From the left, Aubrey Carty, Camden Hudson, Marin Carty & Thomas McLean accept a cheque from Lion Kim Kelley. Second row are Lions George Jones, Cheryl Couper Scala, Jim Scala, and Barb Fritz. Standing in the background is Lion Bill Garland.
Westport Lions Roar
By Lion Bob Reddick
Last week there was a summary of the 35 different activities the Westport Lions were involved in from January to June. This week will be a summary from July to December.
July
The return of in-person Canada Day celebrations at the beach focused on young people. There was something for every child: face painting, stick-on tattoos, ring and bean bag toss, a magnetic fishing pond, and numerous toys like water blasters, beach balls, pails, and shovels. All-Star Karaoke and disc jockey Tom Gard provided the music, and Elvis Tribute Artist, Dan Stoness, worked hard to entertain the crowd.
The new executive was sworn in for the Lion year starting in July. It consisted of: President, Bob Reddick; Past President, Michael Harris; Vice President, David Blair; Secretary, Dorothy Maynard; Treasurer, Gary Warriner; Service Chairperson, Marty Hawkins; Membership Chairperson, Kim Kelly; Marketing and Communications Chairperson, Barry Winfield; and Directors: Wayne Bent and Bill Garland.
Linda Hanna from Westport won the $1,500 Lions Cash Draw sponsored by Herlehey Home Building Centre.
On July 16, the club had four different groups involved in four different activities. One crew conducted business at the Lions Reuse & Recycle Centre. Another group travelled to Athens to help the Athens Lions Club with their annual Farmersville exhibition. The third group organized a music festival called Westfest at the beach to show our appreciation to the community for their support. Finally, the fourth group ran the successful Rock the Beach Volleyball Tournament.
August
The Westport Lions were honoured to host local seniors for a luncheon at the Lions’ den on Wednesday, August 10th to show them the club’s appreciation for their support and to provide them an opportunity to socialize.
Vegetables from the Lions Community Garden were picked every second and fourth Thursday of the month for delivery to the Westport Food Bank.
September
Charlotte Thompson and Tracy Colford, both residents of Westport shared our $10,000 draw. Other prize winners were Eleanor Bresee, Janet Mulville, Patti Mueller, Lisa Colford and Cora and Charleigh Hawkins.
The Westport Lions held an appreciation banquet on September 28 to celebrate the club’s achievements and thank the 38 members and 28 volunteers who work extremely hard to serve you.
Teamwork between our members, volunteers, and community sponsors will always be one of the club’s greatest strengths.
October
At our general meeting on October 12, the Westport Lions passed two separate motions to donate a total of 17,479.00 to 15 different organizations. This brings our total disbursements for 2022 to $31,289.00
On Halloween, Lions Marty Hawkins, Harry Beckett, Gary Warriner, and Michael Harris gave bags of candy to 150 little tricksters.
November
Westport Lion members visited Rideau Vista Public School and St. Edward Catholic School to conduct vision screening. The purpose of this service is to detect various vision problems that the children and their parents might not be aware of. If the Lion team feels there could be a vision problem, then the parent is contacted and encouraged to seek professional help.
On November 5, the Westport Lions raised awareness of diabetes with the Lions Diabetes Tag Day. The first step in combating diabetes is awareness and education, thus the Lions provided an opportunity for our community to educate themselves about diabetes and show their support for individuals living with diabetes by donating money to fund education, support services, advocacy, and diabetes research.
On Tuesday, November 22, eight Lions from Westport attended the Athens Lions Appreciation Night. Lion Jim McGlade represented Wayne Bent as Zone 30 South Chair and presented the Athens club with a plaque commemorating their 60th anniversary as a club from District A4.
Later in the evening, Westport Lion Jim Scala presented President Todd Evans of the Athens Club with a cheque in appreciation of the generous support of Kevin & George Tackaberry. Kevin and George allow the Westport Lions to use their building free of charge for the club’s Reuse and Recycle Centre. Knowing that the Tackaberry family would not personally accept a donation, the club decided to donate to the Athens’ club to show its appreciation.
The highlight of the general meeting on Wednesday, November 23 was the induction of new Lions Peter Minnelli and Bruce Paterson.
On Friday, November 25 at Westport’s WAC Christmas market, a team of Lions served free hot chocolate, sold Christmas cakes, and collected money for the Westport food bank.
Later that night, 14 Lions attended the Westport Rideaus hockey game and collected non-perishable food and money for the local food bank.
This year’s Santa Claus parade was one of the biggest ever, with nearly 50 different units.
During the parade, the Lions collected food, money, and toys. The total raised at all three Lion food bank events was $1,608.50. Another $936.40 was donated to the toy drive, plus a significant number of toys.
Scheuermann Vineyard and Winery won the top prize for the float that best displayed the theme – Old Country Western Christmas. The Opinicon received honourary mention, and the best overall float went to Edward and Taggart Farms.
December
On Saturday, December 10, the Westport Lions delivered 305 Christmas cakes to Westport and Newboro area senior citizens.
The club sponsored a bus to Kingston on December 14 for local seniors to shop, have lunch and get their picture taken with Santa.
Thanks to community volunteers and the generosity of the community, the Westport Lions Toy Drive brought Christmas joy to 30 children.
The Westport Lions were saddened to learn about the passing of Lion Pat McGinnis. Pat was a valuable member of the club and was heavily involved in club activities and as club president and treasurer for many years.
Westport Lions Club 