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Lions Clubs International - District 105M - Midland News

Ordinary People doing Amazing Things


 



Lions 40th Anniversary 1971 – 2011 

 

 

In May 1971, Southam Lions Club held its formation meeting at the Stoneythorpe Hotel which then became the Lions’ base for 32 years. For the past few years the Lions’ home has been Galanos House in Southam.

Lion Peter Guy, reckons that the club has raised well over £450k for good causes during this time.

Looking back over the last 40 years Peter has highlighted some interesting facts about the Lions and the fundraising prowess of the members.

Take for example the Southam Carnival – whilst the Lions don’t go back to the mid seventeenth century, this is when the carnival actually started with what became known as the ‘Godiva Procession’. Judging by some of the comments made by historians to say it became a ‘time of rowdiness’ is perhaps understating the obvious, but in its present form it represents everything good about a community working together. The Lions have been associated with the Carnival since their inception and it is in the last 30 years or so that they have taken a leading role alongside Rotary and Round Table. The Carnival takes place each year on Spring Bank Holiday Monday and you will see Lions everywhere! Even the Lions Ladies get involved and have a great time building the float and then decorating themselves on it! One of the first Lion Acts going back some years was to see them dressed as ‘Southam Loins’ – not a pretty sight!

So, what else is there to say? Well, Lions have a great deal of fun and nothing is more true than the banter at the Lions Monthly Furniture Sales. As well as providing a natural market for the sale of furniture, many customers come along just to have a ‘look’ and a chat! I think that they can all see that the guys are having fun particularly at the customary tea break! Not a good idea to discuss prices with a Lion with a doughnut in his mouth!! A third of the money generated by Southam Lions comes from furniture sales! Dixie Dean is a name so many associate with Lions Furniture Sales and what a great man he was. He died in 2001.

One of our Lions Ken Graham, now sadly departed from this life, was a founder member of Lions in Southam and for 35 years enjoyed immensely organising the Southam Lions Senior Citizens Party. We still put on this party for the seniors of Southam and District with help of course from our Southam Lions Ladies and the generosity of local businesses. It is a lovely occasion and we are looking forward to the next party on September 17th which will be known from now on as the ‘Ken Graham Party for Senior Citizens’.

Another Lion who died in recent times was Bill Denis – Bill was our Treasurer for many years right up to his death and was very much involved with the John Turner Festival which again is a popular annual event in early November concentrating on arts and crafts. The JTF , as it has become known, is a legacy enabling Lions to support and help local schools.

Lions have done many different activities to raise money over the years, Giant Jumble Sales come to mind, Raft Building Contests, Swimathons, Barn Dances, Presidents Dances, Quizs, Race nights etc.

One of the main nights of the year in Southam is the Mop Fair and this night wouldn’t the same without the customary Lions Pig Roast. Do you know that the custom used to be for an ox to be roasted that day and indeed the Southam Lions revived the old tradition of the Ox Roast way back in 1975. The last time an ox was roasted was in October 1991 and ever since then the Lions have cooked a pig. It still is one of the favourite dates on the calendar and Lions can be found ceremoniously carrying the pig from the Co-op and gently preparing the animal ready for the spit! Cooking goes on all day and it is just perfect for the first cut at about 7pm when the Mayor visits. It’s then a case of frantically carving, filling the rolls, plenty of apple sauce and stuffing and seeing off the enormous queue of hungry people. To sum up the day close your eyes and smell the delicious aroma of the roasting meat, then join the queue!!

Christmas in Southam wouldn’t be the same either without the Lions Christmas Float or indeed Father Christmas giving out chocolate to the children. This is another tradition dating back to 1975 when Southam Lions first introduced the idea of visiting the children in the town and surrounding villages. Since then the Southam Christmas Lights has added to the fun of the festive season and some of the children back then remember dearly when father Christmas came round and now he visits their children! The reason for doing this is simple, Lions make a difference and in this season of goodwill, Lions will collect money from the trips out which these days is 14 occasions including 3 daytime visits within the town. Each year the monies collected amounts to approximately £4k which is given to children’s charities selected by the Lions President for the year.

Lions is more than just a local club raising money for good causes, it is an international organisation with clubs established all over the world. Lions Clubs International is the largest service organisation in the world so you know when you join that tens of thousands of like minded individuals are doing their bit for people less fortunate than themselves. Take the Tsunami in 2004, when the Lions in Southam saw the enormous devastation money was immediately put aside to help the victims. We found out that a club in Droitwich had adopted a village to help directly with the disaster and we then agreed to support a special eye hospital project in Hikkaduwa. The project was for a modest £2k but it meant that the poor people of the village could have life changing ‘interocular lens’ operations. This became known as ‘Seeing through Southam’s Eyes’ and the project is still ongoing even today! One of our Lions, Steve Hoyle visited Hikkaduwa with his wife earlier this year and he really was very well received by everyone. He was particularly impressed with the children, their education and their behaviour. I guess we were lucky with this project, but the village would be a poorer place without our intervention.

Back to the present! Our 40th Anniversary Dinner and Handover took place on June 17th 2011 and we wanted the people of the area, Southam in particular, but all over the UK to know of who we are and what we all do. Basically, as we have alluded to in the article, we are a bunch of ordinary guys who get on well together and enjoy having fun and friendship. Oh! - and by the way we raise money for good causes! It was great to welcome a former Lion and Founder Club Member Mr Peter Swaby to the Dinner and the local press were quick to link him to the article which was published shortly after the dinner.

If anyone is interested in joining our Club and having a giggle twice a month at meetings, or indeed would like to visit us, then please call Jim Steele on 01926 813577.



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