Lions Club of Winnipeg marks 100 years of serving community

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/11/2021 (1764 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A local service club is marking a major milestone this month.

The Lions Club of Winnipeg was chartered on Nov. 26, 1921. Club members celebrated the 100th anniversary with a special dinner at the Fort Garry Hotel on Saturday.

The club is part of Lions International. Established in 1917, the organization has more than 48,000 clubs around the world — including a handful in Winnipeg — with the motto, “We serve.”

The volunteer members of the Lions Club of Winnipeg have proudly supported a variety of efforts over the years, including Lions Housing Centres, which provides affordable housing for people 55 and older; and Camp Manitou, a summer camp for youth just outside the city.

Club president Rick Pinchin joined the Lions when his father recruited him in 1971. The first big club event he attended was its 50th anniversary dinner, also held at the Fort Garry Hotel. The black-tie affair was Pinchin’s first date with Pat, the woman who would become his wife.

“I guess I was inclined to be a volunteer at that point,” says Pinchin, 75, a semi-retired accountant. “Maybe it was just following my father’s footsteps in many respects. He was an active volunteer.”

A Lions initiative dear to Pinchin is its support of a lunchtime program at Gordon Bell High School that helps students improve their public speaking skills. The group includes newcomer and refugee students who have faced challenges in their lives that Pinchin can barely imagine.

“Many of them have only spoken English for a few years, and the courage they have shown to participate in our speaking club program, and then get up and deliver speeches in English, is wonderful,” Pinchin says.

Like Pinchin, Hannon Bell was inspired by his father to join the Lions. Leon Bell was a 50-year member who was Lion of the Year in 1992 and president in 1997-98.

The younger Bell joined the club in 2011. Since then, the retired real estate agent has kept busy attending weekly club lunches, organizing guest speakers, writing the monthly club newsletter, serving on the executive and the Lions housing board, and volunteering at club activities.

“There is something in me that loves being involved, meeting different people from all walks of life and getting the sense of making a difference,” says Bell, 71. “We serve, we volunteer, we give back, but most of all, we are part of the community. The sense of doing good is immeasurable.”

In addition to numerous fundraising activities over the years, the Lions Club of Winnipeg has sponsored the Jim Whitecross Air Cadet Squadron annually since 1942. The Lions-founded squadron promotes leadership and physical fitness among youth.

Doug Blaylock, a 26-year member of the Lions, says it’s an honour to serve as chairman of the squadron’s sponsoring committee.

“I enjoy seeing these great, great young people have an avenue to form leadership with the responsibilities they take on,” the 52-year-old financial planner says. “The maturity of these young people… is just phenomenal.”

Like other service clubs, the Lions Club of Winnipeg has faced dwindling membership in recent years. It once had more than 130 members; today, there are 25.

Pinchin encourages anyone who is interested to visit e-clubhouse.org/sites/winnipeg, call 204-204-784-1236 or email lcwweserve@gmail.com.

“There’s just an awful lot of joy and happiness that can be derived by being out there and helping others in the community,” he says. “I would hope that more folks consider taking advantage of that.”

If you know a special volunteer, please contact aaron.epp@gmail.com.