Gabriola Island Lions Club

Chartered in 1975 with Life Member Eric Boulton as charter president, the Gabriola Island Lions Club has been an integral part of our island community serving the needs of all our  residents. By joining the club, you will become a member of an amazing team of individuals that contribute to Gabriola Island and, best of all,  have fun doing so! Become involved with the Lions and experience how gratifying it can be! When you join Lions, you join a global service network. So, at the same time you’re doing local community service, you can also contribute to Lions volunteer efforts around the world. Click the button below and fill out the membership form!


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Your Gabriola Lions Club in Action

Gabriola Lions Club Upcoming Activities

At a very memorable earlier meeting, Lion Eric belts out his version of The Scorpions "Rock You Like a Hurricane" to an amazed but equally startled Lions club.

Our next general meeting is May 12th 2025 at 7pm where we will welcome Ellen Stewart to her first meeting and vote on some tabled funding requests. As usual, there will be some hilarious moments that we all dream about. All our regular club meetings are held at:

Albert Reed Memorial Fire Hall
730 Church Street
Gabriola, BC
V0R 1X3

Our 6:30 pm social usually features Lion Bill’s famous  marionette show but lately he has been avoiding our meetings for undisclosed reasons.

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Concert on the green 2025

This year’s concert is on Thursday August 7th features Sticky Fingers, a well regarded Rolling Stones tribute band that hail out of Vancouver.

This is one band that will rock Gabriola. You will need to be here, Check out the comments from previous gigs:

Musically, very, very similar to the Stones (in fact if you closed your eyes you would swear that it was not Sticky Fingers but the actual Stones).

 

“Five Stars and more for this incredible band!”

“I’m hooked! I can’t wait until the next. The dance floor was lively all night. The people around me all expressed how amazing they are.

Many travelled quite a distance. This group played so well together. Thank you so much for proving the Ultimate Rolling Stones experience for us all. Genuinely can’t wait to hear you all play again!!!”

“Excellent Show, Beyond my expectations!”

“Awesome Stones cover band”

“Brilliant musicians, with a special shout out to the amazing guitarist!”

“I had such a great time, highly recommend!”

“Not having seen the real Stones, my life is complete!”

The concert will begin with this Vancouver band that has links to Gabriola. The Boytles started life years ago when youngsters that loved the music of the Beatles started a band that delivered an iconic sound that moved audiences. Over the years, they have evolved into a band that will take you back in time when the 60’s was such a swinging time.

Click the link below to re-visit last year’s awesome concert.

COTG 2024
Your Gabriola Lions Club celebrates 50 years!

The year is 1975. It was an incredible year for so many reasons:

In 1975, everyone had to have a mood ring while Rubiks cubes, pet rocks, bell bottoms, hip huggers and leisure suits were all the rage. It was the year that introduced us to Saturday Night Live, the disco dance craze, 8-track tapes, Pez candy, Magic 8-balls and the Altair home computer for hobbyists. 1975 saw the creation of Microsoft, the prototype Apple computer, and the start of the VHS versus Betamax video tape battle. It was also the year that the Gabriola Island Lions Club was founded.

This year is the 50th anniversary of your Lions Club.

 

Stay tuned for our exciting anniversary celebrations.

Gabriola Lions Club Recent Activities

Our Last Meeting on April 14th 2025

Our previous Meeting on March 24th 2025

As usual, the club reacts to Lion President Jonathan's president's remarks with a mixture of humour, surprise and shock
Lion Ken on Zoom shows off his newest family member named Baaabs. Apparently, she is a good listener!
As Lion Maureen looks on, Lion President Jonathan tries to think of a funny story and Lion Bruce confirms that he did read the correct member's pledge, Lion Suzy points out that we actually did get new Lion Joanna's name right.
A proud Lion President Jonathan, who once again manages to photo bomb the picture, offers congratulations to new Lion Joanna and sponsor Lion Suzy as they show off their certificates, of which are suitable for framing!.

