"If I can make one person smile because they had a bad day, or help one child get glasses and a better education, it's all worth it," Knode said.
Knode said practices for the show are every Sunday starting in January. He said it's a real letdown when the show is over.
Proceeds from the show go to the club's scholarship fund. Knode said over the past 15 years, the club has given away more than $100,000 in scholarship money.
Other fundraisers provide money to purchase eyeglasses and eye exams for school-aged children.
"The main reason we do it is to help those less fortunate than ourselves," Knode said.
Knode and his wife have two grown sons and two grandsons. Their oldest grandson was born Nov. 2, 2004, when Tom and Emily Knode were working the polls as chief election judges. She's a Democrat; he's a Republican.
They couldn't leave their polling places and had to wait to see their new grandson until after the polls were closed, Tom Knode said.
Tom Knode served in the U.S. Air Force from 1960 to 1964, then worked a variety of jobs before settling at Mack Trucks, where he worked for 30 years. After two years of "driving my wife crazy," he took a full-time job at AC&T on Wesel Boulevard, where he has worked for eight years.
"I'm a people person, very much so," said Knode, who missed the interaction with people during his retirement.
The Clear Spring Lions Club meets the first and third Mondays of each month and "is always looking for good men and women, either one," Knode said.
The Clear Spring Lions Club Minstrel and Variety Show is Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Clear Spring High School. An hour before each show, Tri-State Band will play Big Band music for the audience.
Tickets cost $5 for adults and $2.50 for school-aged children; preschoolers are admitted free. Tickets are available at Clear Spring Hardware, from Clear Spring Lions Club members and at the door.
For more information, call Tom Knode at 301-842-3239 or Harry Bryan at 301-582-1973.
