The Westport Lions welcome new members Kim Kelly, left and Joanne O’Neil, right. Membership chairperson and sponsor, Lion Marty Hawkins, centre conducted the induction ceremony.
Westport Lions Roar
By Lion Bob Reddick
The highlight of the November 10 Westport Lions general meeting was the induction of Kim Kelly and Joanne O’Neil. In their introductory remarks, both women said they are excited about joining the Lion family and were enthusiastic about becoming involved. The Westport Lions now have seven female members.
President Michael Harris initiated the goal of cleaning up the Lions’ old trailer park site and then asked Lion Dave Blair to oversee the task. Many hours went into cleaning up the site by Lion members. The club then decided a high hoe excavator was needed to knock down the old washrooms and depose of the rubbish. In total the club removed four – 40 cubic yard dumpsters of refuse from the site.
Lion Blair asked Mark Hales, owner of Hales Excavation and Trucking Ltd. to give the club a price on the removal of the old buildings. Mark graciously offered to provide a high hoe and operator to remove the buildings at no cost to the club. The Westport Lions thanks Mark and operator, Chris Kilpatrick for their time and the use of the equipment.
Several months ago, in The Review-Mirror, an old photograph showed Mark’s grandfather, Don Hutchings donating his time and high hoe to dig the basement of the clubhouse in 1991. Mark saw the picture in the paper and wanted to carry on the family tradition of helping the Westport Lions.
Mark got his experience operating heavy equipment from his grandfather, but he followed another career path initially. After graduating from Sir Stanford Fleming’s Fish and Wildlife program, he was employed for the Ministry of Natural Resources out of Timmins, Thunder Bay and Sharbot Lake for five years restocking fish to area lakes. But his heart was still in Westport. This year Hales Excavating and Trucking celebrate their 10th anniversary.
In other business, President Harris reported on the Oversite Committee for the Recycle & Reuse Centre. This new Lions’ venture is different than our other fundraisers because it operates all year and encompasses our metal recycling program and medical equipment loan depot. Because it is essentially a business, the oversite committee and manager Jim Scala have worked hard in establishing new operating structures and guidelines that will continue to guarantee the smooth operation of the Recycle and Reuse Centre.
Head of finances, Lion Larry Arsenault, presented and obtained approval for next year’s budget and financial controls for committees. These financial controls outline what committees are authorized to spend from their budgets and the level of approval by the club for specific amounts of money.
Lion Marty Hawkins reported that the Westport Food Bank has decided not to hold their traditional Christmas dinner this year because of COVID-19.
Lion Dorothy Maynard reported that the Christmas cakes delivery to seniors will be on the morning of December 4.
Lion Bob Reddick outlined plans for Santa’s visit from 2 – 4:00 p.m. at St. Edward’s parking lot on Saturday, November 27.
Lions Michael Harris, Bill Garland, Dorothy Maynard and new Lion Kim Kelly volunteered to lay a wreath on behalf of the club at Newboro and Westport cenotaphs on Remembrance Day.
Westport Lions Club 