The effort to return a chapter of the Lions Club to the Baie Verte area started simply enough.
In the fall of 2019 Val Clarke, a member of the Port aux Basques Lions Club and the new club consultant with Lions International, put word out that she was looking to gauge interest in re-forming a Lions Club in the area. There was one previously, but it disbanded several years ago.
She met with the town in order to get their support for the planned restart. The next step was using social media to get the word out on a possible return of the club.
“It was an initiative that I wanted to do … that we did on the fly, more or less,” said Clarke. "From there, that's how all of this came into being.”
After getting the required 20 members from around the area — they were officially accepted by Lions International on Dec. 11 — the next step for the Baie Verte club was to find a sponsor.
Luckily, they found two. Clarke contacted clubs in Botwood and Springdale to see if they would be interested in helping get the burgeoning club off the ground.
Both of those established clubs were interested in helping out.
On Aug, 25, the Baie Verte club was officially chartered as the Baie Verte Peninsula Lions Club.
“It was decided that if the Baie Verte group could get the appropriate number of members, my club would consider it an honour to help out our new Lions and would be more than willing to sponsor the Baie Verte group and provide any help necessary to have them chartered,” Botwood Lions Club president Trevor Mills said.
The Botwood club gifted the newest Lions with their club banner, while the Springdale club refurbished the Baie Verte club’s original bell and gave it a new look.
The bell was re-done to include the club’s former name and that club’s charter date, as well as its new name and its latest charter date. The Springdale club also gifted a gavel to the Baie Verte club.
Mills is also the chairperson for the Lions Club District N3, which takes in the central-west part of the island and Labrador.
“Being zone chair and having a new club is very exciting, as I know that when zone meetings are called the new club will be able to learn much from the experienced members and clubs in my zone,” he said. “Should they need help with regards to zone or district issues, we can provide the appropriate information to help them along, whether the issues be about recruiting new members or providing different types of service projects in the many communities they will serve."
Baie Verte isn’t the only Lions Club to get started in District N3 in the last four years. In that time, there have been nine new clubs formed.
It is something Clarke has worked hard to get underway.
“In a time where they say the number of volunteers is declining, when you go out into a community and get peple who are motivated to give back and make a difference, then we are very fortunate,” she said.
Nicholas Mercer is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter covering central Newfoundland for SaltWire Network
