Overview

The making of a Diamond in the rough is the history of the Arnprior Lions Club who received their Charter September 7^th ,1946. The Club will be celebrating its 60^th Charter Anniversary October 7^th 2006.

What are Lions? The International Association of Lions Clubs began as the dream of a Chicago business man, Melvin Jones. He believed that local business clubs should expand their horizons from professional concerns to the betterment of their communities and the world at large.

An organizational meeting was held June 7^th, 1917 in Chicago, Illinois. The new group called the “Association of Lions Clubs” was formed at a convention held at Dallas, Texas in October of the same year.

Three years after its formation the Association became truly international when the first Club was established in Canada in 1920. Major international expansion continued and clubs were formed throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa during the 1950's and 60's.

In 1925 Helen Keller addressed the Lion International Convention in Ohio. She challenged all Lions to become “Knights of the Blind in the crusade against Darkness”. From this time on Lions Clubs have been actively involved in service to the blind and visually impaired.

Lions Clubs International has grown to include 1.4 million men & women in 46,000 clubs located in 193 countries and geographic locations. This makes it the largest Service Club in the world to-day.

When founded in 1917, the volunteer organization’s motto was “WE SERVE”. Although our programs are continually changing to meet new needs and greater demands, our mission has never wavered “WE SERVE”

The Arnprior Lions Club was formed in 1946. The club was sponsored by The Ottawa Vanier Lions Club. The Ottawa Vanier Lions Club was chartered in 1922. It is one of the oldest Lions club in Canada. They have sponsored directly or indirectly basically all of the clubs in District A4. This district has 75 Lions clubs and is situated in and around our nations capital, also covering the Ottawa Valley area. It has clubs in both Ontario and Quebec. A4 is one of 11 other districts in Ontario.

Since Lions clubs were established, they have been dedicated to giving back to their communities. The Arnprior Lions Club has been no different. The club has provided community parks, playgrounds, senior citizen programs and medical care for those who required it.

We have looked after helping to get glasses, hearing aids, dental work, and any other medical problem that was brought to our attention. We have organized Christmas Cheer, Santa Claus parades, Bingo, Raffles, Car Shows etc. We donated to hospitals, town projects, fire departments, sports groups, Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, fire victims, and all major events held in our town, world wide relief funds and 100,s of items too numerous to name. Nothing has escaped our help. You name it we’ve done it, are proud of it, and enjoyed doing it. We as Lions members remain committed to improving the lives of those less fortunate-around the world and right here at home.

Starting next month we will bring you some of the history of our Club. It will be done in increments for the following 12 months. We hope you will enjoy reading about our long history, and that it brings back some memories. We welcome your comments and any memories of our club that you may remember.

On behalf of the Arnprior Lions Club I would like to sincerely thank The Arnprior Chronicle Guide for allowing us to do this. Your community involvement is to be commended.