Lions Club, others provide welcome signs

Published 11:54 am Thursday, November 15, 2012

Lions Bill Smith, Jim Devenney, Gerry Tavernier, Dan Bailey, Ledger Krupp and Larry Bowman stand in front of the newest “Welcome to Edwardsburg” sign, located on U.S. 12 East. Fourteen Edwardsburg community organizations shared the cost of installing the sign, the second of four to be installed from 2011-2014. To put your service organization on the sign, contact the Lions Club. (Leader photo/Provided)

The Edwardsburg Lions Club is in the middle of installing four new “Welcome to Edwardsburg signs.”

Last year, under the guidance of Lion Gary Sanders, the club installed the first sign on M-62 entering Edwardsburg from the south.

This year, the group has installed a sign on U.S.-12 entering the village from the east.

Over the next two years, the Lions Club will install the final two signs along the entrances from the west and north.

“One of the things we are happiest about is the wide support we have received form Edwardsburg community and service organizations,” Lions Club President Shane Szalai said. “While the Edwardsburg Lions have built and installed the signs, each organization with their medallion on the sign contributed a small portion of the cost, making the project more feasible.”

There are 14 organizations in all that helped make the project a reality. They are the Edwardsburg Lioness Club, the Edwardsburg Lions, the Edwardsburg Area Chamber of Commerce, the Edwardsburg Free and Accepted Masons, the Edwardsburg Sports Complex, the Edwardsburg Youth Soccer Association, the Edwardsburg Public Schools Foundation, the Edwardsburg Knights of Columbus, the Uptown Improvement Association, the Edwardsburg Presbyterian Church, the Community Baptist Church and Hope United Methodist Church.

Szalai noted that there is still room for more organizations.

Shane Barlow of Signworks in Edwardsburg printed the medallion signs and medallions on aluminum to make sure they last. Bull Moose Metal of Elkhart, Ind., donated the metal for the medallions.