Belle River Lions Club
It has been 77 years since a group of civic minded men voted to form the Belle River Lions Club (1945). Their sponsoring club was the Kingsville Lions Club. At the club's 50th Anniversary, we had only one active member of 50 years service, that member was Lion John George who was also Mayor of Belle River for almost as many years.
Today, the longest serving member Lion Jimmy Taylor, who joined in November, 1962, with 60 years of service.
Of note in the past 26 years are Lions Frances Dingman and Lion Anne Marie Tellier who made history as the first women in the club in April, 1996. Lion Frances was also the first woman president in 2002 to 2003. There are now 18 women members. For the Lion's Year July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, the club president is Lion Tyler Dozois tyler_rox_23@hotmail.com.
"Izzy" was our oldest member to join at age 91 years of age. He was a valuable asset at both Bingo and SunSplash.
The club has relied on the generous amount of time put in by HONOURARY members, as well as wives and family members at all Lions events.
The Belle River Lions are a diverse group of dedicated individuals who have carried out their motto "We Serve" for the past 77 years as part of the world's largest service organization.
The members of the club also have contributed to serving on the District A-1 Cabinet (2nd Vice-District Governor, 1st Vice-District Governor, 4 Past District Governors, 2 Past Deputy District Governors, 1 Past Region Chair, 2 Past Zone Chairs, 2 Past Cabinet Secretaries and 1 Past Cabinet Treasurer). As well as, serving as Chair on various District Committees. This includes a former Diabetes Chair who has just recently joined our club. Lion Bev Wirta was the District A-1 Diabetes Chair from 2006 to 2020.
The club's future is bright as our membership is now up to 41 members strong with the addition of a brand new Lion Kathy McIntosh sponsored by Lion Bob Percy - welcome Lion Kathy McIntosh! Our club is always looking for new members to assist in all of our service projects. This club looks forward to continuing to provide service to their community and world.
Lions Clubs International is the world's largest service club organization with more than 1.4 million members in approximately 46,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas around the world.