One year after its revival, the Morden Roaring Lions Club is celebrating a milestone in its role as a community organization.
"We just became our own independent club, about a good four months ago," said Bruce Robert, Club Vice President. "We're just celebrating that now. We're an independent club from our sponsors at Crystal City Lions and now the Morden Roaring Lions are an official Morden club."
With their ranks sitting at 30 and growing, membership surpassed the required criteria.
"You need to have 21 members or more, you can't have any less than 21 members. If you do, you remain a branch club until you do have sufficient members to make up a permanent club."
Robert reflects on the club's resurgence.
"It's growing because they see the need in the community, and I think our newcomers just really enjoy doing things and volunteering. They do it on their own and they would like to volunteer with everybody else. And so, our Leos are the same way. They just come in; they love Morden so much they just want to get involved. It's a good way to do it."
The Roaring Leos, the youth leg of the organization, has 13 members, 11 of which are very active within the community, noted Robert.
One of the club's ongoing tasks is identifying projects where they can get involved.
Robert shared his idea, to make an accessibility path at Colert Beach, is in the early stages of planning.
"I had put forth another idea for Milne Park, for the beautification and redoing of Milne Park to the city. So, we're just sitting and waiting to see what happens with that. It'll be a major undertaking. We will be doing the signs in Lions Park on Gilmour, and we'll be doing the beautification and the donation has come in to do both of those parks, the signage and to beautify the park a little bit."
Robert says, with more than a hint of pride, members are always ready to volunteer.
"I just talked to Lili Krushel, from the City of Morden, and we will be looking at ways we can help out there too, and Regional Connections the same way. We're always looking for ways to help."
As for future projects, Robert says they are hoping to introduce vision testing and English as an Additional Language into local schools.
Those interested in joining the Lions or Leos will find information and contact details here.
In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, PembinaValleyOnline encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the PembinaValleyOnline app.
With files from Robyn Wiebe