling out of trees, the Lions will be providing thousands of dollars in scholarship awards to students selected by YHS advisors in 2021.
The Yarmouth Lions Club wishes to thank the many people in and around Yarmouth who have donated their used eyeglasses, lenses, and eyeglass cases to the National Lions Eyeglasses Recycling Project. Doug Carney, a Lion since 2013, shepherds our Yarmouth project. Doug reports that we collected 815 eyeglasses in 2020, somewhat less than 2019’s record-setting quantity due to the pandemic. The eyeglasses are processed by the regional Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center and distributed to needy people in developing countries where they have had the greatest impact.
A special thank you also goes out to the 5 Yarmouth and Freeport businesses below that currently host the eyeglass collection boxes:
The Lions would greatly appreciate your continued participation and support in this very worthy cause. For more information, please feel free to contact Doug Carney at 846-0863 and leave a message.
Having moved from out of state, I wanted to invest in my new community through volunteerism. I sat in on a Lions Club meeting and instantly saw how passionate the members were in caring for the well-being of Yarmouth and the wonderful people who live here.
At the start of every meeting Lions will toast each other with the following saying: “Not above you; Not beneath you; But always with you”
The Yarmouth Lions Club is an amazing group of folks from all walks of life. We have a lot of fun, while making a real positive impact for many neighbors who could use a hand.
Favorite Lions Club Memory
I’m a marketer by trade, so creating positive experiences for people is a natural passion of mine. I love sharing the excitement around the many service programs that the Yarmouth Lions create and participate in that generate so much good for the town.
My favorite Lions Club memories are made when we’re out in the community. No matter who you are with, or what you’re working on, you’re going to have a good time. I like to capture the fun on film and in pictures then create visual stories around WHY the Lions do what they do. We’ve made music videos to sell Christmas trees to raise money for scholarships, we’ve auto-tuned our Town Manager to celebrate 70 years of service, and even had orchestrated original music and dance moves around the “Where There’s a Need, There’s a Lion” theme for the Clam Festival parade – which won first prize and brought over 1 million views to the video.
3 Fun Facts About Jim:
Professional Experience: Marketing
Favorite Hobbies: Video and Graphic Design; Website Design; Learning about historical and modern technological and social innovations; Cycling; Hiking/Snowshoeing; Exploring Maine
Favorite thing about Yarmouth: A true sense of community
Lime Rickey and the new all-natural Lemon Lucy slush drink refresh Yarmouth Clam Festival attendees
[Yarmouth, Maine – July 20, 2019] With soaring humidity and temperatures hitting the mid and upper-90’s, attendees of the 2019 Yarmouth Clam Festival are dealing with one of the hottest weekends on record. This 3-day event typically draws over 120,000 visitors to the town of Yarmouth, Maine, making it one of the most popular Summer-time events in Southern Maine.
Despite the heat, thousands of people are enjoying all that the Clam Fest has to offer, relying on two of the festival’s staple beverages to keep the fun going: The Lime Rickey, sold by the Downeasters Barbershop Chorus, and the new Lemon Lucy slush offered by the Yarmouth Lions Club.
So Happy Together: Lemon Lucy and Lime Ricky
In 2018, two members of the Yarmouth Lions Club, Larry Forcier and Aaron Wilson, had developed a recipe for a lemon slush drink using 100% all-natural ingredients. They worked out a way to mass-produce it for Clam Fest, but were not sure what to call it. Knowing that the Lime Rickey had became the “must have” item at the Clam Fest food court for decades, the Lions decided on the name Lemon Lucy, as a nod to the Ricky and Lucy characters from classic TV series “I Love Lucy” starring Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball (who were real-life husband and wife). “We know that the Lime Rickey is beloved at Clam Fest,” said Larry Forcier, “so introducing the Lemon Lucy as a companion, but completely unique beverage in that it is the only lemon slush drink at Clam Fest, made the name a perfect choice.”
The 2018 Lemon Lucy pilot was a success, so Larry and Aaron figured out a way to ramp up Lemon Lucy production for the 2019 Clam Fest, without compromising freshness or quality. The only thing that was left to do was to get the word out.
Lions Club member Jim Albright, took to the streets (literally and digitally) with a multi-channel marketing campaign designed to not only inform would-be Lemon Lucy fans about the new slush drink, but also build awareness that 100% of all proceeds from Lemon Lucy sales go directly back into the community. The Lions Club is the only food vendor at Clam festival who donates all of their Clam Fest profits to supporting local nonprofits and service organizations.
Jim Albright creates marketing buzz for the new Lemon Lucy slush drink at the Yarmouth, Maine Clam Festival. 100% of proceeds from Lemon Lucy sales will fund local service organizations and projects.
Clam Fest Reactions to Lemon Lucy Slush
The Lemon Lucy promotion videos that Jim had produced have stacked over 1 million views on social media, and given the hot weather, local media outlets are reporting that Clam Festival visitors can cool off with both Lime Rickey AND Lemon Lucy. As of this writing, thousands of Lemon Lucy slush drinks have been purchased, already beating 2018 sales. This means that thousands of dollars will be donated to local service groups to help those in need.
The Yarmouth Lions Club wishes to thank the many people in and around Yarmouth, Maine who have donated their used eyeglasses, lenses, and eyeglass cases to the Lions Clubs International Recycle for Sight program in 2018. Lions Club member, Doug Carney, has been faithfully shepherding this the Club’s eyeglasses recycling program in Yarmouth, and reports that the Club had collected 1,512 eyeglasses over the last year – an amazing 77% increase over 2017!
Lions Club eyeglasses donation box located at the Hannaford Pharmacy counter in Yarmouth, Maine
All donated eyeglasses are collected, then processed by the regional Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center to then be distributed to people in developing countries where they have the greatest need.
A special thank you also to the five Yarmouth businesses below that currently host the eyeglass collection boxes: • Hannaford Supermarket (Pharmacy Counter): 756 US Rt. 1 • Maine Optometry PA (Front Entrance): 407 US Rt 1, Freeport • Merrill Memorial Library (Front Entrance): 215 Main Street • Yarmouth Recycling & Transfer Station (Book Shed): 659 East Main Street • Bayview Dental Associates (Front Entrance): 247 Portland Street
The Lions would greatly appreciate the continued participation and support from the community for this very worthy cause. To learn more, visit the Lions Vision program page, or contact Doug Carney at 846-0863 for more information.
