SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2024
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OUR PEOPLE, OUR COMMUNITIES, OUR STORIES
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 6
Albert County Exhibition continues to thrive
Q&A Colleen Furlotte
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8
Salisbury projects come full circle
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Riverview Lions Club Community Centre is at the heart of the community
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t all started in 1960 in the former K&P Hall on Pine Glen Road where the Riverview Lions Club first met after receiving its charter in March of that year. In 1975 the club moved into a two-room schoolhouse at 701 Coverdale Road in Riverview, which has been its home ever since – albeit with more than a few additions and improvements. Renovations and expansion began in 1981; a series of additional renovations over the years culminated in 2024 in a half-million-dollar modernization project that will allow the club to expand on its already broad range of services. What had been a two-room schoolhouse is today a large, modern meeting hall and versatile community facility. President Mike Stone says this latest round of renovations, financed partly through grants and partly through fundraising, will ensure the building is in good shape for at least another thirty years. The facility does much more than host club events and fundraisers – including its signature fundraiser, a Wednesday evening bingo. Rental of the Riverview
Lions Community Centre is itself a community service, in that non-profit organizations and charities can use the facility at reduced fees. That allows those organizations to keep more of their fundraising dollars for the good work they also do in the community. The club’s website notes, “the Riverview Lions Community Centre has over 700 bookings a year and we are proud that 90% of our guests use the centre at reduced/free rent. The centre is more than a building, it is a place to feel welcome, to share stories, to find peace and hope,” and that reduced-fee rentals “save local non-profit and community groups thousands of dollars a year in rental costs.” The Riverview Lions Club directly supports a broad range of community outreach and service, as well as helping other non-profit groups through use of the centre. Just some of those causes include pancake breakfasts that serve as fundraisers for various causes, delivery of food boxes at Christmas, eyeglass collection for countries in need, cribbage nights in support
Club communications lead Darryl Tozer, secretary Kathy Belliveau, and President Mike Stone display the facility’s modern signage.
of diabetes research, and hosting of Town of Riverview events. All of the club’s activities are managed by volunteers. President Stone, Darryl Tozer, who manages the club’s communications, and club secretary Kathy Belliveau, emphasize that the building is busy almost continuously and supports much of the work that the club does. For example, says Stone, “we have a pancake breakContinued on page 3
The Lions club signature fundraiser is its regular Wednesday bingo, one of Riverview’s most popular events.