Lions eyeing record service project
Look for Lions Club locations for eyeglasses donations, donate at Lions Club events or call the club directly to contribute to their latest project. (Photo by Jacob Sturm)
By Jacob Sturm
news@mustangpaper.com
One of Mustang’s clubs is eying an immense record in its effort to help promote Mustang
beyond the community boundaries.
Mustang’s Lions Club intends to apply for a record attempt with the Guinness Book of World
Records with the goal of breaking the record for the longest chain of eyeglasses. Rob Estes, the
President of the Mustang Lions Club, said the Lions Club’s sole purpose is to serve and promote
Mustang, and stressed that as the motivation behind the future application.
So, what will go into this record attempt?
“I looked it up, and the current record is held by the New Jersey Lions Club,” Estes said. “It is
13,030 meters long, and it is over 100,000 spectacles. What we’re going to have to do is, to
beat that record we have to amass over 100,000 pairs of glasses, and then you have to rubber
band them to create a chain… So, we will be amassing eyeglasses at every opportunity.”
Estes hopes the city of Mustang will allow the group to build the chain at the Lions Club facility
once the pond maintenance is completed.
Currently, Estes said the club has more than 1,000 pairs of eyeglasses not turned in yet, along
with an additional box of nearly 300 pairs. A member of the Oklahoma Lions Service Foundation
indicated Oklahoma’s Lions Clubs have produced 44,165 pairs of eyeglasses since this past
August.
People interested in donating can bring those pairs to the April 22 Car Show and Craft Fair, drop
off pairs of glasses at numerous locations or call the Lions Club. IHOP will also be joining the
club and is providing a $5 Breakfast on the day of the show.
“After the Car Show, we’re going to be having an event called ‘Stuff the Trunk’,” Estes said.
“We’ve got a beautiful ’58 Chevrolet that we’re going to open up the trunk and that day we’re
just going to stuff the trunk with eyeglasses.”
A day for that event has not been officially determined as of press time.
“People need something to take away from the $3 gas,” Estes said “They need something to
take away from the high price of groceries. Here’s something that can make you feel good, and
the coolest thing is when you give a pair of glasses, you’re literally giving someone else in the
world sight. You’re giving them the ability to see. Again, everything that the Lions Club does,
every service we offer is free. These glasses, when we’re done, will be circulated worldwide for
free.”
Once an application is filled out, the club will have a year to complete the world record
eyeglasses chain project. Estes said the Lions Clubs in the State have been notified and asked
for help to complete the project.
There is also community help the club needs to achieve this goal.
“This is going to be a joint effort of everyone in Mustang, in the surrounding communities and
anyone that wants to do this (and) to make someone’s life better,” Estes said.
