Prue carefully noted our welcome to visiting guests: our Guiding Lions Alan and Corinne Ashburner from Mid-Tyne Lions Club,, and then a contingent form Peterlee & District: 14 in total! And us feeling relatively zonked after the big party!
Nevertheless, we had business to attend to, and with such a set of visiting guests, we had to make a good effort, didn’t we? So we set to on our regular agenda of important items: Community Service; Fund Raising; Fellowship. Last but not least came Any Other Business.
Community Service: Nigel is committed to progressing the Clean the Dene concept in the spring.
Fund Raising: The Fawside Foundation shared with the Allendale Lions Club in a special auction the day after Charter Night, which raised £1300 that will go a long way to sustaining our mutually compatible community activities. Margaret explained to our visitors what Fawside means to Allendale. Meanwhile, plans for the Allendale Fair are taking shape; the Fair could possibly be a fund raiser in and of itself, but in the run-up perhaps another band/disco event, in addition to the Karaoke Heats leading up to the Fair, could raise much-needed capital. A combination of band/disco and Buzzcock’s event on the 7th of May might work very well to build funds for the fair. Sue Mills and Margaret Stonehouse are expecting to hold a Ceilidh later in the year to raise money for the Youth Project, and Larry Winger has booked the Russian Quartet for early September, at which Maggie Shearer might well organise a Russian menu for the night. Another suggestion was made of a jazz dinner dance. It must have felt, to our visitors, like we make our entertainment pay twice over, here in Allendale!
Fellowship: Foremost among the proposals coming forward was the Cumbrian Way Walk, which Julie and David Humes had firmly in hand, with hotels and campsites booked. Meanwhile, Maggie has another idea for an African curry night, as well as a recycling of the weather-interrupted pub quiz to be held on Sunday the 25th of April. Nigel is hoping to bring a television producer to one of our meetings, to chat about her profession, and Maggie is hoping to engage in some team building exercises at Diggerland in the Autumn.
Any Other Business: Larry announced two more upcoming music events: FolkEstra North (young talented folk musicians) this Saturday, and a return of the Snake Davis Band the Saturday after. In recognition of the support and camaraderie from other Lions Clubs, we all agreed that we must make a special effort to venture forth to their special events as well.
Oh, and Elsie Eye‘s toast, of course. No doubt there was a lot of enthusiastic chat in the bar downstairs after the meeing, but these conversations don’t get minuted, of course! Trevor Newman reminds me, however, that we were a famous club, launching with 41 charter members, and no doubt we were a focus of some buzz across the northern Lions Clubs about the good that can come of people banding together to serve their community,.