The Buena Park Noon Lions Club held its annual Silverado Days Grants Luncheon Tuesday, Feb. 3, at the Knott’s Berry Farm Resort Hotel, 7675 Crescent Ave., in Buena Park.
“Silverado Days is a ‘growing success,'” said Silverado Days General Chair Patrick “Pat” Donnelly. “Our Lions Club – an all-volunteer organization – administers Silverado Days, in cooperation with the City,” he said.
The Buena Park Noon Lions Club held its annual Silverado Days Grants Luncheon Tuesday, Feb. 3, at the Knott’s Berry Farm Resort Hotel, 7675 Crescent Ave., in Buena Park.
“Silverado Days is a ‘growing success,'” said Silverado Days General Chair Patrick “Pat” Donnelly. “Our Lions Club – an all-volunteer organization – administers Silverado Days, in cooperation with the City,” he said.
“We are a unique organization as far as a club, because most community events like this are run by promoters, but the Lions don’t keep any of the money raised at Silverado Days.”
Donnelly pointed out that the Lions Club is made up of all different kinds of people from within and around the City.
“Without the Council, Community Services and Public Works, Silverado Days wouldn’t happen,” Donnelly explained, as he acknowledged each group and also gave credit to the many Lions for their services as well.
“To date, from 1972, Silverado Days has donated $1,235,800 dollars back to the community through grants,” said Donnelly, further saying that Silverado Days is pretty much a fulltime job, because as it grows, there’s more to do, as they continue searching for new events to add each year.
In 2015, the reins of Silverado Days will be shared by Donnelly and the Club’s President Laura Rodehaver as co-chair, with a theme of “Buena Park! – Let us Entertain You.”
Donnelly pointed out that Buena Park is the center of the Southland and a very special place as it’s home to the first-ever “themed park” in America – that being Knott’s Berry Farm.
“From there, other entertainment venues sprang up on both sides of Beach Boulevard, which is one of the most diverse entertainment boulevards I can think of,” Donnelly said. “We have Pirates Dinner Adventure, Medieval Times, Nutrilite products tours, Bodies, the Titanic, Soak City, the Historic District that shares Buena Park’s history, and within that district, we have the Historic Dreger Clock and we have Buena Park Downtown Mall.”
Along with those venues, there’s the Los Coyotes Paleontology Museum at the Ralph B. Clark Park and hotels and restaurants that support the entertainment areas.
“So you see, Buena Park is all about Entertainment – and that’s why we’ve chosen, “Buena Park – Let us Entertain you” for our 2015 theme.”
Silverado Days Grants for 2014 were presented to 25 organizations that filled out an application to apply for one of the grants; they include:
·Pendelton School – music program
·City of Buena Park – Meals on Wheels
·Buena Park Youth Football Scholarship program
·Joy Inc. of St. Pius V – community service projects
·Buena Park High School Aquatics – support equipment
·City of Buena Park – Buena Park Goes to College
·Rotary Club of Buena Park – book bags for mom’s of new born’s
·Centralia School District – special education students/disadvantaged families
·City of Buena Park – Children’s Art Festival/6th-grade art show
·The City of Buena Park – sports scholarship program
·American Cancer funding for a cure – Buena Park Noon Lions Relay for Life
“In addition to the grants we hand out today, Silverado Days offers a venue for other local non-profit groups to raise funds by selling food and managing games,” Donnelly said. “This alone provides a source of funds for their organization, generating tens of thousands of dollars annually,” he said
