‘Where there’s a need, there’s a Lion’, the club motto goes, and a new board of directors officially took office at the Tenterfield Lions Club handover on June 17 to meet local needs.
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Outgoing president Bruce Jackson handed over the reins to Wayne Lusty after two years at the helm. Mr Lusty said he’s planning some minor tweaking rather than major changes, but is aiming to get the club more involved in the community outside of its catering duties.
“There’s a lot of talent in the club, and it would be good to use that,” Mr Lusty said.
Club members will coordinate with The Big Lift coming to town on July 12 (see related story) in repainting a classroom in the local public school, and Mr Lusty is seeking more partnership with Rotary in community activities. Local club members are also heading to the Killarney Lions’ Cracker Night in reciprocation for the support that club gave Tenterfield’s event.
With club numbers falling he’s certainly open to a membership drive, and is considering a street campaign. The club’s also looking to possibly expand its inventory with a mobile cool room, to make more amenities available to the other clubs it supports.
The Lions Club district cabinet meeting will be held in Tenterfield in September, for the first time in many years. With dozens of influential people coming to town Mr Lusty sees an opportunity to promote Tenterfield, and will be working with the Visitors Information Centre to do that.
In his report at the handover club secretary Max Whitford commended the local businesses for their support of the club and the Rural Fire Service for mitigating the fire risk at the club’s Cracker night.
Financially the club was on the receiving end of $22,000 in grants this year, from the NSW Government’s Community Building Partnerships Program and the Federal Government’s Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal program. The money paid for shed extensions to house the club’s catering trailer.
“Additional support by some very generous businesses has enabled us to keep the cost of construction of the Lions shed extension to a minimum,” treasurer Pam Hartfield reported.
Notable donations made during the year include $2000 to the Life Saver Rescue Helicopter and $1000 each to TEN FM, the Tenterfield Salvos and Lions International Foundation, as well as continuing financial support of local RFS brigades, schools and sporting clubs.
Over the past year the club invested 3000 man-hours in 35 different community projects, primarily through catering, and of course the ubiquitous Lions Christmas Cake and Lions mints continue to be a community fundraiser for the club thanks to the local businesses acting as sales channels.
Lions members also foray into other activities such as Mr Lusty’s organisation of the annual Christmas toy run and Ken Poulsen’s chairing of the Seniors Week Committee and his work collecting glasses for the Lions Recycle for Sight project.
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