Wee Waa Lions Club members met at The Imperial Hotel on June 25 for their annual changeover dinner.
President Rob Downey, who will continue in the top job for another year, warmly welcomed guests and reflected on the club’s outstanding achievements over the last 12 months.
It’s clear the Lions Club volunteers play a pivotal role in making the Cotton Capital tick, offering help at a variety of community events and assisting all ages – from the debutante ball to Senior Citizens luncheon – clocking up an impressive 910 hours of community service in 12 months and making $3910 worth of donations in the 2023/24 period.
A highlight of the night was a $500 cheque presentation by Mr Downey to Christian ‘Chippy’ Petersen, who is the founder of a new youth initiative.
The beaming smile on Mr Petersen’s face expressed his deep gratitude for the Lions Club’s kind donation and encouragement. There will be a further report about RiverBank Youth Works in a future edition.
“There are young people in our town who are increasingly finding themselves disengaged with traditional education and making choices that have devastating consequences for them, their families and throughout our wider community,” said Mr Petersen.
“Primarily, RiverBank will be about these young people, assisting them to make decisions that will help increase the likelihood of them finding employment, staying out of prison, and achieving success in their lives.”
Riverbank is one of many local initiatives the Lions Club has backed, offering a helping hand where possible to make the town thrive.
Mr Downey’s president’s report for 2023/24 detailed local groups and initiatives Lions members assisted including the pony club gymkhana, Cubbaroo Polocrosse Carnival, Wee Waa Show, Cotton Seed Distributors’ Awards night, chocolate wheel at the St Joseph’s Primary School fete, Wee Waa High School formal, town Christmas Tree, Mardi Gras Christmas carnival, Seniors’ Week, Men’s Shed, Karinga Village, cake stall for Sh*tbox Rally, debutante ball, PCYC, Youth of the Year, and Anzac Day.
Digging deep and rallying hard, Lions made donations to the Christmas Lights Competition, Lions Drug Awareness, Lions Eye Health Programme, Lions Prostate Cancer
Research, Lions Cord Blood Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, Childhood Cancer Mater Foundation, Cancer Council, WWHS, Wee Waa Public School, St Joseph’s, Namoi Valley Christian School, Wee Waa Show Society, and Wee Waa Arts and Cultural Centre.
“I would like to thank all Lions for their efforts with our projects over the last 12 months,” said Mr Downey.
“We welcomed four new members into our club – Greg and Denise Robinson, Matt and Tegan Copelin.
“They have been very involved with our club activities for the year.
“Our sympathy goes out to Kevin and Carmel for the loss of their daughter, Pauline.”
Mr Downey also praised those who stepped up to help with the deb ball, giving a special mention to Annette Holland and Kerry Crutcher.
“We now know how much work Connie Smith puts in,” he said.
The Lions members had a welcome and youthful boost at the changeover dinner, with Wee Waa Rotaract members attending. They said it was a good social opportunity and the active young club members said they believed the key to success involves local groups supporting each other.
