Tar Heel Traveler: The Longest Lion (with closed captions)

Name: Tar Heel Traveler: The Longest Lion (with closed captions)
Uploaded: 2025-10-10T17:46:00.000Z
Duration: 3 min 9 s
Description: One local man who has served in the lions club for over 6 decades. WRAL's Tar Heel Traveler shares the states and continents he's traveled to over that time span and what he says keeps him going.

One local man who has served in the lions club for over 6 decades. WRAL's Tar Heel Traveler shares the states and continents he's traveled to over that time span and what he says keeps him going.

Posted 10/10/2025, 5:46:00 PM Updated 10/21/2025, 9:29:06 PM

It is the first Monday of the month

That's time for the Lions Club meeting and tonight we

find our Tar Heel traveler in Raleigh

Scott Mason has the story of the world's longest serving

lion

Well how's the food The meals he has eaten at

his twice a month Lions Club meetings

I've missed very very few in 75 years with the

Lions Club

1.4 million members and you're the longest serving longest serving

and that's in the world in the world

What do you think about that Well I'm amazed first

of all that I've lived this long

I'm 96

He joined the Lions Club when he was 21

When I was a youngster families who had blind people

were ashamed of it

The Lions Club is all about helping the blind and

the deaf

We at least have opened it to the extent that

the blind

Participate

He did say participate

So I guess you've gone all over the world to

these conventions

I have

I've spoken in every state in the union and on

every continent except Antarctica

I've been a lucky old dude

Lacey Presnell lives in

but grew up in Chatham County

I was only 21 when I got married and Esther

was only 18

Lacey became an educator

I was the youngest principal in the state at age

What did you think being the youngest principal Well I

was amazed

He also became a Lions Club district governor

One of the governors over over at the table next

to us was named Jimmy Carter

Before he was governor of Georgia do you feel you

have made a difference I do not feel it

I know it

He has earned the Order of the Longleaf pine and

he's done some fishing the national tournament for the seeing

impaired

What fun and how intense

They had no interest whether I was a member of

the Lions club or whether I was fat or slim

or they just didn't care

Their interest was in fishing

Lacey Presnell the world's longest serving lion

Do you have any goals left in life Yes I'd

like to go to about 12 or 14 more lions

conventions

What a life

Even at 96 Lacey Presnell is still traveling to long

distance Lions Club gatherings

You will not make the one in Singapore later this

year

That's a bit too far away

However he did recently return from Atlantic City had a

good old time there