The Lions Club of Mount Panorama held its 47th Annual Changeover Dinner this week at the Bathurst RSL Club.
Invited guests were District Governor for Lions District 201N4 Michael Ryan and 2VDGE Judy Ryan (Mount Panorama Lions), Member for Calare, Hon. Andrew Gee MP (Orange Lions), Mayor, Councillor Robert Taylor, Bathurst Regional Council, Zone Chairperson, PDG Lion Barbara Andrews (Bathurst Lions), 1st VDGE Lion Ian Acret (Forbes & District Lions), President of the Lions Club of Bathurst PDG Ian Warren & Lion Marilyn Warren, Lion Mal Purvis from the Lions Club of Bathurst, and Lion Rielle Moises and Lion Paul Rasmussen from the Calare Veterans and First Responders Lions Club, Bathurst. Members from the Lions Club of Lithgow also attended.
Andrew Gee spoke passionately about the work done by Lions clubs in the district, and Robert Taylor commended the involvement of our Club in the Bathurst community.
Donations were presented to Can Assist Bathurst, received by Genevieve Croaker, and Ros and Gwen accepted a donation for Riding for the Disabled. Donations were also made to Daffodil Cottage and Defence Community Dogs, but unfortunately, representatives were unable to attend.
The highlight of the evening was the presentation of awards by outgoing President, Roger Thomas. Three prestigious Melvin Jones Fellows were awarded to well-deserving Lions Lesley Carter, Dennis Coopes and Sue Longmore, for their ongoing contribution to Lions. Lions was founded in Chicago in 1917 by Melvin Jones and is now the largest humanitarian organisation in the world, with over 1.4 million hard-working volunteers giving back to their local communities.
Lions Graham Carter, Pat Duff, Jon Maclean and Licia Thomas were the recipients of the James D. Richardson Honour Award. Lion Graham received his award for his efforts in making Youth of the Year a successful event on the Club’s calendar. Lion Pat was recognised for his continued support of the Club, Lion Jon was honoured for the marketing and publicity of the Club’s projects and Lion Licia received her award for her contribution to the collection of used eyeglasses from the optometrists in Bathurst, which are then sent off for refurbishment and forwarded to third world countries.
The evening concluded with the installation of the incoming Board for 2023-2024 with Lion Sally Coopes taking on the position of President for the coming year.
