New Britain herald., 1928-02-21
SERVICE IS RENT FOR SPACE YOU USE
". A. Gleason Appeals to Lions
 to Help Boys

Service is the rent you pay for the space you take up on earth,
 and whether or not your rent is paid depends on you" said William A. Gleason of Torrington in an ad- dress to the members of the New
 Britain Lions club at the Burritt
 hotel today.
 MT. Gleason, who is prominent Rotarian of Torrington, past exalted ruler of the Torrington lodge of and one of the leading undertakers i'll the state, delivered an address
 which eNcelled in eloquence any thing the Lions had heard for some time. A number of his personal friends. including former Mayor Joseph M. Halloran, Judge William r. Mangan and others. were pres ent. E. J. Porter. a prominent mem Der of the Connecticut Funeral Di- rectors' association and member of the state board of embalming ex- amlners, and A. H. Scott, president of the Rotary club, also attended.
 Mr. Gleason said no member of a service club is very much used to the club until he has been mem- Der at least two years. Tt takes about two years for a member to be sold on the idea of service," he said.
 When you think of the total of the civic clubs of your city" he continued, Rotary, Lions, kiwanis and Exchange, and remember that you are in the hopeless minority as compared to the population. you must realize it is up to the service clubs to prove eheir value to the community.
 "The fact that you are a member means nothing. The fact that you are dormant means you are a lia- bility."
 Paying tributes to the lives of Washington and Lincoln, the. speak CT pointed out that they were men Of service. He said the 10000 Amer lcan boys who are buried in graves Tn France gave their lives in the in- terest of service. When we think of service, we do not think of such things as race. creed. politics or color.' he continued. Let us think of the Unknown Soldier Does it make any difference whether he was a Jew. Catholic or Protestant? It seems as though some power oth- CT than the human hand and mind must have guided the United States into the war"
 He spoke of the lives of prom lnent men who were helped in their boyhood by other men who took an interest in them. He mentioned one who now is a nationally known fig lre, but who was taken from a ju- venile republic and who says he night have landed up the river" if t had not been for the friendly in- crest of other men.
 What have you Lions done for 1 New Britain?" he asked. "The posi- ion you hold today is nothing. The 1oy you ignore on the street will ,old that position tomorrow. Reach ,ut, lend him hand. do something Or him personally. Let him know ,ou are interested and that you are building a bridge for him. My time 1ere is wasted, your time is wasted. one year from today you have not cached out and helped some boy"
 Dr. Joseph Potts reported steps 'eing taken to organize a bowling eague among Lions clubs of New Britain, Bristol. Meriden and Water- 'ury. He announced the following 'owlers on the New Britain team: a. H. Erwin, M. J. Bannan, Dr. E. [. Dray. F. F. King, Thure Beng ton, Carl Johnson. Romeo Grise, William E. Curtin. Roy Durham, 'red Andrus Frank Clynes, Harry !. Hancock and Dr. Potts.