About
Table of Contents
1.
Service Clubs
2. Lions International
3. Lions in Canada
4. The
Lions Club of Bowmanville
5.
When and
Where we meet
The Service Club is a creation of the western hemisphere in the twentieth century. It was born as a business men's club formed for the purpose of enabling its members to develop personal friendships among business associates. Incorporating a regularly held luncheon and pleasant discussion, fun and good fellowship, each meeting became a pleasant and inspiring occasion for all members.
After the turn of the century, these business-men's clubs became very popular and their numbers rapidly increased. Rotary came into being in Chicago in 1905 as an association of such clubs, and by 1910 had become international with a club in Winnipeg. In the next ten years many associations were born, including the associations of Gyro, Kiwanis, Lions and Optimist clubs.
Melvin Jones was the founder of Lions International and directed it's organization and growth through many years. The Association was conceived at a meeting in Chicago on June 7, 1917. From that meeting came a call for the Association's first annual convention which was held October 8 – 10, 1917 in Dallas, Texas, with twenty three clubs participating.
Lions International was organized with the idea of uniting, on a basis of unselfish community service, business men's clubs that had no other affiliations. This was a distinct departure from the practice of forming business men's organizations primarily for business purposes.
By 1920 it had doubled it's membership and extended into Canada. By 1927 it had extended into Mexico and China and had increased to nearly 1200 clubs with a membership of 53,000 Lions.
The expansion and growth of Lionism have continued steadily. They are now the world's largest service club organization with 1.3 million members in approximately 45,000 clubs in 202 countries and geographical areas.
The first Lions Club in Canada was formed in Windsor in March, 1920, with the first District (Ontario) organized later in the same year. The first District convention was held in Toronto in 1921, with eight clubs and 434 members.
Bowmanville Lions were sponsored by the Port Hope Lions Club and the Toronto Central Lions Club the first regular meeting of the club took place on May 7, 1935, in the Bowman House. Meetings would later be held at the Balmoral Hotel and then at the Sons of England Hall which became the clubs permanent home. The club purchased the building in 1945, erected its first addition in 1953, and it became the Lions Community Centre. Although the building was later sold to the Municipality of Clarington and is now known as the Clarington Beech Centre we still meet at the same location for our regular meetings and other club functions.
The Lions Club of Bowmanville over the years has served the community in many different ways. Donations have been made to those in need and to worthy projects within the community, the district, the multiple district and Lions International. Lions are known world wide for their work with the blind. The Lions Club of Bowmanville continues this good work with the collection of used eye glasses, the transporting of donated eyes to the Eye Bank in Toronto, financial support to Campaign SightFirst a program of Lions International to eradicate preventable blindness around the world and our annual BBQ for the Ski Hawks (Blind Skiers) held at the Oshawa Ski Club
Fund Raising
- Bars for events held at the Clarington Beech Centre
- Duck Derby
- Lions/Rotary Elimination Draw
- Community Barbeques
Services
- Memorial Hospital Foundation
- Valleys 2000
- Partners In Service
- Cancer Patient Transport
- Eye Bank Transport
- Vision Screening
- Dogs (eye and service)
- Eye Glass recycling
- CNIB/Lake St Joseph
- Ski Hawks
- Adopt-a-Road
- Effective Speaking
- Lions Nursery School Camp Trillium
- Camp Dorset
- Sea Cadets - Air Cadets
- Scouts, Cubs & Beavers
- Student Bursaries
- Minor Sports
When and Where
we meet.
Dinner meetings are held at 6:30 p.m. on
the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month at the Clarington
Beech Centre
26
Beech Avenue,
Bowmanville, ON
L1C 3A2
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