Ashgrove/The Gap Lions News

The month of February signals the start of our national youth project which is Youth of the Year with students from 3 schools in our region participating at our club final at the Ashgrove Golf Club on Tuesday 28th February. The process for students will be that they will go through an interview process, and then the night of the final they will present an impromptu and prepared speech in front of guests and a panel of judges. The winner of the club final in our region will compete against other winners culminating with the national final to be held on the Gold Coast in May 2023

History of Lions Youth of the Year

Although most Lions members are aware of the ‘Youth of the Year’ program, few will know that it was a member of Ashgrove Lions club who was the coordinating chairperson for the first 10 years of the program’s life and who insured it would be “The most successful district project ever” as stated by the District Governor at the time, Jamie Jamieson. This club member was Syd MacDonald and the inaugural year for the program was 1964. The very first winner of the Youth of the Year was Peter Wicks of Toowoomba Grammar School.

Although the original concept came from Jamie Jamieson it was Syd MacDonald who was given the task of putting the idea into fruition. Syd put together a small committee with members from three other local clubs. Youth of the Year was originally designed for young men in their final year of school to “Foster and encourage leadership and the citizen qualities in young men at an age when they are about to enter commerce and higher education”. (At the time, it was felt that there were many quests for young women but nothing for young men, however in 1980 female students were invited to participate in the program).

Syd MacDonald and his team put together the framework for the, mainly, public speaking competition and, although there have been some tweaking of this over the years; much of that original framework remains today. It is still the only annual project in the Lions calendar that does not involve fundraising.

Initially, it was only held within our local district but in 1965 the second Youth of the Year competition also included many clubs in NSW, mainly due to Syd’s ability to convince other clubs of the benefits of running the program. By 1966, Syd MacDonald had recommended that the program be adopted as a Multiple Districts Project; this was accepted and so Youth of the Year became the National program it is today.

Ashgrove -The Gap Lions club is still very actively involved with the Youth of the Year program and it is well supported by three high schools, The Gap State High School; Marist Brothers Ashgrove and and St James College ensuring that Lion Syd MacDonald’s legacy lives on.

Recently we had the pleasure inducting Jonty Bush & Clare Webster as members of Ashgrove – The Gap Lions Club, congratulations ladies on becoming members of our club website: http://www.westernecho.com.au

Our club also held a BBQ at Bunning’s in Keperra on Sunday 26th February which was very busy and provided us with the opportunity to raise funds to support those in our community

If anyone would like to purchase Christmas Cakes or Puddings leading up to a Christmas in July event, just email us at lionatg19@ gmail.com

Upcoming Events

On 5th March we will be conducting a BBQ for Save our Waterways Now Clean Up Australia at Alfred Lucinda Best Park at 89 Payne Road in The Gap.

In March we will be conducting a number BBQ’s for Trek2health who do such a wonderful job in providing support and help to First Responders, including the Defence Force and Returned Servicemen and Women

On 28th March we will be hosting Matthew Crossley from the Lions Wellbeing Foundation together with a visit from Pinelands Lions Club at our Monthly Partners

& Friends meeting at the Ashgrove Lions Club

If you are interested in learning more about your local Lions Club and what our club does in the local community or you are interested in volunteering with us in our projects we would love to hear from you. Please contact us by emailing lionatg19@gmail. com or visit our newly created website Ashgrove Lions The Gap – Lions Club Australia (ashgrovethegaplions.org.au) as well as our facebook page Ashgrove/The Gap Lions Club|Facebook