TORRINGTON – Last weekend, Pioneer Park was flooded with classic cars, craft vendors, and snack vendors. Bounce houses and water slides filled the grassy area and the community gathered for a good cause, the Torrington Lions Club Festival of Sight.

According to Amy Bomgardner, vice president with the organization, the club has been around for a long time. Bomgardner has been a member of the club now for three years. 

“The Torrington Lions Club has been around for over 100 years. The Lions Club has a history of serving the blind and visually impaired. Our objective is to prevent avoidable blindness and improve quality of life for people who are blind and visually impaired,” Bomgardner said. “We work a lot with the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank which was founded as a nonprofit in 1982 by the Lions of Colorado and Wyoming.”

Bomgardner explained the Lions Club serves Goshen County and the surrounding areas. 

“Torrington Lions Club serves our community by helping those in need that are going blind or are visually impaired. They do have to meet some guidelines that our international Lions have in place. To help these people, we put on a couple of events every year,” Bomgardner said.

Throughout the year, the club hosts different fundraisers and according to Bomgardner, the event wouldn’t be the same without vendors.

“Our annual Festival of Sight, which is in the summertime, and the Holiday Bazaar, the craft show on the Saturday after Thanksgiving,” Bomgardner explained. “We use the monies from these events- concessions that we put on, the events that we do [like] 3 on 3 basketball, cornhole, horseshoes, bounce houses and of course the car show, all for helping us out and donating to the Lions.”

The money spent during the fundraiser comes back to the community, Bomgardner expressed.

“We use their donations to help the community in Goshen County with their glasses, eye exams and surgeries with the eyes,” Bomgardner said.

During the festival last Saturday, the community enjoyed joining together for a great cause and Bomgardner expressed, togetherness is what it’s all about. 

“Putting on this event brings the community together and gets the Lions out there to let you know that we do care about the community, and we are here to help where we can,” Bomgardner explained. 

The club provides assistance for those in the community who need it, according to Bomgardner. 

“If you need help with eye exams or anything eye-related, talk to Torrington Vision or Eastern Wyoming Eye Clinic and they can direct you to one of us and we can start getting the process going to see if you may qualify to get assistance,” Bomgardner said.

The Torrington Lion Club is accepting members according to Bomgardner.

“We are also looking for members for the Lions Club.  The Lions Club holds a meeting every second Monday of the month at the Open Barrel Brewery. If you would like to be a member, contact one of the Lions or you can come to a meeting and check it out,” Bomgardner said.