The Woodbury Lions Club was sponsored by the Wildwood Lions Club from Mahtomedi and was chartered on January 17, 1969 with 45 charter members.  Its Charter Night Banquet was held on March 1, 1969.

Today the Woodbury Lions Club has 79 members who represent the broad diversity of interests in the community and include: employees of large and small businesses; business executives; small business owners; city, county, and state employees; public officials; and retirees.  This diversity helps the Woodbury Lions Club recognize the needs


The Woodbury Lions Club Statement of Purpose is: “The primary aim of the Woodbury Lions is service: First to the Club’s own community and second to the goals and objectives of the Lion’s International, in particular sight and hearing”.  In order to carry out this purpose, the Woodbury Lions raises about $30,000 a year that is then given back to the community.  The two annual fund raisers have become Woodbury community traditions.  The Pancake Breakfast has been held at Woodbury Junior High School every year since 1972.  The Woodbury Lions City wide garage sale was started in 1977 and has become a model for other Twin Cities Communities.

One of the first projects of the Woodbury Lions Club was to organize the Woodbury Ambulance Council and raise money to buy Woodbury’s first ambulance.  The Woodbury Ambulance Council consisted of 9 members: 5 Lions members, 2 Fire Department employees, 1 Jaycee and 1 City representative.  The Chair was always a Lion and the Vice Chair was always a fireman.  When the Jaycees became inactive, that seat was taken by a Lion. The Lions were responsible for funding the capital equipment and operating costs for the Emergency Ambulance Service in Woodbury for 25 years. The Woodbury Volunteer Fire Department, Inc of Woodbury housed and operated the ambulance. This cooperative effort created the basis for the ambulance system Woodbury has today.  In September 1995 the Woodbury Lions Club presented to the city of Woodbury a gift of 4 ambulances, all the necessary emergency equipment including radios, the operation license from the State of Minn., and $65,000 cash.

In 2008 the Woodbury Lions formed the Woodbury Lions Veterans Memorial Council. The council was created to design, develop, and help maintain a site that honors those citizens who have protected this nation by serving in the military.  This includes those who served in peacetime and during war. The council consists of volunteers from the Lions Club, city employees, veterans organizations, and citizens at large.  This council has built the Memorial between Woodbury City Hall and the Public Safety building on Valley Creek and Radio Drive.  The project is funded through the sale of pavers that recognizes the contributions of our veterans.

Today the money raised from the Pancake Breakfast and the Garage Sale is used to support many important projects.  These include: scholarships for graduating seniors who reside in Woodbury, the YMCA Partners with Youth, eye exams & glasses for needy residents, Woodbury Christian Cupboard, and hearing aids for needy residents.

Charter Members

Gregory Auge Clifford Baker Donald Barkley Orville Bielenberg Daniel Bowler John Currell Norman Goebel Ronald Grothe Dennis Hanson L. J. Hartmann Charles Hearnshaw Dee Lynn Johnson Derrick Jones James Kaster Donald Kelly Murray Keyes Phil Kohlhaas Eugene Kubiak Arlo Levi Bernard McKinley Richard Moore Lowell Morris Richard Mowery James Nadeau Carlton Olson William Pearson George Peck Warren Rada Ronald Reph Charles Robb Lee Robinette Gene Robinson Robert Rood Gordon Schmeiser Robert Sherbert Richard Stafford Gordon Stoffel James Stroop Allen Taylor John Tomlinson Thomas Tweed Gaston Vandermeerssche B. J. Walker Duane Winegar