Posted: 9/14/04
Miller receives highest Lions honor
Lions' ticket sales save school district money Miller wasnít there as a superintendent. Those days ended in 1996, after 19 years on the job. But he was there as a member of the Caledonia Lions Club. The Lions are a common sight to anyone attending athletic events at Caledonia school events. They take tickets for the District 299. It started about 19 years ago, a the suggestion of none other than Miles Miller. He recalled on September 9 that the district was facing budget problems then, so he came up with the idea of having Lions volunteer to take tickets at athletic events. Current superintendent Michael Moriarty said the district benefits a great deal from the Lions Club members providing this service. ìDuring the year there are over 75 events that require ticket sellers. If the district had to hire people to cover this job, the cost could be in excess of $3000,î he said. If the district needed to pay for this service, it would be necessary to reduce spending in some other aspect of the student athletic programming, which would mean fewer opportunities, Moriarity added. ìCaledonia School District is very grateful that the Caledonia Lions Club Members continue to sell tickets at sports events.î |
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
If you think you see Miles Miller volunteering at a lot of Lion functions, you are right.
From serving brats in bank parking lots to picking up trash along the highway, Miles is there.
Throw in many behind-the-scenes Lion activities that go unnoticed to most people, and you have what fellow Lion Lee Grippen calls ìthe epitome of service.î
Thatís why members of Caledonia Lions agreed to give Miller, 73, the Melvin Jones Award, the highest honor that the service organization can bestow. It is named after the founder of the Lions Club International.
The club became eligible to give a Melvin Jones award to one of its members by donating $1,000 to the Lions Club International Foundation. That money is used for disasters like the hurricanes that have hit Florida recently, Grippen said.
And the donation shows something that Miller stressed in his interview with this reporter: it takes many Lion volunteers to make a club as healthy and meaningful as Caledoniaís seems to be.
Miller is perhaps best known by many Caledonia people as the superintendent of Independent District 299, a position he held for 19 years before retiring in 1996.
His Lions work started the same year as his school job here, in 1977. When he came to Caledonia, he was happy to find that the city had a Lions Club. Millerís father had been a Lion back in his hometown of Oakes, North Dakota.
ìI was kind of proud to do it, following in my dadís footsteps,î Miller said on September 9.
Every citizen has to pay his civic rent, Harris Miller used to tell his son.
ìI just didnít realize the rent was so high,î Miles said with a laugh.
The list of things he is involved with is basically a list of all Lion activities in Caledonia, and thatís a long list indeed. He rattled off some of them: cleaning up for the Tri-State Horse and Mule Sale, selling tickets for the midway of the Minnesota State Fair, putting on the fall turkey dinner, organizing the birthday calendar, doing raffles, working on parades, organizing fundraisers for people who face emergency needs
The activities are almost endless, and Miller has had a leadership role in most of them.
ìWe serve, thatís our basic motto,î he said. And like all good leaders, he is quick to once again add this disclaimer: ìIím involved, but thereís a lot of other people involved.î
Miller thinks of his activities as an extension of his work at school with students and teachers, which he also found fulfilling.
ìI think I get more in return for participating than what I put in,î he said.
The addition of more women in the Caledonia Lions has been a positive change, Miller said. ìThatís been very good for us.î
Membership is getting older, he said. He feels the group needs to grow and attract younger members. There are positive signs of that happening, he said. Seven new members wee inducted on September 7. If anyone wants more information, contact Miller at 725-5104 or any other Lion member.
What is he most proud of? He answered that he is proud of his role on the board of directors, and being able to influence the direction it has gone. He is proud of the local group of Lions, and of serving on every one of the groupís community projects.
Being on the District 5M1 regional Lions board gave him a broader perspective of the group, he added.
Beyond the Lions, Miller said he takes pride in having served as a school superintendent for 36 years. He started the job at age 28.
Getting the award left Miller in a state that he rarely enters. ìI was just amazed. People that know me, Iím very seldom speechless, but I was speechless.î
Miles and his wife, Jeanne, have three children, Kim, Eden Prairie; Greg, West Salem; and Sandy (Nadon), Burnsville. They have four grandchildren.
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