EXTRAORDINARY MILESTONE

Lion Fred Bull has become the first member of the Malvern Lions Club to reach the extraordinary milestone of serving the Club for fifty years. He joined the club in 1972, approximately one year after the Club was chartered in September 1971, and has given distinguished service to the Club and community ever since. In addition, many locals will have appreciated his attendance at many events during that time, with his trusty bagpipes. Fred recalls that in the earlier years, the Malvern Club had a strict dress code of suit and tie for all formal meetings, and that the Club’s income was significantly less than it is today, until two extra very valuable projects were introduced, namely pea straw sales and catering at community events. Thereafter, donations and grants provided by the club increased significantly. He also recalls cutting broom and other scrub, with heavy slashers and axes, from a campsite beside the Hawkins River at Annat. During those days a scrap metal drive was also held throughout the area, with the aim of providing the first ambulance for our district. Old tractors, machinery and other metal was gathered from a vast area and carted on Club members’ trucks to the rail siding in Darfield, where gas torches were used to split the metal into smaller pieces to maximise the amount of metal on each wagon.

A very special feature of Fred’s earlier years in Lions, was the first car rally held by several Lions clubs to raise funds for Camp Quality, the organisation which holds annual camps at Governor’s Bay for children suffering from cancer and related illnesses. The vehicles Malvern Lion members travelled in included the late George Wright’s Rolls Royce, which Fred suggested was uninsured at the time. George apparently even allowed other members to drive it on the rally. Another present Lion Trevor Taege, put significant time into organising the Club’s fundraising strategy, which involved the Malvern vehicles arriving at each town on the route first, and taking the collection buckets through the main streets, which proved a winning strategy. Meanwhile, they would then proceed to the next stop on route and repeat the collecting. The ‘Rolls’ was accompanied by a suitably, cleverly named campervan, ‘Gold Dredge’, in which the funds collected at the previous town were counted and processed prior to repeating the exercise after the following town was canvassed. The next collection was therefore ready to begin at subsequent towns.

Lion Fred recalls climbing over three hundred steps in Queenstown to visit a sole business on the summit of a hill. His trouble proved very worthwhile when the owner tipped a jug carrying more than 3,000 dollars into his collection bag. The various clubs taking part raised over $41,000 from their efforts, of which Malvern’s share was $21,000. The Club continues to support Camp Quality annually by donation and by helping at annual camps. Catering and pea straw still remain key fundraisers for the Club. Fred recalls the Club’s catering beginning with a small ‘Fleet Wing’ caravan suitably named ‘Peanut’. Fred concluded by stressing that Lions has been ‘a lot of fun’ with a great team of colleagues, ‘the only problem is that the years have gone far too quickly’.

Brian Davidson.