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TROY – The Troy Lions Club was proud to honor Lion Cassy Dygert with the revered Melvin Jones Fellowship Award at their meeting on January 19.

This award is the highest form of recognition for Lions Clubs world-wide and embodies humanitarian ideas consistent with the nature and purpose of Lionism. Melvin Jones was the founder of the Lions Club International, which began in 1917. Jones was a salesman from Chicago and enjoyed helping the community.

The Lions Club donates to the Lions Club International, which then allows the Club to give out an award periodically to a few deserving recipients. Once obtain a recipient, they are on a committee, which decides who else will eventually receive the award. Dygert is the tenth person on this committee at the Troy Lions Club.

Dygert has been passionate about serving the community as a Lion since joining back in 2009. She was immediately thrown into the Lion’s Den becoming Secretary in her second year. She served as secretary for three separate terms, as Vice President, as President and currently as Lion Tamer. For years she wrote the monthly Lions Roar Newsletter, chaired the Publicity/Public Relations and Concessions Committees and led the Troy Lions Relay for Life Team.
Currently she chairs the Audit/Budget Committee and takes an active role on the Christmas Basket Committee. She was instrumental in starting up the Trex Recycling Program in Troy and helped the Troy Lions move hundreds of pounds of plastic each year to recycling instead of to the Landfill. She then mentored other organizations including the Wells Jackson Lions and the Troy High School to continue the program. Recently she rallied the Lions members to install beautiful vintage lights along the Alparon Park Walkway.

Dygert was also involved in the startup of the Troy Lions Foundation Board, a 501(c)(3), in 2016 and served as Treasurer, Vice President, and most recently, as President. She is passionate about serving the underserved in the Troy Community which is the reason she joined the Troy Lions. She has gone above and beyond to serve both the Club and the community and is very deserving of the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award.

Dygert advised people receive this honor when a person serves as an officer and is on many committees, along with being very active in the club over the years. She stated, “it is a high honor and I’m very, very honored to be a recipient of this Award.”

There are more than 70 members currently with the Troy Lions Club, ranging in ages from 20 to 90 years old. Dygert stated it is a very diversed group of people with one purpose, to serve the community.

Each year they do receive a lot of new members. Anyone interested in being a member can reach out to them or a current member can invite someone in the community. Once someone sponsors a person, they invite them to a meeting. The membership committee votes on whether they accept them or not and once accepted, there is a big induction.

The Club has done different service things for the community, such as adopt the highway in between East Troy and Burlington, maintain the walkway between Troy and Alparon Park. They hold fundraisers, such as having the Bingo booth at the Troy Fair, a Raffle drawing in the fall and a golf tournament. They split up and share the work.

Dygert stated, “It is very good to give back to the community.”

If you happen to see Dygert out and about in the community, please Congratulate her!