Lions Public Relations at Gwandalan

A great success for three years in a row the Gwandalan Spring Festival involving the whole peninsular community on the foreshore of Lake Macquarie will be on again, free to everyone.
The date is set for Sunday the 19th of September 2010 (19/9/10).
The main reason to have the Lions Spring Festival was to say Thanks to our residents for supporting the Lions & Lioness of Gwandalan in their attempts to raise funds for local sporting and community groups, schools and fire brigades etc.
Nearly every business in town got onto the bandwagon and chipped in by paying for the bands, singers, dancers and other entertainers. Beggs Bros Band and the Chicken Train Skifflers were entertaining all day.
Corporate sponsors like Rio Tinto, Delta Electricity, the Gwandalan Bowling Club and every real estate in town participated.
Over 50 stallholders were selling their goods to the public at a fee of only $40 for the whole day and they all reported a day of great success.
Entertainment like the Rock Climbing Wall, 2 Jumping Castles, Stress release remedies, Mustang Cars display, Newcastle Knights Pass the Ball competition, were provided at no charge for the younger folks and always were very busy.
Food and drinks from the giant Lions BBQ as well as Prawns & Oysters, Malaysian Cuisine, Thai Specialty Foods were available all day. Various stalls with cakes & sweets, popcorn and slushies, nibbles & Ice cream as well made great business on the day.
36 Lions members and Lions Ladies as well as 22 Lioness worked hard all day to make it a huge success again. All of which was noted far beyond our local borders and in the local media.
The Lions were marshalling the traffic and parking woes with the help of the local Fire Brigade.
The Lioness in their smart uniforms acted as hostess and raffle sales personal, everybody loves them lovely ladies.
The Lions Club presented donations on the day to all the local and neighbouring public & high schools, fire brigades, sporting clubs, surf life savers and scouts as well as other needy groups and charities.
All in all over $18.000 were presented at the Festival and will be again in 2010. Not only were the Lions and Lioness happy with the great success at our second Gwandalan Spring Festival, so was the whole town.
The request to continue with the event for the 4th time committed our Lions & Lioness Clubs to a repeat on Sunday the 19th of September 2010. If you want to see Lions Public Relations in action, come and see for yourself how a whole town appreciates Lions and vice versa.
Remember the date: Sunday 19th of September 2010.

LIONS CHILDREN HOLIDAY to ORANGE 2010

Gwandalan Lions Club proudly sponsored two local schoolboys Jayden Smith and Dylan Hart to attend the 2010 Lions Children Holiday to Orange.
Thanks to Gwandalan Public School Principal Don Begg for supporting the project.

This annual 5 day trip is co-ordinated by Kevin Deaves from Wyong Lions and is a great project. Congratulations and thanks to Kevin and his hard-working fellow Lions crew who volunteered their time to provide 36 children with a wonderful experience.

The children come from far and wide and were sponsored by various Lions Clubs such as ourselves. Visiting places such as the Blue Mountains and Dubbo Zoo, the memories of the trip will surely be treasured.

Kevin told us of a man who bumped into him as a 22 year old and thanked him profusely, recalling how the trip 10 years earlier was the best week of his life!

Our members were thrilled when Jayden and Dylan came down to our Lions Shed the Saturday after the trip. They spoke individually to every Lion on duty, showing their appreciation for us paying for the trip. Moments like these is what Lions is all about!

YOUTH SERVICES

Congratulations to our representative Jacqueline Brown who represented Gwandalan Lions at the recent Zone Youth of the Year Final at Toukley RSL.

 Jacqueline attends Gorokan High School and has completed her School Certificate and Marine Studies. Her proud father was in attendance and was most appreciative of our involvement in the quest. Her Dad has joint the the Lions now as well!

We are in the initial stages of forming the Gwandalan Leos Club, which caters for the 12 to 26 age group. Jacqueline is one of several young people who have shown enthusiasm for the concept.

We will shortly be asking for expressions of interest from previous Youth of the Year contestants as well as local schools, followed by a public meeting in the Community Hall.

If you know anyone who qualifies and might be interested in finding out more, please contact Past Presidents Bill Fletcher 4358 4114 or Greg Aitchison 4358 231.

 At our recent monthly dinner four prospective Leos had the pleasure of chatting with District Governor Marilyn Kinealy. We are confident of getting the required 20 members so that we can charter the Club before the end of this calendar year.

Our magnificent Tennis Coaching Project is still going strong, with over 60 local children so far receiving expert coaching from Mark Ugri. We were thrilled to see recent articles in both the Lions Newsletter and the Central Coast Advocate.

Lions Des Tuillier and Peter Lewis have really started something!

 Our two Lake Munmorah High School Scholarship Winners Ryan Bruce and Arielle Norberry also sent letters of thanks. Gestures such as these confirm that the great majority of young people are worthy of honour and high esteem!

Project Mannering Park Sea Scouts

After been ask to help the Sea Scouts build a Carport for their Rescue Boat eight of our members went to the rescue and build it. All materials were on side and with our well experienced builders and helpers it took just a total of 80 volunteer hours to finish the job to everyones satisfaction. Well done team, you are getting better with every project!

YOUNG LIONS BORN AT GWANDALAN !

 Central Coast Youth now has a new voice with the formation of the Leo Club of Gwandalan. Leo Clubs are an initiative of the well respected Lions Club International Organisation, and are open to young people between the ages of 12 and 26 who are community minded and wish to give some time to help others in need.

Gwandalan Lions are the sponsoring Club for the Leos and inducted eleven foundation members at a memorable Charter Night on Monday 23rd August at the Gwandalan Bowling Club. The night was an historic triple celebration as Gwandalan Lions were celebrating their 29th Anniversary and Gwandalan Lionesses their 26th Anniversary.

Lions District Governor Cliff Coleman conducted the ceremony which was well received by an audience of over 100 patrons. Australian Leo Chairman Martin Peebles also addressed the gathering and made some presentations. New Leo President Jacqui Brown thanked the Gwandalan Club for creating the opportunity and said that the Leos are looking forward to working together for the betterment of the local community.

Gwandalan Lions President Greg Aitchison is delighted with his Clubs newest project. We are all excited about the formation of the Leo Club, he enthused,  and we know that these wonderful young ambassadors can reinforce the fact that the great majority of our youth are good, caring people.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the Leos can contact Greg on 04004 28580.