The Kendall Lions and guests were treated to a very informative and engaging program at their June 4 meeting. Former Kendall resident and Alfred Lions Club member Wallace Higgins spoke about his experiences growing up in Kendall and then as a Tuskegee Airman. He told quite a life story from encountering racial segregation and discrimination for the first time after entering the service, training in Pre-Flight at the Tuskegee Institute to his post war education at NYS College of Ceramics at Alfred University. He went on to become an associate professor, retiring in 1985.
Wally has been a member of Alfred Lions Club for 50 years and spent decades in community service. His daughter shared some of the honors he has received because he “doesn’t like to toot his own horn.” He is in the official registry as a Documented Original Tuskegee Airman. For his work with the Civil Air Patrol prior to his enlistment he was a recent recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal. This May, NYS Senator Cathy Young inducted Wally into the Veterans Hall of Fame in Albany. Several Lions arranged for personal friends from his years in Kendall to attend including Ray and Lorena Patt, Margaret Buell and the sister of his close friend, Helen Briggs.
