Athy Lions members leadership recognised
Gerry Cleary and Michael Dwyer presented their certificates by Marian McGreevy, district governor of the Lions Clubs of Ireland and then Athy Lions President Brid Phillips
ON 18 June, Marian McGreevy, district governor of the Lions Clubs of Ireland, travelled from Newry to attend the monthly meeting of Athy Lions Club in the Clanard Court Hotel.
In her address to the local Lions members, she acknowledged the clubs service to the community of Athy over the last 55 years and how the local community had been enriched by the Lions Club members great work and service.
She presented chevrons to Lions members Gerry Cleary and Michael Dwyer, two of the original members who founded Athy Lions Club in 1971.
Gerry and Michael are the only original founders of the Lions Club who have retained their Lions membership over fifty-five years.
The leadership they and their colleagues bring to the local community every day and in so many ways was commended by the District Governor.
The origin of Athy Lions Club goes back to the early months of 1971. Kilkenny City was home to an active Lions Club and one of its members was Paddy Reynolds, a relation of Athy chemist Des McHugh of Duke Street.
Paddy contacted Des about the possibility of starting a Lions Club in Athy and Des having discussed the idea with a number of locals agreed to host a meeting of Kilkenny Lions Club in the Leinster Arms Hotel.
That meeting was followed by several get-togethers of Athy men which led to the establishment of Athy Lions Club whose first President was Des McHugh with Ken Turner as Club Secretary.
Many of the charter members of the local Lions Club were well-known business people in the town but I must admit that some of those named in the club records are unknown to me.
However, all the members played their part in the work of the Lions Club and assisted the Club in establishing Lions Clubs in Newbridge, Kildare, Carlow, Monasterevin and shared in sponsoring the Naas Club.
Athy Lions Club has made substantial contributions to many local charities and causes over the last 55 years. Perhaps the most memorable achievements were the provision of ten sheltered housing units in the grounds of St Vincent’s Hospital in 1989 and the purchase of the former Dreamland Ballroom now known as A.R.C.H. for use as a community centre.
The club’s annual food collection for St Vincent de Paul Society is an important event which brings together two of the most important charitable organisations in Athy.
There are many other charitable projects which the Lions Club have contributed to over the years as one would expect of a club which is part of the largest charitable organisation in the world.
The work of the Lions Club seldom receives publicity as the work of its members is done quietly and discreetly. Athy Lions Club can proudly claim that every euro contributed to or earned by the club goes directly to a good cause.
Not one euro is spent on administration, the cost of which is borne by the members themselves. The Lions Bookshop, opened fifteen years or so ago, was made possible through the generosity of club member Trevor Shaw who gave us the free use of the shop premises next door to the local post office.
It is staffed voluntarily by the honorary Lions member Alice Rowan who approached me within a few months of the bookshop, opening on Saturdays only, offering to keep it open five days a week.
Alice, whom the club made an honorary member of Athy Lions Club, has turned the bookshop into a veritable treasure trove of second-hand books. I was delighted to meet the district governor the day after the meeting when she visited the bookshop to meet Alice and thank her for her work on behalf of the Lions Club.
The success of the Bookshop has led to the holding of the Lions Book Fair in the A.R.C.H. twice a year. The next book fair is scheduled for Saturday, 31 October.
Athy Lions Club when founded was exclusively a male club but has in recent years extended its membership to include female members. The first female Lions Club President was Brid Kane Phillips who occupied that role with commendable leadership.
She has been succeeded in recent weeks by James Reeves.
Meetings are held each month in the Clanard Court Hotel whose generosity in supporting the Lions Club must be gratefully acknowledged.
Anyone over 21 years can be a prospective Lions Club member. Lions believe in fellowship both locally and worldwide.
A typical Lions Club consists of members male and female from all walks of life and backgrounds, united in a common aim to help those less fortunate than themselves.
Meetings are held once a month and while the club may be involved in projects on a global basis, generally most of the club’s activities concentrate on the needs of the local community.
The Lions code of ethics includes the following which sums up so well the whole purpose of Lionism today.
No. 1751
