A group of Palestine's business and professional men met with a representative of Lions International on December 18, 1924 and applied to charter a new club, the 74th Lions Club in Illinois. It was approved, and a Charter signed by Melvin Jones, founder and then secretary of Lions International, bears the names of the 24 charter members. It now hangs on the wall at the club's regular meeting place, having been officially presented on April 1,1925 From its beginning the club has been extremely active. Its first project was to assist Postmaster E. C. Nethery in securing mail delivery in Palestine. Another endeavor was promoting the widening of the highway from Gordon to Palestine, later working to get the Lincoln memorial Highway routed through Palestine.

Through the years many projects have been aimed toward making Leaverton Park more useful or more beautiful, Some, believed at the time to be beneficial, have since been eliminated, but some remain, such as the tennis court and a dining pavilion. As one of the oldest clubs in Illinois, and the oldest in District 1E, the Palestine club has always been active in affairs at International, State, and District levels. From our membership have come three District Governors, several members of the Governors Cabinet, and at least seven Zone Chairperson. We are proud of our club, and point to the many other projects for community betterment in which we have participated, but are not enumerated here. Truly, "WE SERVE"