In January 1992, a group of local men and women met with representatives of the Harrisonburg Lions Club at the Massanutten Property Owners Association Building in McGaheysville, Virginia. On May 14, 1992, the McGaheysville-Massanutten Lions Club was officially charted as the eighth Lions Club in Rockingham County.  The charter night was held on June 13, 1992.

The name McGaheysville-Massanutten Lions Club was chosen for the new club because most of the new members came from an area referred to as Massanutten Village and the McGaheysville Post Office serves this area. The McGaheysville-Massanutten Lions Club service area is the eastern part of Rockingham County including activities in the city of Harrisonburg.  As the McGaheysville-Massanutten Lion Club grew, so did the physical area and the number of people that we serve.

In 1993, the McGaheysville-Massanutten Lions Club started with 35 Members. Each succeeding year our membership has shown a growth. Some years the growth was as small as one member and some years as large as 21 members. In 2007,  the club membership stood at 92 members with just 9 of the original 35 members still with the club.

The McGaheysville-Massanutten Lions Club started out with small fundraisers like car washes and bake sales.  The first big leap in large fundraisers was a Golf Tournament in 1996.  It was also in that same year that our club started working on establishing its foundation, the Lions of Massanutten Foundation, Inc.  In 2003, we took another giant step forward with the addition of weekly Bingo to our fundraisers.  In 2007, we had an annual budget of over $125,000 with 85% of the net income going to local needs.

Besides funding many community activities, our club also holds the Local Bland Contest, provides volunteers for Big Brothers Big Sisters, and runs projects with the youth at Elkton Middle School, Montevideo Middle School, Elkton Elementary School and McGaheysville Elementary School.  In addition, we supply eyeglasses to the needy, preside over the Safety Town project and furnish staff for Valley Voice.  We also have other community activities that we perform to enhance the lives of the less fortunate.

Our club has been given twenty (20) Melvin Jones Fellow Awards to deserving members and community leaders.  The Melvin Jones Fellow Award is Lions Clubs International Foundation's highest honor and is in recognition of dedicated humanitarian work.