Recognizing the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Texas Lions Camp

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Texas Lions Camp in Kerr County.

The Texas Lions Camp was incorporated as a 501(c)3 by the State of Texas on April 4, 1949. The polio epidemic was rampant during this time, and the Texas Lions were looking for ways to give children affected by polio a place where they could experience some normalcy in their lives. Congress passed two resolutions that authorized the sale of excess federal land surrounding the Kerrville Veterans Hospital. One of my predecessors, Congressman Ovie Clark Fisher, was instrumental in the passage of this legislation. Then-Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson was also an early supporter of Texas Lions Camp. Mr. Bill Mickelsen, a Lion from Kerrville, traveled tirelessly to Washington, DC to advocate for the ``Texas Lions League for Crippled Children'' camp in Texas. Mr. Mickelsen and his friend J.C. ``Buddy'' Murray created a detailed scale model of the Camp and eventually constructed the buildings.

However, one of the strings attached to the sale of five hundred and four acres was that the Lions had to raise $100,000 within six months to guarantee construction. In pursuit of these dollars, the Lions established their ``life membership status.'' A Lion was Governor of Texas at the time, Allan Shivers. He broadcasted over the radio a call for donations to the Camp. Mr. Jack Wiech served as the first president of Texas Lions Camp in Kerrville. He went on a speaking tour across the State to drum up donations. As the six-month deadline loomed, the Lions were still $20,000 short of their goal. Mr. Sealy McCreless of San Antonio wrote a check that pushed the Lions over their goal for the Camp fundraiser. The next step was to begin construction and raise $150,000 to cover those costs. The Lions hit the road again for a second fundraising campaign.

Mr. Herb Petry, the Lions Clubs International president at the time, said the Camp for special needs children ``is the best example of Lionism in action.'' Mr. Petry went on to say that ``what is being done in Kerrville under the banner of Texas Lionism must be pleasing in the sight of Him Who first taught us to serve, to be our brother's keeper, and to put the Golden Rule into practice.''

Mr. Mickelsen worked tirelessly for fifteen years to construct the Texas Lions Camp based on his original small-scale model. Famous Kerrville names, including Hal Peterson and Howard Butt of the HEB Grocery Company, donated resources to round out the construction and supplies for Camp.

Over the years, the Camp adapted to allow other special-needs children to participate. Children living with blindness, hearing and speaking disorders, and various crippled limbs all enjoyed Texas Lions Camp together. This defied the original prognostications of psychologists in the 1950s, who believed children with varying disabilities could not get along. However, they learned to help each other and combine their strengths to thrive. Several hundred adult blind were also trained at the Camp through a contract with the State of Texas for a couple decades into the 1980s.

Every summer, children with physical handicaps such as diabetes, down syndrome, polio, missing limbs, blindness, and other disabilities are accommodated every year at a weeklong camp session at no cost to their families. Over 82,000 children have attended Texas Lions Camp since it opened in 1949. The Camp motto is ``All Can Do!'' Campers experience a zip line, climbing wall, ropes course, fishing, boating, swimming, archery, arts and crafts, miniature golf, and much more. Therapeutic horseback riding was added in the 1980s and became a favorite pastime for campers. A more recent addition is the family camping experience, allowing the families of kids with special needs to experience Texas Lions Camp.

On a more personal note, my father, Don Roy, attended the Lions Camp in Kerrville when he was recovering from Polio in the 1950s, and still talks about the positive impact it had on him and the other children. I am grateful to the eight hundred Texas Lions Clubs International that work tirelessly to provide funds for children with special needs to attend Texas Lions Camp.

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