39 years for Ransomville Lions at Lewiston Peach Festival

Lewiston Porter Sentinel, September 30, 2006

Ransomville Lions Club President Don Clark shows the finished product
from the club’s pizza booth at the Lewiston Kiwanis Peach Festival.

It’s Niagara County’s oldest and largest event.

It’s an old-fashioned festival, complete with a parade, peach shortcake, great carnival food, entertainment and a midway of exciting rides.

Fresh peaches were the center of attention for the three-day Lewiston Kiwanis Peach Festival, which ran Friday, Sept. 8, through Sunday, Sept. 10, in Academy Park on Center Street.

The festival honors local farmers and raises money for local charities. It was started in 1958, when Lewiston farmer and Kiwanis member Buster Lombardi pushed the idea and created the festival with the help of Lewiston residents. Since 1958, Lewiston Kiwanis has donated more than $1 million to area organizations.

Ransomville Lions Club has participated in the Peach Festival for 39 years, selling an American favorite – piping hot pizza. The pizza is made right before your eyes at the festival, fresh every day. Ransomville Lion Club’s own treasurer, Lion Ron Clark, mans the pizza ovens, keeping a watchful eye on the pizzas until they are cooked to perfection. You can hear Lion Ron call “Get your pizza here! Help the Ransomville Lions!” as you walk the midway food court.

Club President Lion Don Clark can be seen saucing the pizza crusts. Club Tail Twister Lion Jennifer Czarnecki tops the pizzas off with cheese and pepperoni. Club Secretary Tina Clark sells the slices, along with some help from her two daughters, Raechelle and Tiffany. Don Clark said that this year, they had more than 20 volunteers come and help out with the pizza booth. He said the club made approximately 340 pizzas during the three-day festival.

The Ransomville Lions Club donates money raised during the Peach Festival to various community organizations such as Equi*Star, Guiding Eyes for the Blind, Vision Beyond Sight, the Western New York Hearing and Loan Closet, Olcott Polar Bear Swim, Western New York Independent Living’s Guiding Eyes and Leader Dogs, Niagara Frontier Radio Reading, Camp Badger, Juvenile Diabetes, Upstate New York Transplant Services and many others.

The Ransomville Lions Club would like to thank the following people who donated their time to make this year’s Peach Festival a huge success: Ransomville Lion Bryan Held; Ransomville Lion Shannon Lacey; Ransomville Lion Patti Lacey; Sanborn Lion Pete Costello, Dan Lacey, Derrick Dixon and friend, Amy; Rhonda Ortiz; Camille Ortiz; Nancy and Randy Clark; Nancy Laughlin; and Emily Kulak.