100 years strong: Mount Kisco Lions Club honored for a century of service

MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. – The Mount Kisco Lions Club reached an amazing milestone this year, celebrating 100 years of community service.

In presenting representatives of the organization with a village proclamation on Monday, Dec. 15, Mayor J. Michael Cindrich made note of its founding in 1925 when the village was surrounded by farmland.

The Lions started out with a small group of local leaders who were, he said, “focused on the commitment to enhancing the lives of their fellow residents.”

“Its membership has grown and it’s something really special,” Cindrich added.

A few years later, the Lions helped launch the village’s first volunteer ambulance corps.

It now supports numerous other organizations, such as the Boys and Girls Club, the Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry (now just called The Pantry), the Mount Kisco Child Care Center, and the Emergency Shelter Partnership.

Among its other commitments are to local youth, through scholarships, senior citizens, teachers, and the visually impaired.

Cindrich declared Wednesday, Dec. 17, "Mount Kisco Lions Club Day" in the village.

Lions Club Vice President Bob Scopelliti recalled that his wife, Barbara, had become a member before he did.

(She and Mariaangela Cavaggioni were the first two women to join the Lions.)

“Our Lions Club was originally men only. So that made a lot of changes. But what hasn’t changed is the commitment, the volunteerism, all the hard work that goes into keeping the club going,” Scopelliti said.

“It’s a very rewarding thing, it’s great to be part of it, this MK community,” added the lifelong Mount Kisco resident.

After introducing the other Lions present at the meeting, Scopelliti praised other members who weren’t there, saying: “They all put in quite a bit of effort to keep this club going.”

“We work hard. We will continue to work hard. And we want to keep the community as solid as we can get it,” he said, adding: “Anything we can do to help, let us know.”