Lions Club adjusts after state police visit
By Ronald Dupont Jr.
Herald Editor

The High Springs Lions Club turkey shoots (one held recently shown above) have been put on hold until the club can get desired zoning needed from the city.

HIGH SPRINGS – The High Springs Lions Club will continue a 50-year tradition of giving away alcohol to the public this weekend at its clubhouse on U.S. 27 in High Springs, but the service club will be accepting donations.

Watching closely will be the state Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, as well as the High Springs Police Department.

That’s because in the past two months, the Lions Club was raided for selling alcohol without a license and was told the organization could no longer have Texas Hold ‘Em Poker gambling.

Then the organization watched last week as High Springs police pulled the plug on one of the organization’s biggest money-makers – the turkey shoot.

The property is not zoned for outdoor shooting, and High Springs Police Chief Jim Troiano said he didn’t like the idea of mixing free alcohol and guns.

“I don’t need somebody out there intoxicated with a gun,” Troiano said.

Now the High Springs Lions Club must go through the long process of attempting to get the property rezoned to allow outdoor shooting and to allow growth of the club. The club is even considering the possibility of obtaining a license to sell alcohol outright.

Lions Club members said they are now left scrambling to come up with fundraisers for the money they use to pay for local scholarships and to help the community through the organization’s many projects.

Andy Braley, a board member and past president of the Lions Club, said he’s not happy that after five decades of giving away alcohol and suggesting donations for it as a way to raise money, the club now has to fight negative publicity when the club was only trying to raise money to help people, he said.

That’s what he told the state Division of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco in a letter he sent to them after a July 29 raid.

Free alcohol will be available this weekend at the High Springs Lions Club (inside shown above) but the service club will be relying on donations. THe poker games will no longer be held, and the Lions Club will begin to seek other ways to raise money for the charitable causes the club helps.

“If this goes to press, as I’m sure it will, it will only cast a cloud over the club and me, a local businessman that has been here over 25 years,” he wrote

The Raid and The Technicality

For the High Springs Lions Club, the difference between operating a legal alcohol establishment and an illegal one came down to a sign on the wall.

For decades, the Lions Club would open its doors to the public on the weekends, offering them alcohol for a “suggested donation.” The term “suggested donation” was atop a sign on the wall, listing the suggested prices for the various alcoholic beverages.

That sign made the operation illegal, Braley said he was told. If a business is truly offering alcohol for donations only, then no prices can be listed, he said he was told.

That sign was taken away as evidence during a raid July 29 by the state Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco. On that day, around 6 p.m., an undercover officer went to the Lions Club and purchased alcohol.

Braley said the undercover officer had visited once before but when she ordered alcohol, she was simply handed her beverage and no price was mentioned. But the second time she visited, that didn’t happen, Braley said.

“Someone else waited on her and when she asked how much, they said $1 and she handed it to them,” Braley said. “Minutes later, we were busted.”

An arrest team then came into the club and asked all people who weren’t members of the Lions Club Board of Directors to leave the building.

Braley said when he figured out what was going on, he offered to represent the club.

“Due to my ease of schedule, I raised my hand and said I would appear on behalf of the club,” Braley said. “She accepted my offer and wrote me up.”

Braley said the state officers kept apologizing and said they were “complaint-driven” and that if somebody hadn’t complained, the state wouldn’t have shown up.

Braley said he and his fellow Lions Club members were so friendly with the state officers that the club even fed the officers after the raid.

Braley said when he went to court, the charges were dropped.

Recently, though, the state officers showed up again, this time with Troiano. According to Troiano, the club was still technically breaking the law because while there was no sign, a representative of the Lions Club was still reaching into the donation jar and giving change – meaning there was an implied price.

Further, the club was holding poker games at more than one table, and minors were in the building, Troiano said.

That alone was cause for arrests, Troiano said, but none were made. Instead, the state officers explained what was illegal.

“The beverage department decided to take no lawful action except education,” Troiano said. “And I thought that was appropriate.”

He said he felt good after spending time with the Lions Club members during the second visit.

“When we left there, they had a great understanding of what they knew they had to do,” Troiano said.

The Canceling of The Turkey Shoot

The club did adjust its practices, said Lions Club President Bob Holland. He said donations can be made for the alcohol but that no Lions Club member will make change.

Further, the poker games have been cancelled. Holland said the game was played with chips and each chip was worth only $1, with the club taking a small portion of the winnings.

“It was a couple bucks here and there,” he said. “We’re not trying to start a gambling hall; we’re trying to pay the lights and electricity.”

He said the club used to have bingo games as a fundraiser but that attendance continued to drop off to the point where holding bingo games was pointless.

This past Saturday, Oct. 25, the club planned to have a major fundraiser through one of its regular Turkey Shoots, where people use real guns to shoot at targets.

But the club learned that the property’s zoning does not allow outdoor shooting and that the police chief has to give approval, too.

Troiano said he couldn’t give any sort of permission because of the combination of free alcohol and firearms.

The High Springs Herald left phone messages with the owners of all the pieces of property that adjoin the Lions Club land on U.S. 27.

Only one property owner, Karen Mahan, was able to be contacted. She said she has nothing but praise for the Lions Club and the way it handles its property.

“We’ve had no problems,” she said. “We have no objection whatsoever with them having their turkey shoot.”

The Lions Club’s Efforts in the Community

A search through the High Springs Herald online archives shows numerous articles and photos of the Lions Club participating in community events, handing out scholarships and raising money for various charities.

Braley said he’s afraid the latest incidents will damage the Lions Club and its efforts to raise money to help people.

In a letter to the state Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco after the initial raid, he questioned why the department conducted a raid instead of just talking with the Lions Club and explaining the technicality.

He said the “attack,” as he called it, might hurt the club’s community efforts.

“We were not trying to do something illegal,” he said. “I love my country and try to serve it to the best I can by being a member of this service organization. With all the budget cuts, we have picked up a lot of slack here.

“Call the High Springs Recreation Department, and they can tell you how much we do,” he continued. “I can name you several people that have received eye screening and glasses at no cost to them since the first of the year.

“Now we are going to be sending food home with school children so they (can) eat at night. This kind of attack can only hurt this community.”