By Dr. Ferrell MillerGeary County Historical Society Board Member"History of the Milford Lions Club”	The following information was provided by Bev Greenwood. The motto of Lions Clubs International is “We Serve”. The Milford Lions Club was established by the Junction City Sundowners in November of 1974. One of the club’s major projects was getting flags for all the veteran’s graves at the Milford Cemetery and placing the flags on those graves on Memorial Day. 	Accomplished people from 210 countries have led the Lions great association in its over 100-year history of Lions Clubs International. There has been a single constant that unites all Lions - service. The goal is to increase service to others and make a significant impact on local and global communities by serving over 200 million people this year. Lions International is the largest non-profit organization with over 1.4 million members. 	Helen Keller commissioned Lions Club members to be “Knights of the Blind”, thus beginning the unifying project of “Vision”. In addition to collecting used eyeglasses and taking them on mission trips, a goal has been set to have all children 6 months to 6 years screened for vision problems. Lions collect used eyeglasses to be taken on mission trips mainly to Central and South America. 	Before Covid-19, the first Saturday in December had been reserved for the Milford Lions Club Pancake Feed to gain funds and to encourage community camaraderie. Plans are being made for February 2021. 	The Milford Lions Club donates to over twenty causes. In addition to a focus on vision problems with young people, the other major areas of Lions services are diabetes, hunger, environment, and pediatric cancer. 	To promote leadership and service Milford Lions Club member, Beverly Greenwood served as Lion Kansas State Council or CEO in 2015-16. Milford Lions meet the second Tuesday of the month at the Milford City Building for a potluck at 6:00 PM. Guests are invited and welcome.Divided Loyalties In The Civil War”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610735048178.jpeg" alt="Heritage Park Civil War Arch" />
 <figcaption>Heritage Park Civil War Arch</figcaption>
 </figure>	In her book Beyond the Façade of Fort Riley’s Hometown: The Inside Story of Junction City, Kansas, Susan Franzen has a chapter titled “Divided Loyalties in the Civil War”. This is some of what she wrote.	Kansas became a state on January 29, 1861. To celebrate Kansas’ statehood, James R. McClure and a small group of citizens went to City Park (in Junction City) with a flagpole and the new thirty-four-star American flag. When they arrived, the group was immediately challenged by a rival group bearing the Palmetto of the South. According to McClure’s memoirs, the proslavery partisans were dispersed without violence, while the remaining crowd cheered the raising of the U.S. flag and his patriotic speech. The division represented by this story did not end with a flag and a speech, however.	When the Civil war officially began in April 1861, the town and fort were deeply divided. Among the local residents who sympathized with the South was the editor of Junction City’s newspaper, the Kansas Frontier. Many officers at Fort Riley came from the states that had seceded, so they resigned their commissions in the Army and went back to fight for the Confederacy. When local farmers learned that former post commandant Maj. Lewis A. Armistead had joined the Secessionists, the farmers who had named Armistead Creek in his honor changed the name to Mud Creek. The new commandant was Capt. Nathaniel Lyon, an ardent supporter of the Union and opponent of slavery. The convivial J.E.B. Stuart was given a silver tea set by his friends in the Episcopal Church in Junction City and returned to Virginia to become the most celebrated cavalry commander of the South. In a few months, Armistead, Lyon and Stuart were generals. By the time the war was over, all of them were dead. 	In April of 1865, the citizens of Junction City celebrated the end of the war with a great bonfire and the banging of anvils. Peace and victory brought out the forgiving side of George Martin’s nature as the editor of the Union newspaper. He changed the motto of the paper to “With Malice Toward None, With Charity For All.”	Feelings on both sides still ran high when the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Civil War Memorial Arch was erected in 1898, thirty-three years after the Civil War ended. At least one southern woman refused to walk under the arch when she entered the park. She would take a longer route to avoid it.

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