Lion Club Have Near Riot
The Denver Lions club grasped the concept of tail twisting from the very beginning. At a meeting on October 13th, 1917, there was apparent confusion over who was to be the principal speaker for the evening. The Denver Commissioner of Parks, Mr. W.F.R. Mills was the invited guest. When club President Dr. C.C. Reid introduced Mr. Mills as the speaker, Mr. Halsted Ritter (the very same Lion who a few years later coined the Lions Slogan) jumped to his feet, declaring that he had come to the dinner with the understanding that he and only he would address the members. He stated that Dr. Reid had asked him to bring a guest, the very same man who then stabbed him in the back. Mr. Mills also jumped into the fray and a shouting match ensued. Members of the club were dumbstruck by this behavior. After several minutes of trading insults, the members were interrupted by the chant of newsboys with copies of The Denver Times that already had an account of the controversy between Mills and Ritter. The headline read “Lion Club Banqueters Have Near Riot”.
Of course the entire episode had been pre-arranged by Mr. E.A. Hicks acting as tail twister. While the event provided much laughter and entertainment for the members of the club, it also demonstrated a lesson. Jealousy and lack of good will are more often than not based on honest misunderstanding.