HISTORY OF SNOWBIRDS

During the winter of 1973-74, "Red" Lyon and his wife, Virginia, who were spending their first retirement winter in Destin, organized a small group of like-minded winter visitors for potluck dinners and other activities.  They called themselves "The Snowbird Mockingbird Club".  By 1978 there were 278 members and they were still growing.  In April of 1979, the club filed papers for incorporation as a non-profit club and officially became the Destin Snowbird Club, Inc. with a five member Board of Directors.  They held several activities... card games, trips to the dog races, fishing, sunset cruises, parties, golf and bowling.  Meetings were on Tuesday mornings, with entertainment in addition to the regular Snowbird meeting business. Virginia introduced the idea of drawing door prizes donated by area businesses at the meetings.  Red was President and served in that capacity until 1986.

In 1985-86 the membership had grown to 1300 and Red stepped down as President for health reasons, but remained active serving as Chairman of Entertainment.  In April of 1986 a group of active members amended the By-Laws and a seven member Board was established; the President and each Vice President were responsible for the various club activities.  Membership continued to grow and the club began holding two Tuesday morning meetings to accommodate the growing numbers.  We continue to enjoy excellent entertainment and the valued door prizes at each meeting.  Destin Snowbirds return year after year and we welcome many new members each year.  Today we are proud to see an annual membership of about 2000 Snowbirds.