“We serve” is Lions Club International’s motto, and it is the motto Tyson Elrod plans to apply in his new leadership role in the Clanton Lions Club this year.

As Elrod starts his first term as the club’s president, he said membership and community relationships are two things he wants to strengthen.

“I’d like to increase membership,” Elrod said. “Last year, we had a lot of new members join. That was really a blessing.”

The club welcomed seven new members during the 2012–2013 year, several of which were the first female members in the history of the club.

Currently, the club has 32 members.

The Chilton County Peach Festival is the club’s primary fundraiser every year.

Proceeds from the annual Peach Auction go toward charities the club supports, and the four newly crowned Peach Queens serve as ambassadors for the club, the county and the growers whose peaches comprise a lucrative portion of the area’s agricultural industry.

“As far as the pageant, we’d like to have more activities for the queens to do this year (and) to continue to develop a relationship with our peach growers,” Elrod said.

Among the charities the Clanton Lions Club supports on a regular basis are Alabama Sight Foundation, Child Protect Children’s Advocacy Center, Chilton County United Way, Raleigh’s Place, Arthritis Foundation, Chilton County Humane Society, Donnie Martin Scholarship Fund, Chilton County Relay for Life, March of Dimes, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Habitat for Humanity and local eye care.

The club donated funds to 17 groups over the last year.

“When I think of the Lions Club, it’s a pillar or rock of the community because our international motto is simply ‘We serve,’” Elrod said. “We are here to touch the lives of the residents here in Chilton County.”

A club member since 2010, Elrod served as third vice president in 2011 and first vice president in 2012.

He and his wife, Jerousha, have two sons, Jackson and Carson.