The Years of 1981 to 1985
The start of 1981 would see some of the events from the past remain and new ones emerge. The year started off with the third annual Fun in the Snow for Dough. For those who may have forgotten, this event was a snowmobile rally which would run for approximately 50 miles after leaving McNab Park in White Lake. After the event a bean supper would usually be held at the Lions Hall for all participants. This was the last year for this event.
The next project was to furnish one semi-private room at the new nursing home in town. We installed a new lighted sign on our hall (should we check the bulbs). Some time was spent helping the town get ready for Canada Day events, and we took our fire truck to the Lions Convention in Quebec City.
After the demise of the Fun in the Snow event it was decided in 1982 to try snowmobile races and also a cross country ski-a-thon. A raffle for a Honda ATV was held which was quite popular with many people.
We purchased new boots and gloves for our fire department, helped to buy an OXI-Box for the hospital and approved up to $5000.00 in funding for provision of Protective Clothing for the firemen of the McNab Volunteer Fire Department
Another annual event in which we were involved with for years to come was the helping of the Arnprior Lionettes with their very successful quilt auction. One more annual event was the manning of the gates at the fair and again we were there.
Christmas of 82 saw the Club gather to sing Christmas Carols for the shut ins at the hospital and the home for the seniors.
The start of 1983 started with a commitment of the Club to being a major sponsor for the purchase of a new ice making machine for the Arnprior Arena. The cost of the machine was to be $24,700.00 and the Club made a commitment of $10,000.00.
We sent a donation to assist in the construction of school facilities at Ensenada, Mexico. We again were at the gates for the fair and holding up quilts for the Lionettes auction. Amidst all of our other projects and donations a Metagenesis night was held and was very well attended.
To start off 1984 the club again sent a donation to help the new school in Ensenada, Mexico and we would also send a large donation to the Famine Relief Fund in Ethiopia.
This year saw us try and do something to help the youth of Arnprior and surrounding area. The Arnprior Lions sponsored and held the Chartering of the Arnprior & District Leo Club.
A special event was also held at our Club this year. It saw us burning our mortgage on our hall in June of 84. Finally it was ours.
The final payment was also made on our commitment of the ice surfacing machine for the Arena. It also saw us attend another unsuccessful lob-ball tournament in Low Quebec, (we lost again).
Now that the hall was ours we added a full width extension by 20 feet to the back end of it. We also created space inside the hall to add a board room. The extension of the hall became a good storage area for our fire truck. It was easier to maintain it when it was with us.
Our club was again part of the 1985 board of directors for another great event that was held in Arnprior. This being the CBO Salute to the Valley. This event held in Robert Simpson Park was a huge success for many years. It drew top notch entertainment, great publicity for our town and huge crowds. One of the acts that was here was the Tommy Hunter Show which drew an estimated crowd of 10,000 spectators. Not too shabby, huh.
For a change the club worked the gates of the July 1st Rodeo held at Pinto Valley Ranch . It also saw a few events being no longer held by us. It was the last year for our involvement with our long term participation of the Christmas Cheer Program. We also were not involved with the dog walk-a-thon anymore. Due to a lack of interest the Arnprior Leo Club was also disbanded.
The club made a donation to the CHEO benefit fund to pay for the ransom that was requested to enable us to recoup the Town of Arnprior Bell that had been kidnapped and hidden away. A total of $412.33 was collected.
We were also presented with a beautiful oak table by the Arnprior Lionettes. This was to be placed in our new Board of Directors room.
Tags: history