Author: Rhonda McCallum

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Kirkland Lake Lions Start Compassionate Meal Service

In July 2024, the KL Lions Club kicked off there year with a new to their community Compassionate Meal Service.
Every third Saturday of the month, the KL club hosts a free and nutritious take out meal for those in need.
Our Compassionate Meal Service co-ordinator, Lion Shanea Smith states, “As we work closely with our KL Food Bank & Salvation Army, our club recognized a need in our community for food assistance, to help people make it to the next pay or stretch their income until the end of the month. This is a small gesture to assist those in need with a nutritious meal. Our residents have been very supportive in sponsoring meals for our initiative, and for that, we are grateful”

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Argyle Lions Jail and Bail

The Argyle Lions held a jail and bail at the local farmers market. Community members volunteered to be locked up for trumped-up charges in a makeshift jail in the hope that their friends and relatives would bail them out. Because of the generosity of all in attendance $687.35 was raised for the local Kenny Youth Program. All in attendance had a lot of fun and everyone got a laugh from the trumped-up charges.

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A5 Celebrating Milestones

Sault Ste. Marie Lions President Deb Kid presented Lion Don Cameron with his 40 year chevron.

Zone Chair 47E Lion Brenda McLay Lalonde presented at 45 year chevron to PDG Lion Ellen Fletcher, from Noelville French River Lions.

ZC Lion Brenda gave a presidential pin to Lion Leanne Furchner of Minnow Lake Lions in gratitude for all the advice and support she has given to the ZC over the past several years.

Another great story from Garson is the presentation of the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award to a very deserving member, Lion Alde Bedard.  Although he has not been a member for decades, he is one of the most active and dedicated members of the Garson Lions.  Whatever you need, Lion Alde is there.  Congratulations to a wonderful Lion.

Pictured: Lion President Jack Baillargeon and Lion Alde

Wow, has it been that long since Lion Mark Andrews joined the Lions.  The year is 1973.  George Foreman defeats Joe Frazier to win the heavyweight world championship, London Bridge was officially opened, Pink Floyd’s album “Dark Side of the Moon” was released, Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Briggs in the battle of the sexes tennis match, Bruce Lee dies and Lion Mark Andrews became a Lion.  Congratulations on 50 years of serving your community.  We all love you.

Pictured: Lion President Jack Baillargeon, Lion Mark and Zone Chair 47E Lion Brenda Lalonde

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A5 at MDA 2024 Convention

It has been a few years that District A5 has been working to get more of our Lions to attend an MDA convention.  Normally, there would only have been 4 members, the incoming and outgoing DG’s and spouses.  In the last couple of years, we have been slowly increasing our numbers up to 7, 9 and this year there were 20 of us that attended.

In addition to attending meetings and seminars, this year was special in that MDA had 3 candidates running for International Director for Canada, PDG Lion Debbie Dawson, PDG Lion Dan Sibana and PDG Lion Len Day.  The joint hospitality room was a great hit with everyone and the variety of food as well as drinks was thoroughly enjoyed.  On  Saturday night, we were also invaded by some strange beings that came into the hospitality room and gave everyone a great laugh.

It was great to meet the incoming International President Fabricio Oliveira and his lovely wife Amariles, and to get a chance to talk to them through their interpreter.  Lion Brenda McLay was able to speak to the President briefly and gave him a gift of a stuffed guide dog puppy along with pamphlets from the Lions Foundation of Canada Guide Dogs.  He was greatly impressed with all of the different types of dogs that are trained and said that “He had never seen anything like this before.”

One of the highlights of the weekend was when the DGE’s were introduced, including our own DGE Lion Sam Khoury.

Next year, we hope to have even more of our Lions attend the MDA convention as word of the fun time spread.

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New Liskeard Lions BBQ Fundraiser

New Liskeard BBQ, fundraising.  They have recently lost one of their major fundraisers and are having BBQ’s to try and help make up with this loss.  Fundraisings are especially important to the Lions clubs in order to help their communities.  Some of the beneficiaries of the New Liskeard Lions include a Lions youth Hockey team, donations to the hospital, helping out individuals.

