Rowers teiken Klein - Letaba Herald

BYLAE
LION John Meades, Treasurer of
the Letaba Tzaneen Lions Club.
PAST District Governor of the Lions, Aubrey
Herbstein, once told the Letaba Tzaneen Lions
Club that they have done many things right,
but that he thinks they should have more
members.
Starting off with 17 members in 1969, the
club grew to 31 members in 2007.
2008 saw the club grow with an astounding
10 members, putting their numbers at 41.
This growth ensured the club the Best Membership
Growth Award in 2009.
They were also given this award in 1982.
It is no mystery why the club’s membership
has grown so much over the past years.
The Letaba Lions Club has always been
proactively involved in charity work, and the
personal satisfaction guaranteed through this
has drawn new members year after year.
Koos Smit of Smit Garrun Brokers approached
Martin Fröise, now serving his
second term as president of the Letaba
Tzaneen Lions Club, to help with what was to
become the Smit Garrun/Lions Family Day.
The Lions grabbed the opportunity and
helped turn the day into a fun event for the
family, and a mighty fundraiser for the comm
u n i t y.
2008, its first year, saw them raise R80 000.
This year’s total has not been calculated yet.
The day is hosted at Tzaneen’s Jetty 3, but
not long ago the Lions realised that the place
needed an urgent facelift.
This year the club received the President’s
LION Ilze Czubora, Secretary of
the Letaba Tzaneen Lions Club.
Objective Award for their upliftment project of
the Jetty. They received this award for planting
50 indiginous trees, removing dead blue gum
trees, building 20 new braai spots, upgrading
the clubhouse, installing storm water pipes
and impact walls, and upgrading the public
toilets and roads.
The new and improved Jetty 3 is once again
something to be proud of, and there is still
much improvement in the pipeline.
Together with the local Rotary and Round
Table clubs, the Letaba Tzaneen Lions also
helped bring the Magoebaskloof Mountain
Bike Challenge into existence.
This challenge has become a very popular
race nationally, and still draws hundreds of
tourists annually.
The Lions have been selling Christmas cakes
as part of their fundraisers since the 70s. This
tradition never died out and in 2008 these
Lions managed to sell 150 cases of cake.
The AMCUP project operates a feeding
scheme and facilitates skills training and job
creation in communities.
Together with the Letaba Tzaneen Lions
Club, 1000s of kilograms of food have been
distributed throughout the community, with
the first delivered batch valued at about R129
000.
The second batch was delivered on
Monday, with the value still to be calculated.
In promotion of Lionism, the club developed
a website that was launched in 2008.
LETABA HERALD - Vrydag 22 Mei 2009
LION Malcolm Banks, Letaba
Tzaneen Lions Club President
Elect for 2009/10.
LION Philip Robinson Jnr, Zone Chairman
for the Lions and the second of
three generations Robinsons to join the
Lions.
LIONS Len, Magdil and Albert Dekenah. Father, mother and son share equal dedication to the Letaba Tzaneen Lions Club and the selfless
spirit in which they support the community.
Although still a baby, the club has already
received the LionNet Award, as well as the
WebRing Award - both international awards.
In 1978 the club received the Best Club of
LION Carlos Carreira.
PAGE 19
The rewards of being a Letaba Tzaneen Lion
the Year Award, encompassing all Southern
Africa’s clubs, making it the first club north of
Johannesburg to receive this accolade.
Continue on p.20