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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-07-02, Page 13PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2015. Blyth Lions Club 70th Anniversary Celebration GODERICH LIONS CLUB CONGRATULATIONS to the Blyth Lions Club on their 70th Anniversary Lucknow Lions Club We would like to wish the Blyth Lions Club a Happy 70th Anniversary. Congratulations Blyth Lions We would like to congratulate the Blyth Lions on their 70th Anniversary AUBURN LIONS CLUB Happy 70th Anniversary Blyth Lions Club! Brussels Lions Club Enjoy your celebrations! Happy 70th Anniversary Blyth Lions Club Wishing you all the best as you continue to serve. Dungannon Lions Club Londesboro & District Lions Club Congratulations Blyth Lions on your 70th Anniversary of serving the community and beyond. Wishing all the best for the future. Congratulations on your 70th Anniversary From Clinton Lions Club Lions Club of Wingham Congratulates the Blyth Lions on their 70th Anniversary! We wish you all the best as you enjoy your celebration. Continued from previous page being returned to the community through the activities and projects of the Blyth Lions Club. The Club regularly donates to the Boy Scouts, minor hockey, softball, soccer and figure skating programs. The Club supports Lions Quest, a program to fight drug abuse and bullying in schools. The Club has purchased books, computers and sports equipment for local schools as well as contributing towards healthy eating programs, bursaries and school trips. The club has supported initiatives such as Sight and Hearing Conservation, Diabetes Awareness, Hospital Foundations, the Christmas Bureau, Local Food Banks and Environmental Projects. Through an ongoing commitment to supporting the Blyth community, here are a few of the many financial contributions the Club has made in recent years. • 2001 – $60,000 to Heart and Soul Campaign – Construction of a new Arena and Community Centre • 2001 – $10,000 to The Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association to assist with new washroom facilities • 2003 – $380 to the Blyth Public School Peacemakers Program • 2006 – $7,500 to the Emergency Safety Training Centre • 2012 – $1,000 to the Children’s Safety Village • 2010 – $1,000 to the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guide School • 2013 – $500 to the Drive for Dean • 2014 – $500 to Campaign 14/19 • 2015 – $1,250 to the Blyth Fire Riders – Ride to Conquer Cancer • 2015 – $200 to the Dave Mounsey Memorial Fund’s annual Run Around the Square • 2015 – $100 to the Special Olympics Torch Run. The Club has also assisted with community fundraising events for Mikayla Ansley (2008) and Jim Johnston (2011), teamed up with the North Huron Firefighters Association to host Grandpa Bob’s Walk for Louie, initiated the Lions Snow Volleyball Tournament in memory of Blake Hesselwood and John Bokhout and began the Seed Sowers Social Annual Steak Barbecue in 2011 to raise funds for community projects. THE BLYTH LIONS PARK The first major purchase of the newly- formed Lions Club was the property known as the Lions Park. It was purchased from Charter Member Harve McCallum for the sum of $500. Seventy years later this piece of property now boasts a playground with equipment, a children’s wading pool, horseshoe pits, a picnic pavilion and a clubhouse. The original wading pool was replaced in 1988 with a larger pool, complete with a filter system, pump house and fence. Lion President Doug Howson oversaw the construction of the lawn bowling greens and the clubhouse in 1975. When the Lawn Bowling Club disbanded, the clubhouse was returned to the Lions Club. The members volunteered many hours to renovate and expand the facilities in order that it could be used as the Club’s year-round meeting place. The first Lions meeting at the new facility was called to order by Lion President Greg Toll in September, 2007. The picnic pavilion was constructed in the early 1980s and has been used for family picnics, church services, wedding receptions and an occasional beer garden. Each summer the Lions Club employs students to supervise the wading pool and to cut grass. While it costs approximately $7,000. annually to maintain the park, the Club is pleased to advise that government funds have never been received, nor have they ever been requested. LIONS YOUTH EXCHANGE PROGRAM AND THE LION CHARLIE SHAW DISTRICT A9 INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CAMP Here is an excerpt from The History of Lions Youth Exchange by Lion Charlie Shaw. “In 1974 a request was received from Lion Jim Johnston District 2T2 Governor from Texas requesting permission to send 15 youth to Canada. The Governor sent word that the youth would fly to Sault Ste. Marie for pick up by the Blyth Lions. He obviously did not understand the size of Ontario. We got in touch with him and the youth flew to Detroit and were bused to Blyth. On the morning of their departure the Governor phoned to say he had one more boy who had just heard about the exchange program the night before. We said send him along. The Texan youth arrived in Blyth at our door mid-afternoon and very hungry. My wife, Pat, some Lions members and our neighbours raided our refrigerators and fed them. Soon after their arrival it started to rain. They all came into the house except for the boy that was last to apply. He said, ‘Man, I have been irrigating cotton all summer with no rain.’ He stayed out in the rain. After a five week stay a bus was supposed to pick up the youth and take them to the airport for their return flight. The bus never arrived. The Blyth Lions took the youth in cars with their luggage packed in pick-up trucks and rushed to the Detroit Airport arriving just in time. “During the second year of the exchange a one-week stay at camp was included. Youth attended from the USA, Europe, Japan and Africa. I was very pleased and honoured to have the youth camp named, ‘The Lion Charlie Shaw District A9 International Youth Camp’.” Since the inception of the youth exchange program more than 50 youth from the Blyth area and sponsored by the Blyth Lions Club have participated and visited such countries as Australia, Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, Italy, Finland, Sweden, Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Estonia and the United States. BLYTH LIONS CLUB – PRESENT DAY Today, there are 40 members in the Blyth Lions Club, both men and women. It is a group of community-minded individuals who donate a small portion of their free time to help those in need all over the world, while making their own community a better and safer place to live, work and play. The Blyth Lions Club is one of more than 46,000 Clubs located in 208 countries world- wide. There are more than 1.4 million Lions throughout the world. The Lions motto is “We Serve”. Anyone wishing additional information about the Blyth Lions Club or Lions Clubs International is encouraged to contact any Lions Club member or visit the website at www.lionsclubs.org or the Club’s Facebook page. Blyth Lions Club history compiled by Lion John Stewart Lions Park As a gift to honour Frank Bainton, the Bainton family donated a water fountain to the Lions Park in 1993. From left: Lion John Stewart, Franklin Snell, Lion Ken Stewart, Cenetta Bainton and Glenyce Snell. Congratulations Blyth Lions Club John Johnston MDA Council Chair Bob Tanner Past Chairandfrom Happy 70th Anniversary Joanne Klonikowski District A9 Governor Hank Van Moorsel Past District Governorandfrom