Category: Schumacher Lions

The Schumacher Lions Club hosted a 12-week Summer Concert Series in the summer of 2024. The event featured a two-hour concert every Tuesday night (Wednesday night for rain days) from June 11 to Aug. 20 in the Schumacher Lions Park.

It is free admission to the weekly concerts, although donations for the park upkeep are collected.

The concerts are presented in conjunction with the Schumacher Arts Culture Heritage Association (SACHA), DJ Taz, and PJ Production.

The bands featured are all local and are paid for the participation. It serves as a great showcase for local talent and provides free entertainment for residents and visitors. It is estimated that a minimum of 300 enjoyed the free concerts every week in the summer.

Volunteers with the Lions Club help set up for the concerts, sell food, barbecue and refreshments, and help tear down afterwards every week.

Chair Lion Mark West reported the totals for this year’s concert series at the Oct. 9 meeting of the club. After expenses, with donations from local businesses about $7,200 was collected. The funds will be set aside to help fund next year’s summer concert series.

Every year, an event called Welcome to Timmins Night is held at the McIntyre Arena. Volunteer and community organizations have booths to showcase their groups to people in Timmins looking to get involved.

Five volunteers from the Schumacher Lions Club represented the organization to provide information on Lions and the Leo Club we are launching. About 1,200 people attended the event, which was open to the public from 6-8 p.m.

Volunteers were involved with the setup and teardown of our booth before and after the event, plus committee meetings to organize and plan.

We received a great reception from people in attendance, and used free freshly made popcorn as an attention draw. We had many enquiries about Lions and Leos and answered all questions to the best of our abilities.

Members of the Schumacher Lions Club were photobombed by Marvel Comics hero Deadpool during Welcome to Timmins Night in September. Lions were on hand to promote their club and the Leo Club they plan to launch. From left are Lions Rachelle Kingsbury, Eric Beauchamp and Wayne Snider (blocked by Deadpool).

Members of the Schumacher Lions Club spent two days at the Canadian Tire in Timmins on a June weekend to help encourage shoppers to donate to the Jump Start program. Jump Start collects funds to help local children participate in organized sports and other activities.

Members made popcorn and candy floss, which were given away free of charge to donors. Free children’s face painting was also provided.

There was a carnival-like atmosphere at the event, as bounce activities, fire department displays, and a visit by Spider-Man created lots of community interest.

Lions Guy and Rachelle Kingsbury led the volunteers on popcorn and candy floss duty, also teaching other Lions how to make the treats. Lion Codey Cloutier and prospective member Brittny Merenda, both talented artists, handled the face painting.

Canadian Tire is a big local supporter of Lions and the Schumacher Club’s help with the Jump Start program has become an annual event.

It was a historic night in Schumacher.

The Schumacher Lions Club held its annual Awards Banquet on June 19 in the Lion’s Den.

Not only were six awards handed out during the ceremonies, but for the first-time couples were honoured for their volunteer efforts.

The big prize of the club’s Lion of the Year Award went to Lion Jim Nault. Lion Jim, who is the incoming club president for this fall, chairs the House, Property and Bar Committee (looking after the club hall, bar and supplies), the Health and Wellness Committee (vetting applications for financial assistance requests from sick or disabled individuals) and various other committees. He has been a member of the club since 1981.

The President’s Appreciation Award went to Lion Mark Barkel. Lion Mark was selected by President Danny Ansara for his outstanding leadership and dedication to Lionism.

Four Distinguished Service Awards were handed out. The first went to Lion Dave Hopkins, who is so dedicated that he even stuffed envelops for the club while in the hospital for surgery.

For the first time ever, the club honoured couples as three husband and wife duos received the Distinguished Service Award. These couples all volunteer regularly, are always in good spirits and simply are a joy to work with. The couples were: Guy and Rachelle Kingsbury, Hans and Lisette Beimann, and Pete and Sue Martel.

Congratulations to all the award winners and a special thanks to outgoing President Danny Ansara on leading us to a banner year for service and membership growth.

For volunteers with the Schumacher Lions Club, supporting a great community cause is a walk in the park.

The Club was a gold level sponsor for the IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s on Saturday, May 25 at Hollinger Park in Timmins. The Club donated $1,000 to obtain the gold sponsorship level.

Volunteers set up a tent in the park on the rainy morning, which was perfect for serving up Tim Hortons coffee, tea, Timbits and muffins to participants and spectators. Lions Club members also took part in the walk, including several with individual sponsor sheets to further help the cause.

The idea for sponsorship was first raised by new Lion Brian Green, who works for IG Wealth Management. Like many other fellow Lions, the cause hits close to home. Many members have family or friends who have struggled with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

All funds raised at the event are used by the Timmins-Porcupine District Alzheimer’s Society for local programs and support services.

From left are Lions Eric Beauchamp, Wayne Snider, Mike Charette, Mark Barkel, Don Gagnon and President Danny Ansara.

Schumacher Lions Eric Beauchamp, left, and President Danny Ansara didn’t let the rain bother them at the IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s on May 25 in Timmins

It’s an annual sign that summer is just around the corner in the Timmins area.

The 76^th edition of the Schumacher Lions Club Spring Sportsman Show was held April 27 and 28 at the McIntyre Arena and Curling Club.

Lion Treasurer John McCauley has been chairing the event for the past 17 shows. He reported the event raised about $43,000 for the club this year. In all, about 7,000 people came through the McIntyre Community Centre complex this year for the show.

It was all hands on deck for volunteers from the club, who worked diligently to set up, host and clean up after the popular community event.

For part of the Saturday, we had student volunteers do a survey of paid attendees. This was divided into home base regions. There were 233 people who came to our show from Sudbury or North Bay. There were more than 1,500 from outside the Timmins area. The reason? Ours is the premier sportsman show in the North. Also, vendors from out of town spent three nights in Timmins.