Lions clubs also impact Australia
Most of us do not realize that our local Lions clubs are part of an international organization.
Goals are the same regardless of location.
International Lions magazines were shared with us by Jill Thayer. The Australia and Papua New Guinea edition is published bimonthly for the Multiple District 201 Council of Lions Clubs International. Jill, Kalispell Lions Club member, recently returned to her Australian home.
Candid shots of Lions attending the Convention of Friends in Sydney were featured in one magazine. Convention was described as a recognition of the relationship of Lions to Australia society, with a hard core of Lions Friends there to support us.
Center fold featured Hahndorf, oldest surviving German settlement which was settled by immigrants in the 1840s. Projects of Hahndorf Lions included The Bowls Club, raising funds and getting grants for building the club. It is located in the town centre, dedicated to those killed during wars.
Lions are not afraid to get their hands dirty was reported in an October-November 2007 issue.
Typical is the Lions Club of Glamorgan and its fundraiser — bagging and selling sheep manure.
Those Lions help nursing, coast guard and ambulance organizations, and provide bursaries to school students.
I learned a bursary (plural is bursaries) is a grant for maintenance of beneficiary students.
A sad story with a happy ending is subject of another article.
An Auckland resident, who traveled the world, returned to find items in her storage unit which were not hers. There was a Lions bannerette from Victoria’s Lions Club of Blackburn and some ashes. She contacted the funeral parlour named but they could not release any information. She next contacted the Blackburn North Lions Club. They located the owners, past presidents of Lions clubs. Ashes were those of their son.
Bushfires of last summer saw Lions going into red alert. Lions did not rest easily until the fires — which destroyed 27 homes, damaged 50 others, cost the Tasmanian state government almost $4 million — were over.
They supported firefighters and provided emergency assistance with food, water, clothing, to residents. East coast of Tasmania, littered with picturesque holiday destinations, has hard-working Lions clubs.
Lions in Australia sell Lions Traditional Christmas cakes. Ad showed a one kg cake for $9 while a 1.5-kg cake sells for $12. Photos showed winners in the cake decorating contest held in conjunction with their convention. “Under the Sea” was the theme for decorations. Lions donated a gold coin to vote for winners and decorated cakes were sold at a silent auction. Proceeds went to SightFirst II.
We have friends and relatives in Australia, but do not know if they belong to Lions. Eastern Star also has Grand Chapter representatives there. Members come to Montana for sessions, and we go to Australia.
Gladys Shay is a longtime resident and columnist for the Hungry Horse News