Sign In / Register
In a time when traditional service clubs are struggling to survive, the Ōrewa Lions Club is defying expectations with its active membership.
Last month, the service club marked 60 years of community involvement on the Hibiscus Coast. Club president Wendy Miller said m any of their 49 members are actively involved attending business meetings, social events or service activities.
There is still some concern about the club’s future with few applications for membership. Wendy attributes this in part to awareness of the club and what it does and in part to people being more time-poor now than in the past. So she suggests people start by joining the club for a dinner or service activity first, before attending a business meeting to see how the club operates.
“That way people can engage with us and understand what we’re about, before deciding to join the club officially.
People have the perception that we are fundraisers but Lions are a not-for-profit service organisation and everything we do is for the community. Any money raised is a bonus and is ultimately returned to various community groups,” Wendy said.
Club life member Stuart Flexman has notched up sixty years of service, having started the club in 1964 with 51 other Coast businessmen. At the time it was indeed exclusively open for men to join though things have since changed, and today the club has an almost equal number of women and men.
“Back in those days, the men who joined were for the most part young men, and men who were willing to put a lot of effort into their local community. Most of us were plumbers, builders, electricians, drain layers, working men who were willing to spend some of our free time working in the community,” Flexman said.
Over the last six decades, the club has been involved in many projects on the Coast. Even before the club was made official, members banded together in 1960 to build pathways through Alice Eaves Bush to make it accessible for the wider community. Other significant projects include painting the Silverdale Historic Village buildings, construction of the Ōrewa Lookout, painting the inside of Centrestage Theatre, and the popular annual Big Dig held every summer in Ōrewa.
Wendy said that there is also an important social aspect to the club where people can build lasting friendships.
“I’ve been a part of Lions for 44 years and people often ask me why. It keeps me busy, it keeps me young. I like doing what I do with the club. But most importantly, there is a pride in belonging to the Ōrewa Lions Club, a club that has contributed in so many ways to the local community,” Wendy said.
