ISLAND CITY —  The Island City Lions Club is folding up, and with it go its major  fundraising events, the annual gun show and Hog Wild Days.

“Hog Wild Days has been an annual tradition for over 40 years,” John Tolan, Island City Lions president said. “It was quite a run, and then COVID took a big toll on us and after that people just didn’t want to volunteer for service.”

The club’s gun show also ends with the club’s closure.

“We have held the gun show for at least the last five or six years, and it was pretty successful,” Tolan said, “but even the current climate with gun control and those kinds of issues going on, we kind of struggled with that a little bit for a few years, not knowing if we could have gun shows anymore with background checks.”

With the dwindling of the club’s membership, it became apparent the two major fundraisers held so close together were too much work. Some members had jobs and others just wanted to spend more of their time with their families.

The club’s membership was healthy before the pandemic, but COVID-19 diminished the membership with deaths and people leaving.

“So, we really pondered whether we had enough people to organize the Hog Wild Days,” Tolan said.

None of the club’s members were from Island City or had family members living in the city, and none of the members had any attachment to Island City Elementary School, except for Tolan, a retired long-time principal.

“So, it was voted upon that we just end our Island City Lions Club this year and donate as much as we could to Island City Elementary School and various projects along with scholarships to La Grande seniors who attended Island City Elementary School,” Tolan said.

He let the city of Island City know about the club’s closure and discontinuation of Hog Wild Days and told the city it was more than welcome to take over the event.

“This is sort of the end of the era for us because we don’t have the members to do it, and the members that we have are ready to go on and do other things,” Tolan said.

The Lions club will officially dissolve at the end of July after it liquidates its pig train, trailers and other club assets.

“The Island City Lions Club has been privileged to support the community of Island City, and we want to thank all the patrons in Island City for all of their support over the years,” Tolan said. “We helped many families with sight and hearing over the years, and we’re always committed to helping the community through volunteerism. I just want to thank them for all their support for Island City Lions.”