Club History

Newspaper articles about the club over the years:

[wowslider id="8"]

[from an article celebrating our 35th anniversary]

Kanata –Hazeldean Lions

35 Years of Service

Kanata, June 12, 2012 – A quick trivia question. What do the Lions and George Lucas have in common?  Well, in May, 1977 Mr. Lucas took a chance with a low-budget Sci-Fi action picture that went on to do very well, we are told. And in May 1977 (the 7th to be exact) a group of young men took a chance on a community service organization, the “Hazeldean Lions Club” that has done very well indeed. Just ask the Kanata residents and agencies who have benefitted from the $750, 000, or so, raised for them by the Lions and from the thousands of hours of labour provided by the Lions and their colleagues, the Lioness Club, now merged together into one strong association.

The Lions believe in the concrete, the incremental, the “we’re not big, but we’re small”. They’ve quietly made their mark on our community by raising money in labour-intensive ways ( bingo’s, euchre’s, pancake breakfasts)  and by using the power of perspiration ( e.g. the “old farts” who personally built the addition to the Lions’ Den – the locale of thousands of parties, programs and meetings).

Just to give you a feel for this variety of ventures, some examples from years past:

  • 1977: first donation made by the Club, to send the Scouts to the Jamboree in Prince Edward Island ( The Scouts continue to be strong partners of the Lions)
  • 1979: ran the second annual pet show and soap box derby
  • 1981: re-located the trailer that ad been the Hazeldean Library and made it the site of the present Lion Dick Brule community Centre
  • 1985: Donated $3000 to the Queensway-Carleton Hospital for a defibrillator, $4000 to the leader dog school in Oakville, a community service of the OPP
  • 1986 (the year we incorporated): donated a pitching machine to the Kanata Little League and began a continuing partnership with the Community Resource Centre
  • 1987: Expanded the Lions Community centre by more than 40 square metres at a cost of $24000
  • 1988: funded the Kanata Fire Department booklet “After the fire, what to do”
  • 1990: Purchased Sparky the Fire Dog, a robotic dog for teaching fire safety
  • Purchased a community service van for Sparky, donated $18,500 to QCH.
  • 1992: Donated $28,000 for the purchase of a 15 passenger van for the community resource centre; committed $15,000 over five years for the expansion of Canine Vision Canada facilities, which supplies dog guides for the hearing, visually and physically impaired.
  • 1994: Co-ordinates parking at the regional ploughing match
  • 1995: Held the first auction of stolen property and raised $4500 for community policing services.
  • 1995: donated $2000 toward a chair lift for the seniors’ home on Penfield Drive.
  • 1996: Marshalled the Kanata Holiday Parade (been doing it for years!); donated $5000 to the Lions Home for Deaf People1998: Renovated the Dick Brule Centre, converted to natural gas heating and installed air conditioning.
  • 2000: Provided a home for the Kanata Youth Centre, which is now used by “the Zone” from WOCRC and the “Kanata Youth Haven Centre”.
  • 2001: Walk-a-Dog-a-thon raised $5865 for the Lions guide Dog School.
  • 2002: Gold sponsor of Kanata Canada Day Celebrations.
  • 2003: Started community bingos in the Lions Den.
  • 2005: Operated a BBQ at Sobey’s, a fundraiser for the Makenna Mackie trust fund. Supported the Kanata Terry fox Run.
  • 2006 Co-sponsored the Community Lights tour. Donated $1500 to various community youth, health and welfare requests.

Lions like events and programs that bring them face-to-face with neighbours who need their help, Whether it’s a wheelchair for a senior, a vision device for a young adult or a paint job for a youth centre, the Lions are there – because they want to be. Really, holding a euchre for 20 people is not going to bring home a lot of proceeds, but it’s fun and people enjoy it!

Lions have distinguished themselves in the community in many ways. Charter Lion Tom Flood served as a City of Kanata Councillor and won the 2005 Good Corporate Citizen Award at the Kanata Chamber of Commerce.

Charter Lion Graham Ball won the inaugural City of Ottawa Senior Citizen of the Year award in 2002.  Lion Peggy Feltmate, of course, was our councilor in Kanata for two terms.

Que sera?

As we step out into our 36th year we can look back with a lot of satisfaction. Many of our members have passed and we think of them often, and their contribution to Lionism and the community. New members have come on board and have really provided value-added. But the question has to be – will we attract enough new blood to keep the ship afloat?

As is the case with many service clubs there seems to be a culture shift in communities that keeps young people away from the type of work we do. Some would say that the “new generation” is not committed, or worse. We don’t believe that. We know that young people are getting involved in all kinds of ways – either by helping person-to-person or by forming their own ad hoc projects deal with community needs. It’s our job to make our kind of service relevant to our younger neighbours –  to find ways to help them feel that they are in control of the planning and implementation of what we do.

This will be our challenge in the next five years, and beyond – not to make community service relevant but to show how it already is. We invite the community to become involved – to continue to demonstrate how “We serve”.

