Pakeke Lions celebrate 40th
Looking back on club’s many achievements
Te Awamutu Pakeke Lions Club celebrated its 40th birthday recently and took time to look back on its achievements. The club was formed in September 1981 under the oversight of Te Awamutu Lions Club, and chartered in March 1982 with 33 members.
Although some of the members were transfers from Te Awamutu Lions, many, including inaugural president Wim van Dongen, were not.
One of the earliest decisions made was that wives would be invited to meetings every second month.
Women could become members in their own right from the early 90s and the first member joined in 1996.
After this the club went from strength to strength.
In 1983 the club donated talking books to Tokanui Hospital and constructed picnic tables in the Rose Gardens.
In 1984 a clothes drier was donated to Tokanui Hospital.
The following year members sprayed weeds and then planted trees in the new Centennial Park off Rewi St. Lion Frank Mason was said to have selected and then placed almost every tree in this park.
In 1987 the club took over running the Christmas Stocking Raffle from Te Awamutu Lions. This was a large Christmas stocking made out of netting with a pipe frame.
That year prizes donated by local businesses included a BMX bike and an outboard motor. The club is ever
grateful for the ongoing support shown by local businesses for this raffle.
The stocking reached the end of its life in 1995 and so from 1996 we used the sleigh which is still in use today.
All funds raised from this raffle is donated to local charitable groups — about $5000 to $8000 in a normal year. Unfortunately, last year the club could not hold the raffle due to Covid, so the amounts donated had to be reduced.
In 1992 a plaque was placed in the Te Awamutu i-Site Centre courtyard to mark the 10 year anniversary.
In 1998, the club numbered letterboxes throughout the town because of the new numbering system adopted by council.
The club's 25th anniversary was marked in 2006 — a seat was installed across the road from Te Awamutu War Memorial Park.
Tree planting began at Pirongia Forest Park Lodge in 1996 after Te Awamutu Lions organised the district convention. A total of 18 Pakeke Lions were remembered at this site up to 2005, also many others from the zone.
From 2006 memorial trees in remembrance of deceased members have been planted at the Empson farm at Pō kuru. Since then a total of 33 Pakeke Lions have had a tree planted in their remembrance, plus many more from other local Lions clubs. A service of dedication is held each May.
Many awards have been presented over the last 40 years, including 29 Lloyd Morgan Honoured Memberships, two Lloyd Morgan Life Memberships, Melvin Jones Awards, two Club Life Memberships and nine President's Awards for Meritorious Service.
The club would like to carry on raising money for local charities and helping with charitable collections for another 40 years.
To this end they welcome more members (aged 55 and over) to carry the banner. Pakeke has a meaning of “respected elder” in te reo.
The club meets once a month for a luncheon and fellowship, usually with a guest speaker. There is also a board meeting, open to all members, two weeks before the luncheon meeting to cover any business.
Anyone interested in Pakeke Lions can contact Nick Bartosiak, 021 1822470; Lloyd Anderson, 871 6060; Shirley Grey, 871 6959.