Westport Lions Induct Nine New Members

Jim Scala, centre, right, sponsored Cheryl Couper Scala and they both sponsored Aaron Badour, left, and Glenn Wilcox, right.

Danny “Boomer” Lewis, left, and Wayne “Smokey” Sherwood, right, were sponsored by Jim McGlade, centre.

Dave Blair, centre, sponsored Julie-Ann, and April Baird, from left to right.

John Ross, left, was sponsored by Marty Hawkins, right.

Barbara Fritz, left, sponsored by George Jones, right.

Westport Lions Roar

By Lion Bob Reddick

In addition, congratulations were given to Jeannette Harper and Kevin Kardash. Jeannette was given a certificate of congratulations by the Hon. Steve Clark, MPP for Leeds, Grenville, Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes for receiving the Westport Lions Volunteer of the Year Award, and Lion Kevin Kardash for earning his 10-year service chevron.

At the September 20 meeting, 26 Lions and three guests witnessed the induction of nine new members and the presentation of several awards. Although all the inductees have been active in the club initiatives for some time, the inductions were postponed until now because of COVID-19. The inductees and their sponsors are:

Julie-Ann Baird sponsored by David Blair;

April Baird sponsored by David Blair;

Aaron Badour sponsored by Jim Scala and Cheryl Couper Scala;

John Ross sponsored by Marty Hawkins;

Glenn Wilcox sponsored by Jim Scala and Cheryl Couper Scala;

Wayne “Smokey” Sherwood sponsored by Jim McGlade;

Danny “Boomer” Lewis sponsored by Jim McGlade;

Cheryl Couper Scala sponsored by Jim Scala;

Barbara Fritz sponsored by George Jones.

The Westport Lions Beach had another successful and attendance-breaking year. The swimming buoys have been removed, and the washrooms are now closed. The beach will be raked, and seaweed will be removed every other day to prevent build-up. The picnic tables will not be stored until after Thanksgiving.

The Westport Lions thank beach patrons for respecting the property and taking their garbage out with them. It took nine Lions and 11 volunteers to maintain the beach facilities this year. Lions cleaned the washrooms, removed seaweed from the beach and/or cut the grass were Dale Lyons, Julie Ann Baird, Wayne Bent, Smokey Sherwood, Harry Beckett, Bob Reddick, Jim McGlade, Glenn Wilcox and Dorothy Maynard. A special thank you to volunteers that helped to clean the change rooms. They were Cait Maloney, Cheryl Hanna, Peggy and Bob Thompson, Julia Lis, Kristof DeHulster, and Phil Hammond. On Thursdays, volunteers Dwain Smith, Joel McCulloch and Donna Roth made sure the beach was pristine. Lion Marty Hawkins and volunteer Chris Hartley took turns closing the washrooms every evening. To keep the beach in top shape it takes the community, volunteers and Lions working together.

Congratulations to Donny Warriner from Niagara Falls, who won $350 at the Westfest 50/50 draw.

Chairperson Dorothy Maynard reports that tickets for the $10,000 draw are going quickly. If you wish to purchase a $100 ticket, you should contact a Lion soon because there are only 250 tickets printed. The draw will take place at the Lions’ beach on Saturday, October 9, 2021, at 4:00 p.m.

For the remainder of the meeting, brief reports were given concerning the club’s finances, Westfest, catering for open house at Watercolour homes, the beach property, Lions’ community garden, Medical Mobility Service, cleaning up the old trailer park and the Re-Use and Recycle Centre. The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.