Here’s hoping to lots of good weather for your BBQ’s over the summer.

The 1st hot dog sale went to Michael Davy, owner of the Davy’s Independent Grocers in New Liskeard.

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Callander Lions Bike Rodeo

The Callander Lions held a bike rodeo at the M.T. Davidson Public School with great results.  The rodeo is run by the Almaguin Highlands Lions Club, who brings all of the obstacles for the rodeo, as well as the ribbons, bells, reflectors, etc.  The Callander Lions paid for the bells and trophies to hand out to the participants and helped to run the rodeo.

First the bikes are inspected and bells or reflectors are put on to bring the bikes up to Ontario safety code.  Then the children come out one grade at a time and go through the obstacle courses.  The last part, the kids have to show they know the hand signals, and if not, are taught them.  Everyone gets a ribbon for participating

Later, the Principal, Heather Taylor, holds an assembly to give out the trophies to the winners in each category.  A big Thank You to PDG Lion Bill Copeman, Lion Suzanne Copeman and Bill for travelling from Almaguin Highlands area to put on this rodeo with the Callander Lions.  A great time was had by the Lions and the kids as well

A bit of history, the travelling bike rodeo was started 50 years ago by a Magnetawan Lion PDG Lion Earl Box and a local police officer.  The Almaguin Lions has been running it for many years and this year have done approximately 18 schools in the area.

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Bonfield Lions & Canada Day Celebrations

The Lions always support their community and the Bonfield Canada Day was no exception.  On the Canada Day weekend, the Bonfield Lions set put their tent to sell “Duckies” as a fundraiser.  This is an annual fundraiser and a lot of fun for the community as a whole.  In addition, the club takes care of all the maintenance and repairs and tours of the train and “Zero Mile” display in the park.

The township had a free BBQ and cake to celebrate the day, as well as vendors, a bike rodeo for the kids and other fun activities.  The Bonfield firemen were there in force with their display and to give mouth to mouth for anyone who felt faint.    We had a few ladies that wouldn’t have minded.  lol

In the afternoon, the big event of the day got ready to go ahead, the Duck Race.  500 yellow duck of all styles were sorted and loaded into the wagon and taken to the bridge at the head of the river.  They were loaded onto a tarp and with the help of our friendly firemen, they were dumped into the river and the race was on.

At the assigned location, the Lions and volunteers were ready to catch the first 3 ducks as the winners.  This included a spotter to make sure the first three were picked out by the Lions in the river.  The winning numbers of 364, 499 and 500 came in and prizes were awarded of $250.00, $150.00 and $100.00.  All of the proceeds of the duck race went to a hockey team from Corbeil, Astorville and Bonfield, which is part of the Bonfield Lions area.

It was this reporter’s first time seeing a duck race in person it was a lot of fun.  Boy can those ducks swim fast.  You have to be on the ball to grab the first three across the finish line.  The only thing left after that was to catch the rest of the ducks and put them away again for the next time they were needed.  It took some convincing to get some of the kids to not take their ducks home with them as they would be needed again next year.  Great time and race.

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Several of the clubs in the A5 District presented awards to celebrate their Lions and the great job that they do for the clubs and their communities.  Thank you to all of the recipients for their dedicated service and ongoing support of the values of Lionism.

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1st photo- Walden Lions-Lion Betty Walton, Lion Brian Walton- Melvin Jones recipient, President Lion Don Raymond.  Lion Brian is the only chartered member left in the club

 

2nd photo- Bonfield Lions- Melvin Jones recipients Lion Chris Snook, Lion Holly Menard, A5 Hearing Chair Lion Margo Oleskiw

3rd to 5th photos- Charlton Englehart Lions- President Lion Brian Jolkowski presenting Lion Ralph Ellerton with Lion of the Year, Lion Rhonda McCallum with the Judge Brian Stevenson Award and IPDG Lion Bob Beaven with the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award

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North Bay Lions Hold a Thank You Party for Lion Eli (Shorty) Jodouin

Many people have memorial services after they have passed, but not many have a “Thank You” party to celebrate all of the wonderful things they have done while they are still here to enjoy it.  The family of Lion Shorty Jodouin, as well as the Lions Club of North Bay, Golden Age Club, Elks Club and several others, decided to celebrate the life and accomplishments of Shorty with a wonderful party.