Gabriola Island Bulletin Board Fixup Project

On March 16th 2025, the Gabriola Lions toured the island to replace the hard bulletin board surface with one that is easier on the thumbs for pinning notices.

While changing out the backing board, future Lion Bryony accidently screws Lion Kathy's hand to the sign.
As Lion Suzy fires off some warning screws into the air, future Lion Bryony and Lion Kathy make up over the loss of Lion Kathy's glove which remains affixed to the earlier bulletin board.
Well aware of the previous incident, Lion Kathy keeps her hands well clear of future Lion Bryony's screw driver.
Our previous meeting on February 24th 2025
Congratulations to new Lion Jackie and her sponsor Lion Kathy (left).
Congratulations to new Lion Jerry and his sponsor Lion Eric (left).
As Lion Mike studies the current Canucks roster, Lion President Jonathan awards Lion Olga her 25th year Chevron. Congratulations Lion Olga for all your years of service!
New Lions, Jackie and Jerry proudly holding their certificates, which are suitable for framing, are surrounded by their sponsors, Lions Kathy & Eric and photo bombing is Lion President Jonathan.

Our previous meeting on February 10th 2025

While Lion Maureen checks her closing stock price of Tesla Motors, our president Lion Jonathan and District Governor Kevin gleefully exchange stories of hunting some big ol' crocks and feasting on a mess of crayfish down on the Bayou.
As a startled club looks on, Lion Betsy displays her latest fundraising idea that, as it turned out, not only lost the motion to proceed but added a new motion to never be seen again at a future meeting or any other Lions event.
Amid thunderous applause, District Governor Kevin Borde presents Lion Eric the 50-Year Charter Monarch Award for 50 years of service in the Lions club and for having a darn good singing voice.

Our Previous meeting on January 27th 2025

While the discussion might not have been so riveting, there is no excuse for these two to be napping the entire meeting. Click image to get a larger view.
Charter president Lion Eric explains that the Gabriola Lions Club was originally founded so the members could get away from their wives for several hours a month.
With our unofficial Lions mascot in full salute, president Lion Jonathan talks about our upcoming 50th anniversary party. We need suggestions on how to celebrate this milestone.

Welcome to our newest member Ashley!

As president Lion Jonathan listens intently, Lion Bruce reads the new member pledge to Ashley
Showing off their membership certificates are the two Ashleys!
Club mascot Jon Bone Jovi is not hiding any of his pleasure of the meeting so far!
As Lions Bruce, Mike and Graham look to the sky remembering their youth at the Planetarium, Lion Eric belts out his version of Pink Floyd's Us and Them from Dark Side of The Moon.

Congratulations to the last new club members of 2024!

As President Lion Jonathan memorizes his two new sponsor's names Nikki and Aron, Lion Ken reads the new member's pledge of induction to the Lions Club.
While President Lion Jonathon prepares the pins of Lionism, Lion Ken is looking pretty pleased with himself having had to pronounce all those big words.
The Gabriola Lions Club welcome the induction of our two newest members, Lion Nikki Stewart and Lion Aron Capon to the club.

44th Annual Gabriola Lions Club Christmas Dinner

For several hours on the evening of December 9th at the Gabriola Golf and Country Club, the Gabriola Lions Club held their 44th annual Christmas gala and final meeting of the year for 2024.

Once again, our social coordinator Lions Olga enlisted the services of former Lion, Dawn and her catering crew to whip up a Christmas turkey feast with all the fixings including some yummy appetizers and delectable desserts. Besides the wild hijinks and sometimes awkward  conversations, there was also some serious business to attend during the gala such as the induction of our two newest club members Nikki Stewart and Aron Capon.

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Ferry Lineup Christmas Collection Dec 2024

From December 2nd to 6th, your Gabriola Lions Club members braved the elements to ask our lovely resident ferry users, stuck in the ferry lineup with no escape, to donate to the annual Gabriola Lions Christmas hamper collection.

