When we were forty strong, and many things were so different, it seemed that the status quo would continue for years ahead. The club did continue, of course, but there was a gradual attrition, and as I look over the list of members back when Margaret Stonehouse was running the Golden Lion with Michael, I can see who has departed, and who is still with us.
So this is a useful document not only for the heartfelt thanks to an in-house proprietor, but also as a record of the club’s growth. Indeed, this exercise, this ongoing social history of the Allendale Lions Club, may prove to be a kind of valuable primary source, decades hence.
I’ve always thought that like individual lives, there is waxing and waning of organisations, times for frantic effort, and time to chill and recoup. If this little blog helps to trace this process, it may be an intriguing pointer to the future as well.