For those of you who do not know him, Eli “Shorty” Jodouin was born in 1937 in Sturgeon Falls.  His family moved to North Bay in 1941 and there he stayed.  In 1952, he had his first job as a certified electric motor rewinder at 65 cents an hour.  He continued to train and became an electrician.  In 1955, when North Bay built the North Bay Memorial Gardens, Shorty was one of the ones hired to install the electrical wiring.  He worked at the gardens for 50 years in addition to starting his own electrical business called Shorty’s Electric, before his first retirement.

While he worked as an electrician, he employed many young men from the community to train them as electricians.  Some of these men gave testimonials at his party including one man who credited Shorty with giving him a career and the life he has today.  He also employed many of the hockey players from the gardens with summer jobs to help them save up money for their schooling and hockey.

Shorty was also a popular DJ for 55 years before retiring (again).  He loved music and has written many songs, some even going to Nashville.  He was also inducted into the Nippissing Country Music Association Hall of Fame in 2011.  One of the highlights of this career according to his family is when he got to sing “Picture in a Frame” with Moe Bandy on stage.  They had the curtains closed at first and Moe sang the 1st part and Shorty sand the 2nd.  No one knew there were two different singers until they opened the curtain.  This was “Shorty’s song” from that day on.

If you are wondering what this has to do with Lions, well Shorty joined the North Bay Lions in 1967 and is still an active member after 57 years.  Although his family wants him to slow down, this is the one organization he is not giving up.  During his years as a Lion, he has been presented with the Helen Keller Award, Melvin Jones and Judge Brian Stevenson awards.  He has held positions as President, Zone Chair, Region Chair, Vice President, Board of Directors and any committee that needed his help.  He has volunteered for the clubs fundraising and community events including the pancake breakfasts, telethon, tag day, shopping sprees, pack sacks, Christmas parades, dances in which he was the DJ or his group played, and too many others to mention here.

Some things people did not know about Lion Shorty was his philanthropic side.  He was always generous with his time or donating prizes to the club for fundraisers, but here are a few things this reporter did not even know.  Lion Shorty ran dances with a small group from Redbridge, Ontario to raise money for the Daffodil Lodge at the HSN Cancer Center.  He donated his time as the DJ and they raised over $133,000.00 to donate.  In addition, he paid for tickets each year to the Country Music festival in North Bay and donated them anonymously to families that could not afford otherwise to go.  He helped to raise money for a local boy that needed a Cochlear Implant and that boy’s mother made the cake for the Thank You party.

Shorty was recognized with several certificates from the province, city and federal representatives.  In addition, the North Bay Lions also presented Shorty with another award for his long running service with TV Bingo in North Bay.  He has been working at this bingo since it started in 1969 and has only retired (again) from this after 55 years, due to health issues.

Shorty is now taking a break from all of his former groups, except the Lions.  When I visited him in the hospital recently, he was looking forward to moving into a retirement home due to his issues with walking.  However, he assured me that if he had to take the handitransit, get a ride, walk or crawl, he will still be at the North Bay Lions meetings that start again in the fall.  A dedicated Lion that all who know him, love him.  Looking forward to many more years Lion Shorty.

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Lions Club of Sudbury Induct Two New Members

More inductions in District A5, but this time at the Lions Club of Sudbury.  Two new members were inducted at two separate ceremonies held at the Gerry Albert Lions Room.  District Governor Lion David Kidd was on hand for the induction of now Lion Joyce with Zone Chair Lion Rachel Southwell and President Lion Ron Lundgren.  The other induction was for now Lion Ajmerray Hossain with sponsor Frank Arnold on left and Lion Steve Brazeau on right.  Welcome to these new Lions.