New Lion Bruce Paterson, on the left, joins Lions Marty Hawkins, Bob Reddick and missing from the photo, Dorothy Maynard, Barb Fritz, and Jim McGlade to distribute diabetes information.
Westport Lions Roar
By Lion Bob Reddick
In addition to giving out candy at Halloween this past week, the Westport Lions were involved in two projects of the five Lion pillars of service, diabetes, and vision. The other three pillars are childhood cancer, environment, and hunger.
On Saturday, November 5, a team of Lions handed out information on awareness of diabetes, healthy meal planning and recipes, risk assessment, and warning signs that one may have diabetes. The Lions collected $274.05 that will go towards education and helping those with diabetes.
The other initiative this past week involved vision screening at Rideau Vista Public School and St. Edward Catholic School. Lions Jim Scala and Jim McGlade, and two volunteers from each school tested 42 students from Rideau Vista and 19 from St. Edward.
The student Screening Criteria Tests include the far visual Acuity Eye Chart, Alignment Stereo Fly test, and Colour Blindness test.
The Acuity Eye Chart has the student 20 feet away to test their vision with both eyes and then with each eye separately to check for a lazy eye.
The three Stereo Tests check the stereoscopic depth perception. Its purpose is to measure how minutely the two eyes can discern differences in the distances of objects from the observer.
The first test, The House Fly establishes the presence of gross stereopsis especially useful for young children who may have difficulty understanding instructions.
The second test, the circle patterns, provide a finely graded sequence for critical testing.
The final test in this category is a series of animals, from which a forward- appearing one is selected, which facilitates the testing of younger children.
The Ishihara test for Colour deficiency is used for the colour blindness. It consists of 24 plates. A circle plate with a background colour and a number is presented in different colours. The student is asked to identify the number presented on the plate.
All the testing only takes about five minutes to complete. If a student shows signs of vision deficiencies, the Lion team recommends that the student see an optometrist for further professional examination.
This service has proven to be very successful and important to local students.
This year’s Santa Claus parade on Saturday, November 26 starting at 2:00 p.m. is gearing up to be one of the best and biggest ever. Organizer, Lion Marty Hawkins is accepting floats for Old Country Western Christmas. Please contact him at 613-531-1710 to be part of this year’s parade.
Westport Lions Club 