STEPHENVILLE
In its heyday the Stephenville Lioness Club had upwards of 30 to 40 members.
When current president Suzanne Cormier joined almost 20 years ago there were around 20 to 25.
“It was a thriving organization,” said Cormier.
The numbers have since dwindled with only six members remaining. Three of those are in their 80s.
Without the members it’s hard for the club to operate and so after 67 years the members have decided it’s time to call it quits.
“It was not done lightly,” said Cormier. “It’s with a heavy heart that we made the decision.”
She said the women in the club realize that there will be organizations who have depended on and relied on it that will be affected. “We are so very sorry that this decision had to be made and we wish them, of course everybody, much success.
Cormier worked at a local radio station in Stephenville for many years. Every year the station did a radiothon for the local hospital and it was while working at one of the radiothons that she was first exposed to the club.
The club’s treasurer, Ada Shave, who still holds the position, visited the radiothon to make “a rather hefty” donation.
Cormier and a friend were impressed and asked Shave some questions about the group. Shave told them if they were interested they should attend a meeting to find out more.
They did and they both joined the club.
“It’s just the feeling. It sounds so cliché to say knowing you’re making a difference, but that’s what it is, to see that you’ve helped someone, to realize that there are people in need,” she said of what’s kept her there so long.
“The couple of hours that I give is nothing to me, that’s very minor, but to see that it made a difference that’s meaningful. Volunteering is probably the best thing that you can do in the world.”
Shave joined the club about 30 years ago.
Her mother, Minette Shave, the club’s last remaining charter member, served in most of the executive positions, including being president for years and running the group’s canteen.
Shave said it was such a different era when her mother got started with the club.
“They all had small children and they were all involved in their church groups as well. Neighbours took care of your kids while you went and did some charity work and you took care of theirs the next day for them to go do something.”
There were 30 or 40 members in the club when Shave followed her mother and joined.
She’s always enjoyed the fellowship of the group.
“Getting together with a bunch of women and working.”
And that’s what she’ll miss the most.
She’s been treasurer of the club for 25 years.
“The organizations that we gave money to are going to miss it,” she said.
“We’re giving out between $10,000 and $15,000 a year. And that’s only this past few years when the only thing we’ve had for our income is our canteen.”
Years ago, catering brought in a lot more money.
Shave said she saw membership in the club start to drop in the 1990s when the Lions opened its membership to women.
“Because people that wanted to get involved didn’t join the Lioness Club they joined the Lions Club.”
She’s sad to see it end but with so few members she knows they can’t keep going.
Last week four of the remaining Lionesses came together to present the club’s final donations to several community organizations. To signify the ending of the club, Cormier also handed the group’s keys to the Stephenville Lions Club building over to the Lions.
A little club history
The Stephenville Lioness Club, then known as the Stephenville Lionettes, held its first meeting in September 1953 and was chartered in 1954.
This was two years after the Stephenville Lions Club was formed.
The Lioness Club was the first of its kind to be chartered in the province and, according to a history of the club from its 50th anniversary commemorative booklet, it was the first female community service organization in Stephenville at the time.
“Lioness clubs actually were supposed to be a complement to Lions clubs,” said president Suzanne Cormier.
“It initially started as Lions wives who also wanted to volunteer and to help out in the community.
“And sometimes the Lioness club did things that the ‘men’s’ group didn’t do.”
Over the years the club held bake sales, teas and craft sales as fundraisers. It also raised money by catering and running a canteen.
“One hundred per cent of every dollar that was brought in went back to the community,” said Cormier.
The club has provided money to breakfast programs, the library, music festival, scholarships for high school students, sports groups, the hospital foundation and the Lion Max Simms Camp.
Twitter: WS_DianeCrocker
