Made with Xara Web Designer Lions Club of Rutherford (NJ) The oldest continually chartered Lions Club in District 16A Serving Rutherford for 90 Years - We Serve History of the Rutherford Lions Club (from conversations with Griswold B. Holman, Sr., Charter Member) In late 1921, Melvin Jones, Founder of Lions, sent a representative from the headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, to the East for the purpose of chartering new Lions Clubs. The representative came from Chicago on the Pennsylvania Railroad and returned to Chicago via the Erie Railroad; therefore, the earliest clubs in New Jersey are located at stops on said railroads. When the representative stopped at the Erie Railroad Station in Rutherford, the first thing he saw was a sign across Station House which read, " A. W. Van Winkle & Co." He crossed the square and entered the office. A secretary showed him first into the office of Charles A. Van Winkle. Since C.A. Van Winkle was a member of the Rotary, he was not interested in Lions, but he thought that his brother Theodore might be; therefore, he took the representative into the office of Theodore Van Winkle. Theodore Van Winkle was very interested in Lions, and promptly called Griswold B. Holman, Sr., Harvey Ely, and Lester H. Clee. They met for lunch and the Lions Club of Rutherford was born. How the Club Began Lions Clubs International New Jersey Lions