From the Lions Den May, 2020
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Our Mayne Island Lions are serving in variety of ways in the collective fight against Covid-19. Irene Barrett has become our “point” person on the Mayne Island Emergency Pandemic Committee task force. Allen Slade and David Chase represented the Lions at the first two Zoom meetings set up for the group and Irene continued, and continues, to attend the ones thereafter.
With the increased demands upon our Food Bank, several Lions have provided some help. On April 8, three Lions, and their trucks, devoted an entire day to travel to various locations in Victoria to pick up over $8,000 worth of food destined to go out as food parcels for a number of island families over the next two months or so. Distribution has recently increased from 20 to 41. On their return on the afternoon ferry they met at the Old School House with three more Lions and several community members. They then unloaded and weighed, (yes, every item is weighed and entered into a log,) and then stacked all the supplies. The Food Bank staff put in a huge amount of work on April 9 to sort the items and create the many, many boxes and bags of food and beverages. These were all set to go early the next day when in two shifts a total of seven Lions, including 4 who turned up just for this very important part of the operation, collected their allotment of boxes, etc. and delivered them to the designated recipients. The whole exercise went very smoothly and there were many delighted families on the receiving end. If there is to be another such venture, Lions will be there, in numbers, once again. Several Lions who regularly work at the Recycling Depot continue to provide service there, and some of them actually get to be the flag person out on Campbell Bay Road, supervising the line-up, the exits and the entrances, and waving the official Stop/Slow sign. We are very grateful to the Quilters and the Days for Girls volunteers who created the many fabric masks that reduce the airborne spread of droplets. A few Lions assisted in handing them out to vehicles in front of the Community Centre on April 17. (see photo attached) With the closing of the parks’ washrooms, several of the Lions porta-potties have been pressed into service, but with everything so quiet now, our other rental equipment is waiting for a time when tents, tables, chairs, dishes and cutlery are needed. Deposits are not necessary for future bookings during the crisis, and for the ones already made, deposits will be returned if cancellations are necessary. The revenue from the Mayne Island phone book contributes to many of the activities that the Lions support. Approximately 10% of the revenue has come from the voluntary donation from Mayne Islanders (other Islands charge $10 for the phone book, whereas ours is free). The envelope that you see inside the 2020 book asks that you drop off your donation in the Drop Box at Gulfport Realty, but that is not possible this year due to Covid-19 closures. If you would like to make a donation, please mail it to the Lions at the address on the envelope. We are examining the option of using e-transfer of funds. While talking of the phone book, a member found this historic phone book during a clean up. (see image below) It is not dated, but it is during the time that Pacific Shore Realty advertised on the back page, Glen McLeod offered masonry, chimney and fireplace service and Mayne Island Center store provided groceries, fishing tackle, dry cleaning and laundromat services. Stay safe, everyone! David Chase Web page: mayneislandlions.org Anyone offering ideas as to the year this phone book was published? If so, please email [email protected] with your comment.
Webmaster note for a clue: The Mayne Island Lions Club received its charter in 1971 so it would not be before that date. Our very sage original lion at the 1971 charter date, Harry Lane, suggests that it might be in the 1975-1976 time-frame since his wife used to type up the script and they used to print it on the Gestetner Machine (what is that you say???) when it was done by the fire hall. Best we can do thus far until we get a more concise answer. |
We are very grateful to the Quilters and the Days for Girls volunteers who created the many fabric masks that reduce the airborne spread of droplets. A few Lions assisted in handing them out to vehicles in front of the Community Centre on April 17.
