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Lorenz A. Loos
Lion of the Year Memorial Award
For many years, our club has recognized the hard work of its members by selecting an honoree. But for the Saginaw Downtown Lions Club, we have extended this honor into a very unique award; one that is very personal to our club.
In 1999, we lost one of our most caring and arguably most prolific members in the long and storied history of our club, Lion Lorenz A. Loos. From 1942 up until his death – a span of 57 years – Lion Loos dedicated his life to the Saginaw Downtown Lions Club. All of us who remember him recall his efforts to help the people in our community and the countless hours he spent doing so. A complete listing of his acts of goodwill would be too lengthy to list here tonight.
But of the many things, we remember most Lion Larry’s graceful wit and intriguing antidotes during “Education” at weekly meetings. Even if we had no clue what he was talking about, which was more times than I can count, somehow it always sounded better coming from Lion Larry. And we also remember his two favorite projects: Mint Sales and the Children’s Christmas Party. Actually, calling them just projects fails to set the tone for how Lion Larry treated them. If it were in book form it would have been titled, “The Laws of Mints and Christmas According to Lion Loos”. These two events are the two things that set him apart from anyone else.
Any of us that ever had the honor of working UNDER Lion Loos for either of these two projects knew exactly how much they meant to him. This was evident from his monthly deposit of several hundred dollars of mint money, to his near-weekly request for a full accounting of mint sales, to pressing the Board -- not once or twice -- but each year to allow for more Christmas presents for the children.
Among his many achievements in his 57 years in the club, Lion Loos was a Life Member, Lifetime Achievement recipient and a Melvin Jones Fellow, which is the highest award given by Lions International. But for the Saginaw Downtown Lions Club, our version of the Melvin Jones Fellow is the Lion of the Year award.
In early 1999, the Board looked to honor Lion Larry in a way that was as unique as Lion Larry himself. Plans were made to present Lion Loos with the Lifetime Achievement award. But without much warning, Lion Loos left us just a few short weeks before he was to be given the award at the annual Appreciation Dinner. With some of Lion Larry’s family in attendance, the award was given to him posthumously. No one could argue that Lion Larry did not deserve the Lifetime Achievement award, but many of us on the Board felt something was missing in it all. Soon would come the idea to have a perpetual award, to be given each year, in Lion Loos’ name. This new award would provide a permanent means to remember and honor him; to recognize his tireless efforts; an award that exemplified his dedication to his beloved organization. It was then determined that the otherwise generic “Lion of the Year” award would bear his name, giving it exceptional significants to our Lions Club.
It was therefore accepted that the Lion of the Year award was to be rightfully and officially renamed, “Lorenz A. Loos Lion of the Year Memorial Award”.
The new basis of this award is to honor a current member who, over the past year, most exemplified like-dedication, hard work and contributions to our club – akin to the documented efforts of its namesake. To our club, this award represents the new level by which all other members and all other awards are judged.
To have your name etched on this plaque is one of the greatest honors any member of this club may receive. May it encourage each of us to strive to do better than good – to be the best and excel beyond what is expected of each of us. These are the same qualities in how we came to know Lion Loos. Vow to yourself that in the next twelve months you will excel beyond what is expected from you so that on this date next year you may be honored with this coveted award. Take it from someone who is humbled beyond description to be listed on this plaque, you will never regret it!
This special recognition in the Saginaw Downtown Lions Club will forever be linked to the tremendous contributions Lion Loos offered to the Saginaw community and to our Club.
Let us never forget.