Neepawa Lions Club Preserves Local History

The Lions Club has been active in Neepawa since 1938, just 20 years after the organisation itself was founded. At the time the Neepawa club was founded there were 20 members, but that number swelled substantially before shrinking down to today’s number. While they still have several members on paper, longtime member Terry Smith says the average meeting now draws about five people.

Some of the most well known activities of the Lions Club internationally are their disaster relief and medical programs, including a longstanding eyeglass program that collects used pairs of eyeglasses to distribute in disadvantaged countries. Another is the organisation’s contributions towards the training of seeing eye dogs.

Locally, the Lions Club founded Lions Riverbend Park in 1954, and while it has since been taken over by the Town of Neepawa, they still contribute through projects like camping facility upgrades and playground equipment. When the club was larger and had more financial ability, they also contributed substantially to what used to be known as the Lions Band in the high school.

The biggest problem facing the club these days is the aging out of members, who are not being replaced by a younger generation. The club does still see new members, but it doesn’t match the rate at which they are losing them, which limits both their physical and financial ability to help the community. In particular, they would welcome female members, and are reaching out to the Filipino community to see if there is any interest in joining them.

They note that there is a price to be paid for the loss of service club capacity, whether it’s the Lions Club or any of the others. The Lions used to run the Canada Day festivities in the community, and were substantial drivers of the Santa Claus parade.

These days, their major project is the restoration of Stoney Creek school, an old country school that was moved to its current site in Riverbend Park in 1964. The school is a heritage site which means there are special considerations when it comes to restoration, and that means more money. It’s a project that is rallying the community, however, and the Lions Club is accepting any contributions towards the restoration whether monetary or volunteerism.

As member Tom Borsa says, ““It’s a little commitment from several people that makes it all work.”