BUCHANAN — The Buchanan-Galien Lions Club hosted its annual high school Senior Athlete Night on March 22, at the American Legion Ralph Rumbaugh Post #51.

Senior Athlete Night is a long-standing tradition of the Lions Club. The evening is an opportunity to recognize senior athletes for their athletic and academic achievements and increase their awareness of the Lions Club and the value of all service groups to the community of Buchanan. Those who attended enjoyed a meal prepared by Bill Kechkaylo. This year’s group consisted of 44 athletes, 10 coaches, 13 Lions and Mike Young, the guest speaker and former Buchanan High School athletic director.

To kick off the evening, Mark Tumbleson, the club president, welcomed all in attendance and introduced Lion Jeff Curry, master of ceremonies. Curry spoke of the history of the senior athlete dinner tradition and how much the Lions look forward to hosting this event each year. He then introduced Lonnie Hoover, a Buchanan High School athletic director, who thanked the Lions for hosting the evening and had each coach introduce themselves. Each athlete then had opportunity to share their name, future plans and most memorable sports moment.

Dinner was followed by each Lion giving their background of Lion service years and what being a Lion means to them.

Curry introduced Young, who gave the senior athletes a pep talk and some advice about life. Young worked a total of 38 years in public education before retiring in 2006. He taught and coached at both St. John’s and Colon, Michigan, before moving to Buchanan in 1976.

Young started his BHS career as head football and track coach and then advanced to serve 22 years as athletic director and assistant principal in Buchanan. He spoke of many of his own coaching opportunities, memories and experiences. He challenged the athletes to begin preparing for their next stage of life. He emphasized how important it is to develop a network of friends, contacts and references that will become invaluable to their future career growth. 

Young also engaged the coaches several times throughout his program, both to keep them on their toes, and seek to keep the event light hearted. Young said he was proud to announce that all seven of his children graduated from Buchanan and 17 of his 20 grandchildren are currently enrolled in the Buchanan school system.

Tumbleson spoke of the Lions club and their service to the community. Buchanan Lions Club was founded in 1934 and merged with Galien Lions Club in 2013. The word “lions” stands for Liberty, Intelligence, Our Nation’s Safety.

The Lions are the largest service organization in the world, with 1.4 million members in 205 countries around the world. The Lions’ primary focus is vision improvement, but each local club member also assists the community in a wide variety of service activities- hence their motto “We Serve.”

Most recently the Lions chartered a Leo Club (a junior Lions club for high school students) and were very involved in the underwriting and promotion of the Buchanan Promise program.

Tumbleson closed by encouraging the students to consider making community service a priority in their life.

Curry closed the evening by thanking everyone for taking time to attend,. He said he hoped they learned something and enjoyed the evening. He thanked the athletes and coaches for their dedication to the various Buchanan sport teams. He closed with his all-time favorite saying: “Once a Buck, always a Buck.”