 

From our organizer, Lion Kathy: “Zounds! What a fantastic ferry line-up collection we had this year. I would like to pass on my heartfelt thank you to all the members that signed up to do the ferry line-up and to all those generous Gabriolans that, once again, made our efforts so heartfelt.

 

Left: At the end of the line, Lion Kathy tries hitching a ride back to the front with no results. We believe it was Lion Mike’s hat that prevented any pickups.

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Teen Taco Night at the Hope Centre

Lions Kathy, Dixon and Ashley prepare the fixings for the taco dinner
As Lions Mike and Dixon look on, over 40 local teens enjoy the tacos

The Hope Centre teen drop in centre once again asked the Gabriola Lions to repare and serve a teen dinner. This time, the club went totally Tex Mex and prepared and served tacos with all the fixings on Friday, November 8th evening. 

Over 40 Gabriolian youngsters showed up to have fun and enjoy the tacos with all the fixings. Despite the shock for Lion Mike, most of the teens even devoured the refried beans!

Many thanks to Lion Shirley who bought and prepared most of the food in advance and even baked a huge chocolate cake.

Congratulations to our new member Ashley Aldis!

As Lion Betsy looks on, secretary Lion Maureen reads the new membership pledge
Lion Betsy presents the certificate of membership to Ashey
Wild applause ensued as fellow Lions congratulate our newest club member!

The Linda Harrison Estate Sale

Linda Harrison, and her late partner Konrad, decided years ago that should they move away from Gabriola Island they would graciously sell the contents of their beautiful home and donate the proceeds to the Gabriola Lions Club.

This year, that decision has happened.

Over the course of many months, the Gabriola Lions worked with Linda to organize a sale of her home contents that took place on October 12th.

Thank you Linda and Konrad for your huge and generous contribution to your fellow members of our beloved island of Gabriola.

This will be the story of their awesome charitable event.

Lions Betsy shows off her furniture moving muscles in front of Lions Darren, Bill and Tom outside of Linda’s beautiful home.

Club donation to the Gabriola Elementary School

On October 4th, the Gabriola Lions Club presented a donation of $2,600 to purchase new sports jerseys for the school. The Gabriola Elementary Eagles jerseys also sport the logo of the Gabriola Lions Club. Above left, Lion Betsy is pleased to present the oversized novelty cheque to the school with some of the happy students. Above right, we see some of the students embarking on a sports trip with the new jerseys.

Concert on the Green August 8th 2024

This year’s Concert on the Green, August 8th 2024 was a huge success.

Gabriola’s own Poynter Project quickly got the crowd on its feet with some good rocking music that would not quit until the band turned off their amps.

Next up, Vancouver’s Avalanche performed some classic tunes that kept the crowd in a groove all night long. 

In addition to the awesome music, the hugely popular 50/50 draw produced a winner that he will never forget and the draw for a trip for two anywhere in WestJet’s world left one happy couple thinking about where they will venture forth.

Of course, there was some fantastic silent auction finds and all that great food & beverages to be had.

All in all, everyone left the concert feeling very satisfied.

 

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Gabriola Lions End of of Year BBQ

On the sunny, warm evening of June 24th, the Gabriola Lions descended on Lions Shirley and Ken’s property to enjoy a wide selection of appetizers, yummy grilled burgers with all the fixings (including sliced tomatoes) and many dessert offerings. While there was some business that had to be done, there was also much comradery and jocularity with a spattering of really bad jokes.

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Hope Centre Teen Spaghetti Night

The Hope Centre invited the Gabriola Lions Club to provide a dinner for their last teen drop-in of the year.

This time, the Gabriola Lions put on a spaghetti feast with caesar salad and garlic bread. Okay, there was watermelon too. The dinner provided another opportunity for the Lions to feed and meet the local teens all within their home territory; a centre that provides a great environment for the young teens in our community.

