Roaring Laughter

83rd Lions Follies runs April 14-15 at CAC

Mar 25, 2023

Temple Founder Lions Club members portray the castaways from Gilligan’s Island during a previous Lions Follies show. Courtesy photo

83rd Lions Follies runs April 14-15 at CAC

DAVID STONE | OUR TOWN TEMPLE

Get ready to laugh, Temple. The 83rd edition of the Lions Follies is just around the corner, and this year’s show will bring back some crowd favorites and add a few new acts as well.

The Follies, sponsored by the Temple Founder Lions Club since 1936, will be April 14-15 at the Cultural Activities Center in north Temple.

“This is a variety show, and as times have changed, so has the Follies,” said George White, a Lions Club member who has been in the program since 1983. Gary Gosney has the longest current Follies tenure — 2023 marks his 52nd year.

This year, the Lions will present three shows during the two-day run. There will be an evening show both nights at 7 p.m., plus a matinee at 2 p.m. on April 15. Tickets for all shows can be purchased at centraltexastickets.com.

One of the perennial favorites is the East Bell County Boys, a group who takes popular songs and gives them a Czech feel.

“These guys are great,” White said. “One year they came out as the Czech Beatles and sang We All Live in a Ratibor Barn instead of a yellow submarine. The crowd absolutely loved it.”

“This year, the East Bell County Boys will be performing a collection of Elvis songs,” he said.

Also performing this year will be Jesse Ibarro and The Jazz Works Band, Zoe Grant and Paige Rendon, Judge John Mischtian, Guy Fowler and many others. White and Gosney also are involved in several skits and “commercials.”

“Another favorite is News Wrong, a skit about a local television station who at one time had the slogan News Right,” White said. “It’s all in fun — we also poke fun at local businesses, hospitals and everyone else.”

According to White, there have only been five years since 1936 when the Follies’ curtain didn’t go up.

“There were four years during World War II that there wasn’t a show, and one year during COVID,” he said. “But, we made up for that COVID year by putting on two shows.”

The Temple Founder Lions Club is among the oldest Lions Clubs in the world — the local chapter was formed the same year as Lions International was formed.

“Twenty-one Lions Clubs were chartered in 1917 all over the world, including our group in Temple,” White said. “Today there are more than 40,000 clubs, and we were there at the start. Lions was formed during a convention at The Adolphus hotel in Dallas.

“That initial Follies back in 1936 wasn’t called the first show — they really didn’t know it would be a yearly event at the start,” White said. “It was a fundraiser, and tickets were $1 for adults and fifty-cents for students.”

One of the stars of the first Lions Follies was a Temple resident named Harley Davidson Mitchell, and yes, he was named after the motorcycle. Harley went on to star in 57 more shows until illness forced him to miss a performance in 1996.

“We honor Harley each year with an entertainment tradition of laughs and lots of family fun,” White said.