El Paso Loses Out
When Dr. Woods founded the Royal Order of Lions (ROOL) in 1911, the secretive fraternal order was an instant success. His “dens” were getting established in the Midwest and later in the southwest, all by field organizers who were assigned certain territories. Den #1 was designated by Dr. Woods to be his headquarters in his home area of Evansville, Indiana, with the doctor being the Supreme Royal President. Dens #2 and #3 were also reserved for that area. Den #4, however, was given to El Paso and #5 to San Antonio. But Lions history informs us that San Antonio became the oldest Lions Club in the world as of October 1915, but El Paso came in earlier—June 1915. Something does not add up.
The ‘El Paso Herald’ on June 25, 1915 reported that officers were installed by the Royal Order of Lions at a meeting with E.A. Hicks, Supreme Royal Overseer, making it official with the 73 members. Mr. Hicks was Dr. Woods’ principal field organizer for the ROOL.
What a difference a year makes. By June 1916, the El Paso den voted to sever all ties with the Royal Order, citing that there was a “misunderstanding” with the national order and henceforth would be known as the Southwestern Commercial Club. The misunderstanding was not explained, but a problem for a number of dens was that they were not set up as luncheon clubs as the members had believed would be the case.
Had the El Paso Royal Order of Lions stayed the course for just a few more months, it could have been blanketed in with the new luncheon-type organization that Dr. Woods founded that October, the International Association of Lions Clubs. As previously stated, the San Antonio Founder Lions Club is the oldest Lions Club in the world…but only because El Paso passed on the opportunity.