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