Corinne Riley prepares to take over as president of the Saugus Lions Club

By Mark E. Vogler

The Saugus Lions Club this week installed Selectman Corinne Riley as its next president – the third woman “King Lion” in the history of the club, which began in 1929.

“I’m looking forward to being President of the Saugus Lions for the next two years and working with my board to continue the work of our motto: ‘We Serve’ and of course the continued efforts of fundraising for important eye research,” Riley said this week.

Riley, who has been a Lions Club member for eight years, was installed on Wednesday and her two-year term begins officially on July 1. She will succeed current club president Tony Speziale. Riley follows Gail Pelletier and Deborah Wells as previous female “King Lion.”

“We have continued to try to get new members to be a part of a wonderful and international Club with over 1.4 million members worldwide,” Riley told The Saugus Advocate.

“In order to accomplish what we plan to do, like other Clubs, we need more helping hands. We need to reach out to young adults and hopefully get more new members that I know will bring new ideas to the Saugus Club,” she said.

“I have a great group of board members, and I am certainly following one of the best presidents our Club has had. I look forward to working with Tony Speziale as Past president as well as my Vice-president Brad Barahona and the rest of the board. They are hard workers for sure and bring a wealth of knowledge to the Club,” she said. “Working with such dedicated people, I am sure my term will go smoothly, and I look forward to planning events and speakers for everyone to enjoy, as well as serving our community whenever possible when people are in need.”

Eugene Decareau, a longtime Saugus Lions Club member, said the club has high expectations for the club’s new leader. “Corinne’s very dedicated and wants to do a lot of community service projects. She’s very community-oriented,” Decareau said.

“I expect she’s going to do a great job as president. In fact, I know she will,” he said.