In the meantime we have kept on trucking. Here are some of the relevant things we have been doing lately:

2007

Club celebrated its 30th Anniversary and donated $3,000.00 to three local charities – Kanata Food Cupboard, Western Ottawa Community Resource Centre and the Kanata Youth Centre. Club donated bingo machine to seniors home in Kanata.  $5,000.00 went to pay for cataract surgery for a Lions parent who was not a resident of Canada. $2,000.00 to Lions Sight First Project. Supported  the Terry Fox Run, Walk for Lions Guide Dogs, assisted the RCMP Musical Ride with donation collections. Club administered the Steven Grant Fund (money raised by CFRA) for the Grant Family. Leo Club active and running bingos for a local seniors  residence. Sponsored Lions Square Dance Club, $500.00 went to the Ronald McDonald Hockey Tournament. Attended and donated to the Queensway Carleton Hospital Golf Tournament. Collected and distributed boxes of books to the Guyana book project, supported BAIT (blind  anglers fishing tournament ). Lion Eric Russell received the Lion John Dunning Award for the Best Web Site in District A4. Lion Todd Sloan received a Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Ottawa. President’s Award went to Lion Tom Flood and Lion of the Year Award given to Lion Graham Ball; Judge Brian Stevens Award went to Lion Jack Richmond and Helen Keller award received by Lion Pearl Brule.

2008

Club hosted the Kanata Santa Claus Parade collecting $ 3,300.00 and more than two tons of food for the Kanata Food Cupboard. Purchased shed for $2,400.00 for storage of club items. Sponsored First Glen Cairn Scouting Group and supplied 100 small Lions badges to new recruits in the 1st Glen Cairn Scout Troop. Kanata Scouts continued to assist in making of outdoor rinks. Bingo and sale of Christmas cakes were ongoing fund raisers. Club donated $3,000.00 to Sight First, hosted Kanata Winter Carnival and Participated in Cleaning the Capital Campaign. Lion Nevil Hunt won the Ontario Community Newspaper Association’s Award for Best Photo Feature. Club purchased large screen TV with cable box and DVD for The Lion Dick Brule Community Centre at a cost of $2,000.00. Club continued to administer the Steven Grant Fund.

2009

Club hosted District A4 Effective Speaking Contest, Walk for Guide Dogs, Santa Claus Parade, Winter Carnival and assisted in collecting of donations at the RCMP Musical Ride. Bingos successful after introduction of the toonie game. Lions Peggy and Tom Feltmate volunteered at the Belize City Eye Clinic and took several thousand pairs of eye glasses with them for distribution. Club Donated $800.00 to the Scouts. Kanata youth Centre closed after 8 years of operation. Leo Club was disbanded. Lion Jack Richmond and Scouts maintained outdoor rink. Lion Peter flew to Oakville to attend Lions Guide Dog School and returned with his new guide dog Zeus. Lion John Maxwell passed away and is greatly missed. Club donated  $1,500.00 to St. Martin de Porres School to support the No Child Without program.  Any child requiring a medical alert bracelet over the next 5 years will receive one free.

2010

Club hosted annual Santa Claus Parade, Winter Carnival, Effective Speaking Contest and Lion Peggy Feltmate Chaired District Event. Club assisted Barrhaven Lions selling Xmas Trees. Christmas cake sales generated profit of more than $700.00,  Club donated $500.00 to Adopt-A-Family Program of the Kanata Food Cupboard. The family consisted of mom, dad and eight children. Club donated $1,000.00 to the Haiti Relief Fund and  $500.00 to the Philippine Relief Fund. Lion Bill Switzer volunteered at  the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Club donated  $1500.00 to the child and youth programs at the Community Resource Centre and $1,000.00 to Canada Day Celebrations. Lion Peter won a  medal in the Blind Curling Championship in Kitchener. Club renovated the kitchen at the Lion Dick Brule Community Centre at a cost of $28,000.00. Club applied for a Charitable Foundation status. City installed defibrillator at the Lion Dick Brule Community Centre.

2011

Santa Claus Parade collected $3,800.00 in cash and 4,000 lbs of food for the Kanata Food Cupboard. Club assisted a local resident with the purchase of a special van lift. Renovations completed to the Lion Dick Brule Community Centre basement because of flood damage. Provided space to the Western Ottawa Community Resource Centre to hold their seniors programs while their building was being renovated.

Joined the Kanata Chamber of Commerce.  A new youth centre, the Haven, opened in the basement of the Lion Dick Brule Community Centre. Sponsored the 1st Glen Cairn Scouts for $800.00. Donated $1,000.00 to the Japanese earthquake victims through Lions International. Leos disbanded (2009), subsequently $2,000.00 from the Leo’s account transferred to Lions Project  Account. Donated $1,000.00 pairs of eye glasses to a Guyana eye clinic. Held a successful winter carnival and donated $1,000.00 to the Queensway Carleton Hospital Golf Tournament. Lion Peter and Zeus raised $650.00 at Saunders Farm for the Guide Dog Program. Lion Peter took part in the Blind Curlers Bonspiel. Lion Tom Feltmate was awarded the Lion Fred Chapman District Secretary award.

_________________________________________________

Further years of service

2012

The Club began providing elementary school students (who have parental permission) with testing to assess visual acuity, as well as depth and colour perception.

Kids who indicate problems are referred back to parents with a recommendation to consult a vision professional. In our first two years of operation, we  visited eleven Schools and tested more than 200 children.

2013

Lion Naomi Nakamura inaugurated her very popular “Scrap-booking” sessions, hosting 20 -25 residents for Saturdays of fun crafts, fellowship and good food.  The events have been a mainstay of our local services and a source of revenue for our community projects.

The Club began active consideration of major projects for the coming five years and onwards.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.