The Battle Lake Lions Club was chartered August 22, 1956. The sponsor club was the Fergus Falls (Noon) Lions Club.  There were 32 charter members of which Lion Richard "Dick" Tamke, Sr. is the remaining charter member.

Lion Marcus Langemo was elected the first president and Lion Willam Dowling the first secretary-treasurer.  Other officers were Lions Warren Hunter, Dr. J. A. Howland, George Gearhart, Richard Tamke Sr., Dr. C.A. Boline, Joseph Peterson, Dr. Leoug Y. Hom, James Rude and A.K. Bondy.  Other charter members were Alton Carlson, Eugene Carlson, Vern Charest, M.T. Duhn, Orville Gehring, C.M. Haase, Charles S. Hall, Robert Hawkinson,  A.T. Herfindahl Sr., Glen Johnson, R.E. Kausler, Gordon Lindstrom, Sam C. Lykken, Stanley Moe, Walter C. Moe, Clifford E. Pederson, Millard A. Ranstad, B.L. Roberts, Jack Saunders, David D. Severson, and R.L. Young.

The early meetings were held at the Country Inn now called the Old Brick Inn.  Currently meetings of the Club are held at the Shoreline café, north on State Highway 78 in Battle Lake.

The Club sponsored new Lions Clubs in Underwood MN chartered May 15, 1977 and Ottertail City MN chartered May 5, 1976.

February 16, 1980, the club filed Articles of Incorporation as Lions Club of Battle Lake, Minnesota as a not-for-profit Section 317 corporation under 1979 Minnesota State Revised Statutes.  

An early and important Club project was at the large community park adjacent to West Battle Lake.  Because of the efforts put forth there by the Club it is most often called "Lions Park". The combination bathhouse-restroom, a much used picnic shelter, tennis court, and other improvements are from the expenditures and volunteer efforts of the Club.  This continues as an important project for the Club.  The shelter is our main food service outlet that we continue to maintain and upgrade as well as the other facilities on the site.  There is the hope that in cooperation with the City of Battle Lake the Club will be able to substantially upgrade the shelter kitchen and provide a rest room closer to the shelter.  In the spring of 2002 the Club in conjunction with the City of Battle Lake, C&C, and the Horseshoe club raised enough money to build another picnic shelter 24"X 24" near the horseshoe pits.  The labor for construction was provided by Lion member volunteers and Marv Skov as the construction coordinator.

In June of 2000 the Club undertook another major commitment - sponsorship of the Red Cross Bloodmobile.  The Bloodmobile had been visiting the community and area two times a year for many years.  During those years the Club had been providing "treats" for the donors, ingredients for the staff meal cooked by community women, member volunteers to unload and reload the truck, and more recently help with the reminder phoning.  In 1999 the service was discontinued because a new coordinator could not be found.  The Club decided that this was an essential service to and by the community. The Club accepted responsibility to sponsor, coordinate, and promote the Bloodmobile by finding a coordinator, providing volunteer help, and paying for treats for donors and a meal for the staff.  Fortunately a community volunteer coordinator came forward so that the Club did not have to find one.  However after the position had passed through several community volunteers, the Club has taken a direct role in providing leadership for the local drive.

Another major project was adopted in the spring of 2001. The City of Battle Lake Police Department received through West Central Emergency Medical Services (WCEMS) a grant that made it possible to purchase four automatic defibrillators for much less than normal.  Lion Dr. Dallas Glick made the Battle Lake Lions Club aware of this grant and the Club took the role of coordinating fundraising under committee chairman Lion Dr. Glaydon Kern.  The Club's goal was to place two units in Battle Lake police cars and two in locally based Otter Tail County Sheriff's cars.  The sheriff's department had pointed out that when a 911 call comes in it is sent to the nearest equipped car - city police cars would cover their rural area in such a case. As a result of donations from a number of area and community agencies, local governmental units, church groups, community groups, and the Lions Club, $8,400 was raised for this purpose.  The four units were purchased and donated to the City of Battle Lake and the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Department.  Since this amount was more than needed for the project, the Battle Lake Lions Club donated the balance of the Club donation to an area Lions clubs group which purchased a fifth unit for another locally based sheriff's car south of Underwood.

The third major project was the Habitat for Humanity house for a disabled person.  In November of 2002 the Fergus Falls Area Habitat for Humanity unit through its Battle Lake Affiliate proposed to the Battle Lake Lions Club that a Lions Clubs International Foundation grant could be requested to build such a house in Battle Lake.  After a number of obstacles were overcome a grant for $14,676 was granted by LCIF which required that the Club match that amount in cash and inkind donation.  Construction began shortly thereafter with completion of the house and its dedication on May 23, 2004,  More details about this are given on the home page under Lions/Habitat House.