The Gabriola Lions were more than happy to provide some tasty food and inform the youth of what it is to be a Lion serving their community.

 

The response was so positive that this may become a regular event.

 

Right: Hope Centre volunteers, with president Lion Jonathon, take to the camera as the local youth that love this centre are having a great time.

Gabriola Lions Donate $20,000 to the Health Care Foundation

Cheque presentation by the Lions to the Gabriola Health Care Foundation

The Gabriola Lions Club has donated $20,000 to the Gabriola Health Care Foundation to help pay for the improvement of the clinic’s water system. The donated money will go towards the purchase of cisterns and a filtration system as well as other infrastructure improvements.

Gabriola Lions Club President Jonathon Carlson said, “The Gabriola Lions are proud to have worked with the Foundation since the beginning. We have provided landscape services for years and have funded the purchase of equipment for the medical clinic on multiple occasions.”

On this latest donation, Carlson explains “The building must be kept in the best operating condition as it has always been. All five of the building tenants and their patients will benefit and collectively the tenants interacts with tens of thousands of patient visits annually, so this donation will be a big benefit to our community.”

Text & photo courtesy of the Gabriola Sounder. Artist rendition of the photo.

Gabriola's Ravenskill Cidery Ferments another Donation

Lions Suzy and Bill support Lion Kathy in accepting a generous cheque to the Gabriola Lions from Ravenskill owners Keith & Marti and their staff.

Once again, the Gabriola Lions Club was excited to receive a cheque in the amount of $1,320.00 from Ravenskill Orchards and Gabbies Premium Cider for donations from their in-store tasting fees as well as those they collected from the public visiting the Cidery. This generous donation will directly fund the Gabriola Lions efforts to support Gabriola community events, services, and sponsorships. Many thanks to owners Keith and Marti MacKenzie with their enthusiast & dedicated staff and the many customers who visited, tasted the fantastic ciders and made a donation to the Gabriola Lions!

Walk for dog guides May 26th 2024

On Sunday, May the 26th, dozens of dog walkers with their dogs joined the many non-dog walkers to support the Gabriola Lions Club annual “Walk for Dog Guides” held at the Gabriola Sands Provincial Park.

The weather co-operated by not raining, the participants co-operated by have a great time and the dogs co-operated by being so cute.

 

When it was all over and the numbers were added the Dog Guides of Canada received $1200 from the fantastic Gabriola Island Pledges.

 

Thank you to the community of Gabriola Island!

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Annual Drumbeg Park Broom Elimination

A big thank you to the 15 Gabriola Lions and friends who came out on Wednesday May the 15th evening to Drumbeg Park to help me tackle my main nemesis – the dreaded Scotch Broom.

 

Also, a big thank you to  Shirley and Ken who planned, prepared, cooked and served hotdogs to all those who helped.

 

Not only did we take the broom back to the new property line, but we also got some broom that was beginning again on the south edge of the pasture. It was also really surprising to see that growing under all of that were 9 juvenile Gary Oak trees!

 

It was extremely gratifying for us all to see the amount of progress that we were able to make working together with GaLTT. – Lion Dixon.

 

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The Hope Centre Teen Burger Night

The Hope Centre  invited the Gabriola Lions Club to provide a burger BBQ on March 8th to feed and meet the local teens that the centre  organizes as a teen drop in for support and socialization as part of their teen program.

 

The Gabriola Lions were more than happy to grill some tasty food and inform the youth of what it is to be a Lion serving their community.The response was so positive that this may become a regular event.

 

Left: Hope Centre volunteers with Lion Betsy take to the camera as the local youth dig in for a delicious and satisfying dinner. 

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To Read all previous Gabriola lions Club activities

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The Gabriola Lions Club Key Programs

lions at work

Who are the Lions?

The International Association of Lions Clubs, headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, is an organization of distinct, independent, service clubs, such as the Gabriola Lions Club.

