Ararat Lions Club vice-president Rosi Sanders was awarded the James D Richardson Honour Award last Wednesday night for her service and dedication.
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Mrs Sanders said it was great for Lions Club members to meet up again after a long year of COVID-19 restrictions.
"It was our major first dinner back since COVID. The club hosted a dinner for Lions district governor Delwyn Seeback at the Ararat RSL, along with members from the Willaura and Stawell Lions Clubs," she said.
"Unfortunately, I became ill and was not able to attend the night. Delwyn presented the James D Richardson Award on behalf of our club."
IN OTHER NEWS:
James D Richardson was one of the most respected early leaders of Lions in Australia. He was the second Lions district governor to be elected in Australia 1956-57 and the first Australian to serve as a director on the international boards of directors in 1958.
In recognition of him being the first Australian international director, the Australian Lions Foundation instituted the James D Richardson Honour Award.
"It was a shock and honour to receive the James D Richardson Honour Award - the award is given to an Ararat Lions member who has done some great work within the club," Mrs Sanders said.
Mrs Sanders joined the Ararat Lions Club in 2001, which she said was an "all-male" club at the time.
"Me and three other women joined and now we have about 10 women at the club. The women are starting to take on more official roles within the club as well.
"I sort of stood back for a few years to see what the Lions was all about. They accepted me quite well, and in my second year I became treasurer.
"I will be president next year in July, which is our changeover month. It will be the first time the club has a woman as president."
Mrs Sanders said Ararat Lions Club had felt the impact of COVID-19, like many other service clubs across the country.
"Because we have some aging members, we weren't able to get out there and do the fundraising we normally would," she said.
"On the other hand, it's been great that some of the older members have caught up with their technology and we do Zoom meetings to still keep in contact."
Mrs Sanders said the club was taking "little steps" forward and had started selling Christmas cakes at local outlets as part of their annual fundraiser.
"We are not sure yet on getting our barbeque back up and running at this stage. But we are planning on having a free barbeque up the street, to welcome people back and to lift spirits," she said.
"We won't be having our full barbeque because of the restrictions on numbers we can have around.
"Normally we have six people around the barbeque, but because of COVID we can only have four so that means we can only have one cook. We will post something on Facebook closer to the date."
Ararat Lions Club is looking for new members. If you are interested you can email Rosi Sanders araratlions@gmail.com
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