Published: March 29, 2008 11:18 pm         

City woman is first to head Lions district

Cassandra “Cassy” Sojak of Johnstown’s West End will be installed this summer as governor of the six-county Lions District 14-J.

She will be the first woman ever to head the district, which takes in Cambria, Indiana, Clearfield, Jefferson, Cameron and Elk counties.

Sojak now is the district’s vice governor. When she becomes governor July 1, she will be succeeded as vice governor by Joan Yeager of Geistown.

Yeager will be in line to succeed Sojak in 2009, making her the district’s second consecutive woman leader.

It was not until the late 1980s that women were accepted as members of Lions clubs. Up until then, they held memberships in the organization’s Lioness clubs.

Most Lioness clubs have since been assimilated into their Lions organizations.

Sojak said her upcoming term as District 14-J governor is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

She will be installed along with about 500 other governors from throughout the world June 23 in Bangkok, Thailand.

“That will be exciting,” Sojak said. “I’m looking forward to going to Thailand.”

She has adopted “Light The Darkness” as the theme for her term as district governor, explaining that the Lions are extremely active in helping those with vision issues.

“We do a lot of vision programs,” she said.

Sojak said her year as governor will mean a lot of traveling, noting she plans to visit all 39 clubs in the district.

Yeager said her main goal during her term as District 14-J vice governor will be increasing membership with an emphasis on recruiting young men and women.

She will be put in charge of a number of committees, she said, adding what those will be have not yet been determined.

As vice governor, she said she will be expected to attend all District 14-J cabinet meetings.

Sojak currently is serving as president of West End Lions Club. Yeager is president of Geistown-Richland Lions Club.

Sojak received District 14-J’s United in Service Award for 2006-07 and a district Appreciation Award Medal.

She joined the former West End Lioness Club in 1994 and the West End Lions Club in 1999.

Yeager has 23 years of perfect attendance with the Geistown-Richland organization. She has received a Lion of the Year Award, Pennsylvania Foundation Award and the prestigious Melvin Jones Award for outstanding service to Lionism.

Sojak is married to Albert Sojak while Yeager is married to Reginald Yeager. The men are active members of the West End and Geistown-Richland clubs, respectively.

     

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