Founded in 1917, Lions Clubs International is one of the oldest service club organizations in the world; It is the largest, and the most active, community service organization in the world; It is an organization whose basic cause has bound Lions clubs together for generations. There are now more than 46,000 Lions Clubs and 1,400,000 Lions located in 210 countries and geographic areas worldwide.

Meet Some of Your Lions

lion eric

Lion Eric Boulton – Lifetime Member and Charter President of the Gabriola Lions. Fun fact: Back in the 60’s his band, Eric Boulton and the Animals, had some big hits on the Billboard charts.
lion dixon

Dixon Kenny – recent recipient of the prestigious Judge Brian Stevenson Fellowship award. Dixon is also obsessed with eradicating Scotch Broom on the island as well as his neighbours.

lion john

Lion John Coleman – recipient of the Centennial Gold Pin and one of the best guys you would ever meet. John is what a Lion is all about. His dedication and humour is paramount!

lions betsy & mike

Lion Mike Phillips receiving the Gold Centennial Pin from President Lion Betsy in front of some of the firewood that we provide to anyone in need of winter warmth and a very supportive and vocal Golden Retriever. Thank you Mike for taking our signature club program to being what Lions are all about.

Key Lions Service Activities

Lions support sight programs and services including vision screenings, eye banks and eyeglass recycling, and provide eye care services to those at risk of losing their sight. From providing health programs that focus on hearing loss to supporting efforts to control and prevent diabetes, Lions volunteers are working to improve the health of children and adults around the world. By providing volunteer opportunities and leadership experiences, and in sharing a message of peace through an annual Peace Poster contest, Lions invest in the future by reaching out to young people. From performing hands–on community work and service projects to providing emergency assistance, Lions participate in community and environment programs that improve our communities and protect the environment.

No matter where located or how designated, all Lions are bound by a common spirit, united in helping those less fortunate. Our motto is simple: “We Serve”.

hunger

Hunger

We serve to improve human flourishing. We see how the global hunger and nutrition crisis bears upon our local communities, and believe true community improvement depends on the thriving of its members. Lions and Leos serve to improve human flourishing, and we see how the global hunger and nutrition crisis bears upon our local communities. We believe community improvement depends on the thriving of its members.

Our strategic objective is to ensure all community members have access to nutritious foods.

environment

Environment

The earth sustains human life. We’ve seen how our stewardship of natural resources can improve quality of life and increase engagement in our local communities. Our environment is more than a background: it’s our home. And we’re committed to caring for it. Lions and Leos serve to strengthen the relationship between the community and its environment. We’ve seen how our stewardship of natural resources can improve quality of life and increase engagement in our local communities.

Our strategic objective is to sustainably protect and restore our environment to improve the well-being of all communities.

diabetes

Diabetes

The International Diabetes Federation reports that 1 in 2 people with diabetes are undiagnosed. Lions recognize the needs of the world are changing, and have championed the cause of diabetes to better serve both our communities and the world. Serving in diverse communities all over the world, we see and feel the effects of diabetes and are doing something about it together.

Our strategy is to reduce the prevalence of diabetes and improve quality of life for those diagnosed.

vision

Vision

Lions are known throughout the world for their work to improve the lives of the visually impaired and prevent avoidable blindness. LCIF proudly serves their continued efforts by offering unique and impactful initiatives, programs and grants. We have a long history of serving the blind and visually impaired, and remain committed to continuing this mission into our next century of service.

Our strategic objective is to prevent avoidable blindness and improve quality of life for people who are blind and visually impaired.

childhood cancer

Childhood Cancer

LCIF provides funding support to Lions and has developed strategic partnerships to help improve outcomes for children with cancer. Lions and Leos provide support for the needs of children and families affected by childhood cancer through impactful service activities. Lions and Leos provide support for the needs of children and families affected by childhood cancer through impactful service activities.

Our plan is to increase acts of support to families and children affected by childhood cancer and to improve diagnostics, treatment, and continued care to those affected by childhood cancer.