Lion Betsy wins the Melvin Jones Fellowship award
Lions Clubs world-wide recognized an outstanding individual, Betsy Banford, by bestowing the Melvin Jones Fellowship award named after its founder Melvin Jones. This award is the highest form of recognition and embodies humanitarian ideas consistent with the nature and purpose of Lionism. Betsy has has gone above and beyond to serve both our Club and the Community; she is generous, compassionate and hardworking, and truly deserving of this award. The Melvin Jones Fellowship (MJF) is the backbone of the Lions Club international Foundation.
Betsy has been the backbone of the Gabriola Lions Club for many years serving as President for 5 terms, VP for 2 terms and numerous other positions on the Board of Directors. Her Family has been involved with the Lions Club for many many years. Currently she is our Zone Chair and Lions Quest Chair as well as Facebook Admin and Pancake Breakfast and BBQ Organizer. She also knows where everything is and where everything goes!
We are all so proud of you Betsy!
Gabriola Lions Club upcoming Activities
Ferry Lineup Christmas Hamper Collection – December 2023
The ferry lineup collection is an annual fundraiser by your Gabriola Lions club that, we believe, is the start of the festive season.
All monies collected goes to Christmas Hampers to help bring some joy to those islanders in need of a little more this season.
Thank you to all those who have contributed in the past and thank you to all those that we will see in the next few weeks.
Don’t forget, with technology now, you do not have to donate only cash!
44th annual christmas gala
December 11th of this year is the annual Gabriola Lions Club Christmas party held, as usual, at the Gabriola Golf & Country Club.
Gabriola Lions Club Recent Activities
Wood Delivery Fall 2023
During the last weekend of September and into the first two weekends of October, the Gabriola Lions Club delivered the last of the split, seasoned firewood to those on Gabriola in need of winter warmth.
This Gabriola Lions Club signature program has come to a natural end due to changes in heating technology, an aging club and the huge amount of effort required to buck, split and stack firewood.
Many thanks go out to Lion Mike (left in the picture) who championed this worthy cause over the past many years. It was his property that we brought in, bucked, split and stored the wood. And Lion Mike did most of this work himself from getting the wood, having people to buck the logs, organizing the log splitters and the club work parties to getting the names and addresses of those in need of wood.
No doubt about it, without Lion Mike, this program would never have lasted as long as it did. Thank you Lion Mike! You made this program a fun and exciting time for the rest of the Lions in this wonderful club!
Dog Show at the Fall Fair 2023
The PHC (People for Healthy Community) and Gabriola Lions hosted at Dog Show at the Gabriola Commons. I’ve never seen so many canines in one spot, and nary a cat in sight. It was a fun afternoon.
The dog show was a resounding success at this year’s annual Fall Fair held Sunday, Sept 17th. and sponsored by the Gabriola Lions, Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides, PHC, and Raven Pet Foods.
After many years without this very fun, family event the laughter and antics left one feeling full of laughter head to toe. Our MC Gerry Stefanson knew how to spin a unique line on each and every dog. We figured 40 dogs rallied one by one in to the ring. All were very polite and their handlers (owners), too!
Right: Lions Miriam, Carol and Jude, having just sampled some of the treats they were handing out, are really barking for a show now.
Concert on the Green 2023
This year’s Concert on the Green was its 25th anniversary and it did not disappoint. Over 1800 people descended on the Gabriola Golf and Country Club’s putting green to take in Gabriola’s own Road Poets and Canada’s fan favourite Tom Lavin and the Legendary Powder Blues Band. The place never stopped shaking as the music was bringing everyone to their feet to groove to the swing of these two great bands,
There was so much going on with this year’s concert including a fabulous 50/50 draw, where one lucky guest won over $3,000, a silent auction table loaded with fabulous donated gift items and, of course, the beer and food tents as well as other booths.
The weather was its usual sunny, summer self and even Tom Lavin took the time to thank the awesome crowd and the event staff:
Hi Bill,
Just a note of thanks from us for the great reception on Gabriola. The crowd was terrific and we thought the volunteers were super. We couldn’t have felt more welcome.
We hope you enjoyed our performance and look forward to the next time our paths may cross.
Please forward my sincere appreciation to all involved, especially Jake Stolz who provided expert technical support.
Yours Very Truly,
Tom Lavin
GABRIOLA LIONS WORLD CUP OF GOLF 2023
The annual World Cup of Golf was held at the Gabriola Golf and Country Club on July 21st if this year where over 200 people joined in the commandry and jocularity of this wildly popular event.
Not only was there some competitive golf played out for some great prizes, there was some fabulous food and door prizes as well.
Net proceeds go to the Gabriola Lions Foundation where it is then returned to the many island groups and charities of Gabriola Island.
Left: Team Yellow, lead by Lions Olga and Dixon, await the traditional firing of the gender reveal cannister to start the tournament.
Traditional End of Year Summer BBQ
On July 11th, 2023, the Gabriola Lions Club members descended on the property of our hosts, Lions Shirley and Ken, for the 24th annual, end of year BBQ and rave.
Lion Jon’s BBQ skills did not disappoint as the homemade burgers by Lion Shirley were juicy and tender and even all of Lions Ken’s abundant tomato slices that he brought found their way into the buns, along with processed cheese, pickles and all the other fixings.
Amongst the enormous amount of jocularity and hijinks, there was also some business to be done such as the introduction of the 2023/2024 board of directors and much discussion of the upcoming projects for the new year.
21st Annual Summer Pancake Breakfast
Once again, the Gabriola Lions were back in action serving up Gabriola’s favourite breakfast at this year’s wildly successful Cultivate festival held at the Gabriola Commons July 9th.
The Lions served up delicious, custom made (if you were one of the lucky ones) fluffy pancakes, expertly grilled sausages by the world famous “Sausage Kings”, velvety scrambled eggs, coffee, juice and all the fixings like syrup.That plus a huge amount of loving smiles given away for free guaranteed a mouth watering breakfast event that was the start of a beautiful day.
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We really thank all those who came out to enjoy the feast and make us feel proud to serve our wonderful community.
All monies collected go right back to supporting our island needs.
Left: Lion Jude admires how Lion Dixon was able to make a bear pancake look like a real human heart.
Walk for Dog Guides May 28th 2023
A great day it was on Sunday, May 28th where we rallied at Twin Beaches, Gabriola for our annual Dog Walk. We can attest to the fact that in Canada, we finish our walk with a beach frolic. So appreciated by the dogs, and their families we estimated 60 – 70 dogs finished the walk. Mike Phillips, a Lion for many years, started the additional beach frolic with his three dogs, and it has continued year after year.
Our final total raised is $5760.00 to the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides.
Donations from our participants were $3760 plus the Gabriola Lions donation at $2000 = $5760 to the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides. I huge round of appaws!
The event was an accumulation of actual cash donations by walkers, and even some who didn’t walk but did a drive by with a fist of $20’s for us.
Thank you to all the Gabriola Lion volunteers that ensure this fun event takes place and special thanks too to all the businesses that advertised this event for us. Well Done!!