BY EMILY JOHNSON
A Eudora man will go down in local history for his longtime dedication to serving the community.
Bob Slapar celebrated his 65th anniversary as a member of The Eudora Lions Club this year.
Slapar, 93, is the longest-running member of the club, joining a little over four years after the club was chartered in 1951.
Slapar first heard of the club through his wife, Darlene, when they moved to Eudora in 1953 after she accepted a job teaching. The high school principal at the time was one of the original members of the club and encouraged Slapar to join.
“I went ahead and joined, but I was just a member at first,” Slapar said. “I did not think much about it. It was all new to me. I had never been involved in something like that before.”
After joining the club, one of the first large projects he was involved in was bringing street signs and house numbers to Eudora. The Lions Club bought and set up the street signs in 1959, and Slapar worked to assign house numbers.
“My wife and I drove down the streets and assigned numbers,” Slapar said. “Then, we wrote the numbers down in packets and gave each house their house numbers.”
Slapar was the president of the club in 1960 for one year and then moved on to the position of secretary from 1964 to 2018. He stepped down from his position of secretary in 2018, but is still active with the group.
Christmas time is always one of the busier times of the year for the club, and Slapar took initiative in making sure the holidays could be enjoyed by everyone.
The Lions Club takes old bicycles to the Lansing prison where prisoners work to refurbish them. Once refurbished, the bicycles were given to anyone who needed one. The bicycles are given with Christmas baskets in December.
Slapar initiated this project with the bicycle tradition that is still continued today. Linda Lowdermilk, one of Slapar’s daughters, said growing up with her father organizing this project meant that bicycles were scattered around year-round.
“We have just always had bicycles around our backyard when people would drop them off,” Lowdermilk said. “We would put them on a trailer and haul them every Christmas season.”
Slapar’s family was largely involved with his projects for the Lions Club. Darlene was involved in the club for many years through volunteering and helping Slapar with his initiatives. Lowdermilk and her husband are members of the Lions Club in Lenexa, as well as a few of his grandchildren.
“We were really supportive of my dad over the years. My mom was kind of a guiding light. She was involved in many projects and loved helping my dad with anything,” Lowdermilk said.
In addition to the bicycle program, Slapar was also involved with Angel Trees during the holiday season. The club set up trees throughout the community with wishlists from families in need. Residents could take the angels off of the trees and purchase the Christmas wish desired by the child.
Over the years, Slapar has had the opportunity to travel with the Lions Club. He was able to travel to many conventions in the U.S. and internationally throughout the years, including Australia, China, England and Hong Kong.
He said despite the international travel, his favorite trip was to New Jersey.
“I think that Atlantic City was my favorite place,” Slapar said. “It was held on the boardwalk, and it was the first one of these that I had ever attended, so it sticks out in my mind.”
During his time traveling internationally, Slapar was able to meet people from all over the world. Over 200 countries have Lions Club organizations, making the club accessible to communities worldwide.
“It really expanded his horizons to be able to travel with the club,” Lowdermilk said. “His international travels are definitely one of the most fond memories.”
The Eudora Lions Club changed in a number of ways over its history, and the biggest change to Slapar is the size and ages of club members.
“The membership has shrunk quite a bit since when I first was a member, but now we have younger members in recent years, which is really positive,” he said.
One of the younger members of the club is Eric Strimple, who is now the Eudora Lions Club president. Strimple met Slapar when he joined the club in 2017, and the two became fast friends and have developed a strong friendship over the last decade.
“He always is willing to give you the smile that you need and will do anything for you that he physically can,” Strimple said. “I have never seen him say that he can’t do something for someone.”
Strimple said he wanted to do something to honor Slapar for his 65th anniversary with the Lions, so he planned a surprise card shower and posted on Facebook asking anyone to write a card to him. Slapar’s daughters kept the cards hidden from their father until the anniversary arrived.
Slapar received over 40 cards earlier this month from Eudora residents, family, friends and Lions members from around the country. His involvement over the years has had a lasting impact on the city and the people of Eudora. Slapar also wanted to thank anyone who took the time to send a card.
“The club is just really wanting to celebrate Bob. He has given so much to the Eudora community, the Lions organization and to just community service over the last six decades,” Strimple said. “There are countless individuals in this town that wanted to give him well wishes.”
Reach reporter Emily Johnson at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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