YACHATS LIONS Announces Launch Of Bird City Yachats (Photo) - 02/18/26

Bird City Yachats (BCY) will hold its official launch on March 1st, 1:30 PM at the Yachats Lions Hall when Bird City Oregon will present the designation to the Mayor of Yachats. This will be followed by a talk entitled “Taking Refuge on the Oregon Coast”, a history of our coastal wildlife refuges, which provide critical seabird nesting habitat. BCY is sponsored by the Yachats Lions Club.

In the Fall 2025 the city of Yachats was awarded an Oregon Bird City, the first bird city on the Pacific Coast. This certification rewards cities for their efforts to help wildlife. Bird City Yachats (BCY) is part of a national program, Bird City Network ( https://birdcity.org/) of more than 300 “Bird” cities across the country. A steering committee for BCY has been established to encourage our citizens to protect and enjoy our precious wildlife and to develop projects for their protection.

BCY projects range from education (e.g., speaker series, bird walks) to removing threats (e.g., bird strike prevention) and marketing (e.g., website, ads promoting Yachats as a birding destination). Birds have unique threats. One that kills millions of birds a year is striking windows. In that regard BCY been working with the city manager on window treatments for the new pavilion that will minimize bird strikes. Open pipes and chimneys that can trap birds are another threat. Working together with Seven Capes Bird Alliance, BCY has surveyed 24 state parks in Lincoln County and identified over 150 open pipes which we will help cap.

BCY now has a website (https://birdcity.org/oregon/yachats) and information available at the Visitor Center on birds and birding sites. This month we will unveil a photo exhibition of local birds and wildlife in the children’s section of the new Yachats library.

Established in 1950, the Yachats Lions Club serves Yachats and South Lincoln County. With our motto of “WE SERVE”, we provide service for eyeglasses and exams, hearing aids and exams, eye screening in Lincoln County schools, pancake breakfasts, crab feed, lunch bunch, speaker series, peace poster and flag day events in our schools, and community use of our clubhouse. Through community donations to the Yachats Lions Thrift Store our sales allow us to donate to local needs such as student scholarships, food pantries, school programs, and conservation projects.

Lions Club International is the world’s largest service club organization with a network of 1.4 million men and women in more than 200 countries and geographical locations. We serve where we live, as well as globally, and we have fun doing it.

For more information, contact Lion Jim Welch at 970-217-4424 or jameswelch1009@gmail.com

The Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation Receives Grant Funding From The Wildhorse Foundation For School Vision Screening In NE Oregon (Photo) - 02/12/26

The Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation (OLSHF) is very pleased to announce a continuing partnership with the Wildhorse Foundation, representing Northeast Oregon and the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla people. The Wildhorse Foundation recently awarded a substantial grant to OLSHF to continue the vaunted OLSHF School Vision Screening Program in Umatilla County and the surrounding region.

The Wildhorse Foundation has supported the OLSHF School Vision Screening Program since 2008, helping to provide students with the highest quality vision screening available. Annually, the Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation provides these screenings to almost 200,000 Oregon students, including almost 9,500 in the Wildhorse Foundation service area. These vision screenings are efficient, objective, accurate and equitable and a whole class of students can be screened in less than 5 minutes. Screenings are led by a regional Lion staff member of OLSHF and are conducted by volunteers, including members of the numerous Lions Clubs in the Wildhorse Foundation Service area. The results are secured and returned to the school in less than a week, accompanied by resources for low-cost/no-cost vision exams and eyeglasses for underserved students.

As a school nurse friend of OLSHF says: “If Johnny can’t see, Johnny can’t read. If Johnny can’t read, Johnny can’t learn”. The Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation is proud to partner with the Wildhorse Foundation and other tribal entities around Oregon to promote greater success by Oregon students, including a notable increase in the Oregon high school graduation rate.

Each year, the Wildhorse Foundation makes grants to eligible nonprofit, government, and Tribal organizations within the homeland area of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla people. Also eligible for funding are Tribal government agencies or Native American charitable organizations with their base of operations within Oregon, as well as national or regional Indian organizations.

The Wildhorse Foundation has awarded a total of over $19 million in grant funding since its establishment in 2001. Grants are awarded on a quarterly basis with the deadlines being January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1. For more information, visit the Foundation’s website at www.thewildhorsefoundation.com.

To learn more about the Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation School Vision Screening Program and other vision and hearing programs, please visit www.olshf.org.

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