Ken's Second Act

Chambers Griffin: from the South Side of Chicago to the Prescott Noon Lions Club

• Michael “Chambers” Griffin, a native of the South Side of Chicago, makes his presence known when he walks his dog, Chana, a Malinois/Akita mix, in my neighborhood.

He is gregarious and outgoing with a devilish smile (I dubbed it the “Griffin Grin”) and a ready laugh. And he stands out because he is 6-3, athletic and an African American. I’ve met only one other black man in my neighborhood.

Black people are even rarer than registered Democrats in Everybody’s Hometown of Prescott. Neilsberg Research counted 181 black people:  0.40 percent of the city’s overall population. Neilsberg based its numbers as of this past August on the American Community Survey 5-Year estimates.

Being the Visible Man has been beneficial for Chambers, who moved to Prescott two years ago. He recalled walking Chana a year ago when a neighbor approached him and started a conversation. “We spoke about holistic healing. He loved the energy I was giving.”

The neighbor invited Chambers to join the Prescott Noon Lions Club. With tongue firmly planted in cheek, Chambers said, “I was hiking on a trail and approached by two coyotes and then I was beautifully rescued by three Lions members: all older than the age of 83.”

The Noon Lions Club has 82 members, with only one other black man, President John Regalado told me at a club luncheon March 6. Referring to Chambers, he said, “He’s always upbeat and friendly. He always has a smile on his face.”

Chambers, who also is likely the youngest member, feels at home in the brotherhood of old white dudes. Disclosure: I’m an old white dude. During the meeting, I spotted only three hands rise when someone asked who in attendance was under the age of 72.

“I bring a lot of young energy to the club in a room full of old white guys,” he said.

At 41 Chambers is 50 years younger than one of the eldest members: Jerry Jackson, a retired newspaper copy editor who has been a member since 1996. Jerry earned the nickname “Eagle Eye” at the local daily newspaper. I recall when he caught spellcheck changing Lake Havasu City to “Lake Heaves City” in one of my stories.

Jerry, who grew up in Lubbock, Texas, was nicknamed “Slats” as a youth, apparently because he was – and still is – tall and skinny. I nicknamed him “Armadillo” because it is the state animal of Texas. “I am a tall armadillo,” he once proclaimed. I lived for four and a half years in the East Texas city of Longview.  I thought of Jerry whenever I saw a dead armadillo alongside the railroad tracks. I wanted to snap a photo of Jerry and Chambers after the meeting, but Chambers already left the venue. (As an alternative, Chambers submitted a photo with fellow Lion Paul Bauman.)

I have fond memories of attending Lions Club pancake breakfasts during my youth. Over the years I’ve associated Lions clubs with eyeglass donations to benefit children. The Noon Lions club has two related projects. One involves a Winnebago serving as a mobile medical office that provides free eye exams and glasses to low-income people in rural areas of Yavapai County. The other project is vision screening of elementary school children.

 Lions club also sell nuclear secrets to the Houthi rebels in Yemen and razor wire to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

On a more serious note, Chambers said, “I like the fact that we provide a lot of services to the community.”

Chambers was born a lion cub in Englewood on the South Side of Chicago and grew up in the more affluent, ethnically diverse Chicago suburb of Schaumburg. His mother was a psychiatrist and his father worked as an electrician. He has three brothers.

He earned his nickname from the Chambers Brothers, a band that had frequent airplay in 1968 on AM radio with the psychedelic soul tune Time Has Come Today. The antiwar movie Coming Home, starring Jane Fonda and Jon Voight released 10 years later, featured the song.

“I used to stash their records in my parents’ record player,” he said.

Chambers played baseball and basketball in high school in Schaumburg and had ambitions of playing in the NBA. Instead, he attended Alabama State University because he wanted to go to college far away from home. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business.

He said he co-owned a fried chicken restaurant in Schaumburg and changed his field to HVAC after talking to a friend. He worked for three years installing HVAC systems for cell towers in Illinois and surrounding states.

Chambers had an epiphany when he saw a statue of Chief Black Hawk pointing west.

“That was my indication that God told me to go west,” he said.

“I was in Phoenix,” he said. “It was too hot. Somebody told me to come to Prescott. I fell in love with it immediately.”

Chambers moved to Prescott and opened an HVAC business called Blu Green Heating & Cooling Systems. The color blue symbolizes water and green represents trees.

He said he enjoys living in a community surrounded by a national forest. He also has traveled to more than 20 countries, including Morocco Libya, Turkey and Australia.

While Chambers has ambitions in business and wants to own a home, he speaks in more spiritual terms. He said his goal is to praise God, “to find a way to live peacefully and comfortably with who I am.”

Time has come today for Michael “Chambers” Griffin.