Lions elect first female president

A relatively newcomer to Plains was elected to the top office of the Plains Lions Club and is probably the club's first woman to hold the club's highest office.

"It was never my intention to be president of the Lions Club, but I guess someone believed I would make a good president and I was nominated and voted in," said Connie Foust, who moved to Plains from Nevada in 2018 to be closer to her children. When she arrived, she almost immediately got involved in the community by serving on the town's police commission, joining the Plains Woman's Club, becoming a Ward 1 town council member, and last year joining the Plains Lions Club.

Foust took the reins of the club from Steve Spurr, who said he didn't want to be the club president any longer because he was unable to focus 100% to the club. Spurr had been with the club for five years and the president for one one-year term. He is a Montana Highway Patrol trooper with a family of three and in the process of remodeling their home. "I enjoyed being the president of the club. I enjoy being in the club in general. I really like being able to help the community," said Spurr, who stayed on as vice president to help Foust with the transition.

The 74-year-old Foust was raised in Helena and spent much of her life in Plains and Missoula. She had not been a Lions member before moving to Plains, but she was no stranger to Lions Clubs. Her late husband, William, had been a Lions member in Missoula and in Seeley Lake. She joined the Plains club in the spring of 2019.

Neither Alvin Amundson, a member since 1953, nor Dave Helterline, a member since 1957, could recall the club ever having a woman president. Of the club's 19 members today, three others are women: Margo Tanner, Linda Hohenstein and Anita Marsh. "I do not see any difference in being a woman in the club. There are three other very active women at this time and anyone of them would be great as president. I am not into gender identity as a prerequisite for leadership," said Foust.

The club is routinely involved in several community activities and sponsor the kiddie wading pool, paying for the pool's maintenance and upkeep. The club had been paying for the wading pool lifeguard with the money it raised by working the Sanders County Fair Demolition Derby, its biggest fundraiser, which it had been doing since 1974, but Spurr said the fair management and board decided not to renew the contract with the club. He said they offered the club other ways to raise money during the fair, but he added that the size of the club and extended age of most members prevents them from taking on other fair jobs.

The Plains Lions Club, which got its charter in 1944, also raises funds with an activity booth on Plains Day and a Fourth of July pancake breakfast. The club sponsored the Halloween Weenie Roast, put up Christmas decorations along Plains' main street, provides free eye screening to school children, and collects used eye glasses for needy people. However, Foust said the club has had to adjust this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The club earlier this year teamed with the Plains/Paradise Fire District with an auction fundraiser.

"My main goal as president of the Lions Club is to build membership and to continue the great programs that were already in place," said Foust. "We have an enthusiastic group of guys and gals that work hard to have our events come off and seamlessly," said Foust.