HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2007-10-03, Page 10Page 10 The Huron Expositor
October 3, 2007
News
After 60 years with Seaforth Lions
John Turnbull receives Melvin Jones award
Susan Nundertniark
To hear John Turnbull tell it, he
doesn't do much more than warm a
seat and eat his meal at the
Seaforth Lions Club.
But, his fellow members know dif-
ferently.
As he marks his 60th anniversary
with the Seaforth Lions Club,
Turnbull has been awarded the
Melvin Jones fellowship award.
From the 1950s when he chaired
the committee to build the Lions
pool to the past year when he sug-
gested saving electricity with a
smaller horsepower motor on the
fountain in Silver Creek, Turnbull
has never stopped finding ways to
improve what he believes is one of
Seaforth's best assets - Lions Park.
"He's always been very passionate
about the park and pool," says fel-
low Lion Bob Beuttenmiller.
Turnbull was the fundraising
chair in 1955 when the Lions Club
raised $40,000 to build a pool.
He was also instrumental in cre-
ating a reserve fund 15 years ago to
ensure that when the Lions pool
needed repairs, the money would be
there to do it.
"Without that reserve, we'd have
had to fill it in last year," says Lions
president Bill 'Mall of the $225,000
in repairs done last year, of which
the Lions asked the community to
raise $50,000 after receiving
$40,000 from the Trillium
Foundation.
"He had great foresight in seeing
we would someday need the money,"
adds Beuttenmiller.
Turnbull was also the leading
force behind the new wheelchair
accessible ramp that replaced the
two small bridges over Silver Creek
into Lions Park in 2000.
"He designed the ramp," says
Beuttenmiller. "It really made the
entrance to the park much easier
for baby buggies and wheelchairs."
As well, Turnbull was the man
behind the move
to replace
stacked logs with
a moveable wall
at the Silver
Creek dam, cre-
ating an easier
solution to regu-
lating water flow
during flood con-
ditions.
Turnbull
remembers join-
ing the 50 -mem-
ber Seaforth
Lions Club 60
years ago when
he was going on
30 himself.
"It was some-
thing to do and a
way to join the
You are invited to attend these area churches
t. Thomas
Anglican Church
A Congregation of the Pinsh of The Holy Spirit
Jarvis St. SeaVorth 519-527-1522
Sunday Oct. 7
Worship at 9:30 am
Harvest Thanksgiving - Holy Communion
We welcome Rev. Lynn Mitchell as our
guest celebrant and speaker.
Kid -Zone Sunday School at 9:30
E :We
Bethel Bible Church
An Associated Gospel Church
126 Main St. Seaforth
519-527-0982
Sunday School • All Ages • 9:45 am
Sunday Worship 11:00 am
Pastor Mark Kennedy
EVERYONE WELCOME
NORTHSIDE UNITED
CHURCH
54 Goderich St. W.
Ray. John Gould
Sunday Oct. 7
Worship 11 am
Sermon: "Redeeming the
Familiar"
Everyone Welcome
St. James Roman
Catholic Church
Welcomes you
14 Victoria Street, Seaforth
519-527-0142
Sunday Mass 11:00 am
St. Patricks, Dublin
Sat. Mass 5 pm - Sun. Masa 9 am
Fr. Chris Gillespie
Egmondville
United Church
Sunday Oct. 7
Pastor Steve Hildebrand
Worship 11am
Thanksgiving Service
Sunday School 10am
Everyone welcome
First Presbyterian
Church
Goderich St. W., Seaforth
Rev. Henry Huberts
Sunday Oct. 7
11:15am Service
Communion Service
Bible
Study
Thursday 7: at the manse
John Turnbull, of Seaforth, holds his Mel
Lions president Bill Teall and Lions zone
community because I was new in
town at the time," he says.
He says building a pool was a big
interest of his at the time.
"I was young and more active in
those days and the community
seemed much more involved - every-
one was out to help the other fel-
low," he says.
"We wanted to build a place for
kids to go who didn't have cottages
or camps to go to in the summer,"
says Turnbull.
Ironically, Turnbull says he's
never been swimming at Lions pool.
"I just wanted to provide it for the
kids," he says.
Some of Turnbull's most vivid
memories of his time with the Lions
Club are of the Lions' summer car-
nival that used to run for three days
in Lions Park during the summer.
"It was a big event, usually in
June. We used to raffle off a car and
we always had a midway and games
of chance. But, TV came in and the
crowds stopped coming," he says.
Beuttenmiller also remembers the
Lions carnival,
which he says
ended in the late
1970s.
"I came to
Seaforth in 1959
when the carni-
val was in full
swing. It was
vin Jones award as he poses
chair John Stewart, of Blyth.
very popular and a big money-
maker for the club," he says, adding
that a talent show was one of the
big draws to the carnival.
"It ran its time but people often
wonder it we could revive it again,"
says Beuttenmiller.
Turnbull remembers, as well, the
day when Lions members always
wore shirts, ties and jackets to club
meetings.
"It was more fun when there were
more of us and we were younger.
The last 20 years, I've just kept a
chair warm and filled my face at the
meetings," he says, adding he'll be
90 his next birthday.
Beuttenmiller says Turnbull's
vast experience is still a great asset
to the club.
"He has quite a sense of humour
and a lot of stories. And, he still
sells a quarter of our tickets in the
annual elimination draw every
year," he says.
"He goes out for a day and sells
them all over the countryside. He
jokes that he goes out at suppertime
so people will get their chequebooks
out quick to get rid of him," says
Beuttenmiller.
The Melvin Jones fellowship
award recognizes outstanding indi-
viduals that embody humanitarian
ideas consistent with Lionism and
have provided exemplary service to
the club and community.
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with Seaforth
Seaforth & Area Fire Association
Invites you to our
FIRE HALL
OPEN NOOSE
THURS., OCT. 11
6:30 - 8:30 P.M.
In coniunction with Fire Prevention Week
FIRE SAFETY
TRAILER ON DISPLAY
Seaforth & Area Fire Hall
Birch St. Seaforth
Door Prizes Available
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