This year the Wawota and District Lions Club is celebrating 50 years of working in and giving back to the community. Sponsored by the Carlyle and District Lions Club the Wawota Lions were chartered on April 5, 1965. This month they celebrate the milestone with an invitational supper bringing together all past Lions and their spouses to celebrate their past accomplishments and look forward to the future as a club.
The club membership has ebbed and flowed over the years, with 24 charter members growing to 50 members at one time they currently enjoy a membership of 40 with five to be inducted into the club during the Saturday, March 21, celebration.
“At one time we had 50 members, and we were the biggest rural club for awhile, but our membership always fluctuates with people moving to the community and leaving the community,” Garry Dickson explained.
He added, “One hundred and twenty-four people have passed through the club in a 25-year span. A lot joined here for a year and then they moved on.”
The Observer spoke with four members of the Wawota Lions and they explained why it is something they are happy to be a part of.
For original charter member, Norman Meyers, he remembers joining at the age of 18, though he had no explanation for joining, laughing that it was odd an 18-year-old kid would be part of the Lions Meyers stated that it is an important part of the community which has made him stick with it.
“I was 18-years-old when I joined and I’m not sure why I did,” he said laughing. “We do a lot of good though and the fellowship amongst members is great. We used to go to all the conventions together which was a lot of fun.”
Doug Bourgon stated, “I joined to give back to my community.”
This simple statement is the reason why he continues to work hard for the Lions; it is a tangible way of making a difference in the community.
“If we hadn’t had a Lions Club a lot of the things in town now wouldn’t be here,” Dickson explained. “We have lots of bodies so nothing really seems too big for us.”
Over the years the Lions have hosted numerous fundraisers including one they began and eventually partnered with the Carlyle and District Lions for called, Moose Mush, in the 1970s.
“It was a winter festival that we used to host here, then we joined up with Carlyle and held it out at Kenosee Lake,” Dave Engle recalled.
During the festival there would be snowmobile races, a queen contest, beard growing contest, and a dance.
Today the main fundraisers for the Wawota Lions include their annual Quad Derby which will be held on Saturday, April 25, this year; their annual golf tournament which has been scheduled for Friday, July 10; and their annual fish fry to be held on Wednesday, April 8.
The fish fry is a new fundraiser they began a few years ago, which has quickly seen success.
“We fly the fish in from the Maritimes and last year all the funds raised from it went to STARS, and they were even there to accept a cheque,” Dickson explained.
Bourgon added, “The fish are caught the day before and are flown in, so it’s all fresh fish, and there’s always lots of it; it’s very good.”
Throughout the years they have used the money raised in a variety of ways locally, nationally and internationally as is expected as a Lions Club.
Some of these items include flooring for the hall and school gymnasium, guide dogs, the hockey and curling rinks, helping News in a Minute start up, work done to the handi-vans, fire aid, 45 years of senior suppers, have contributed to the splash park, the play park, and the ball park, as well as school bursaries, and so much more.
They have also worked bars at weddings and other events, while also offering to help make community events successful through working them. They host a dance during the Heritage Weekend (August long weekend) and helped work at the RCMP Musical Ride 25 years ago which they will again taking on that job this year on Tuesday, July 28.
