Lions Lines

OCTOBER was a busy and exciting month for the Palmwoods-Woombye Lions Club.

We welcomed two new members to our club, Nev Hebblewhite and John Latta.

We hope that they enjoy our local aim which is to "Do Good and Have Fun".

THE first white cane dinner on the Sunshine Coast was hosted by the Palmwoods-Woombye Lions Club on official white cane day, October 15.

More than 100 people enjoyed the occasion at the Big Pineapple, which also provided several raffle prizes.

Thirty visually impaired persons and partners attended and were transported and hosted by Lions members.

Also in attendance were representatives from Guide Dogs for the Blind, plus "Vinka" and "Victor" - trained guide dogs, who endeared themselves to all.

Lions immediate past District Governor, Peter Donghi, spoke about the proposed low vision clinic for Nambour. Funding of $160,000 for three such clinics including Nambour is almost complete and planning is underway.

THE Queensland Cancer Fund door knock for 1997 has come and gone.

Sunday, October 12 was swelteringly hot, as evidenced by some sunburnt faces on Monday morning, but all those collectors who managed to call at the bulk of their allocated areas are to be congratulated on a job well done.

Garry Tempest, the Sunshine Coast/Wide Bay Regional Coordinator of the appeal, advises that to date, over $104,000 of the Sunshine Coast's overall target of $110,000 has been collected.

With a number of hinterland areas yet to advise their actual sums, the $104,000 represents an increase of $2,735 over collections in the same areas for 1996, which Garry considers a sterling effort when the economic trends for the current year are taken into account.

The Palmwoods-Woombye Lions Club, co-ordinated by Lion Bruce Hope was active in the Local Area. Our team of twelve lions, some helped by family members, and seven people connected with the Palmwoods Parents and Citizens Association raised $2650 between them.

This is almost as much as the $2793 raised last year, which was our best result over the past decade.

A typical tale was that of one collector being chased down the street by a bikie looking type, who insisted on emptying the contents of his telephone collection tin into the startled collector's bag.

THE final weekend in October saw two of our members, Gordon Percival (president) and Doug Montagu, and their wives attending the Lions District Convention at Gladstone. This was an exhausting time for our delegates, but is necessary for the smooth running of our large organisation.