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After 3 decades, Lions sell clubhouse

Because of declining membership and fewer activities, the Spring Hill Lions Club had to sell the building that has seen countless social events.

By LOGAN NEILL
Published May 23, 2005

	[Times photo: Kathleen Flynn]
	Marti Carroll sings at the Spring Hill Lions Club's '50s and '60s sock hop Sunday, the final public event at a clubhouse that has housed numerous dinners, dances, weddings and bingo games.

SPRING HILL - Evelyn Martellucci figures she's probably danced a few miles beneath the glittering mirror ball inside the Spring Hill Lions Club meeting hall. For the past 11 years or so, she's been a regular at the weekly dances and social gathering held there. And on Sunday afternoon, she decided to drop by to take one last spin around the dance floor.

"The people here have always been the nicest and friendliest," said Martellucci as she and some friends waited for the start of a '50s and '60s sock hop hosted by singers Mary Swan and Bim Brown. "I think everyone in here is going to miss it."

The storied clubhouse, which has been the scene of countless dinners, dances, weddings and bingo games for the past 35 years, was recently sold by the Lions Club chapter to trim overhead. Declining membership coupled with reduced activities made it more and more difficult to keep up the 8,286-square-foot structure and surrounding 5 acres along Hallcrest Avenue.

"It was costing us too much to run it," said club secretary Carol Coleman. "The time was right to sell it."

Although details of the sale have not been made public, the asking price for the building was $625,000. The Lions plan to continue their Spring Hill organization and are in the process of looking for another another meeting place, said Coleman.

Many of the 200 patrons who came to the sock hop said they were going to miss the place.

"A lot of the older people came here because it was a cheap night out," offered Reggie Waldman, a longtime patron. "The food was always real good and inexpensive. You got your money's worth."

Swan, a singer who enjoyed pop stardom in the late 1950s with hits such as My Heart Belongs to Only You and Crying in the Chapel , performed often at the clubhouse with her husband Bim and daughter Marti. It was one of her favorite local clubs.

"A lot of the people who came here on a regular basis became friends over the years," said Swan. "I've sung in a lot of clubs around Hernando County, but every time we came here it was more like a party than anything else."

The sock hop was the last public gathering, but there will be a final gathering for members and close friends June 1.

"It will be our farewell dinner," said Coleman. "There will be a lot of memories to share."

[Last modified May 23, 2005, 01:23:18]