About Us

Ormeau Lions Club - Dedicated To Building A Better Community

A look at the history of Ormeau Lions Club

Progress, Development and a commitment to growing the local community sums out precisely the goals and history of the Ormeau Lions Club and who better to give background information on the club than one of its original charter members - Barry Mcgrath.

I would like to give you a small insight into the club from its beginnings

When I first moved here Peachey Road was only developed up to Vaughan Drive roundabout, however, as the Estate Manager of Old Ormeau Town, selling land like crazy, we realised that a huge influx of families would be moving into the area. A local man, Brien Harris & his wife Mona Harris, would come into my office each day and we would chat and solve local and world problems.

Ormeau Was Growing Rapidly

A major challenge that Ormeau faced in the early days was the rapid growth of young families moving in with little to no planning for recreational areas for the youth. Between Brien, Mona and myself we came up with the idea to form a sports club and call it the Ormeau Citizens Sports Club O.C.S.C.

A letter was sent to Col Kleinsmidt of the Albert Shire Council  with an application for a preliminary lease of one year for the oval, and then to call a public meeting , enabling a club to be formed. A very favourable reply was received, however on speaking to some of the locals they were not in favour of committing themselves to a sports club.

Grand Visions Rejected - Back to the Drawing Board

Back to the drawing board. We then decided perhaps the Progress Association would be a good vehicle, as this had been operating for sometime. We called a meeting of the locals again and put the suggestion to them, they agreed, and off we went to the Annual General Meeting. This turned out to be a disaster as they felt we were joining to take them over.

Finally The Breakthrough We Were Looking For

Next suggestion came from  Brien Harris, he knew a good man who was a hardware manager and he was in the Lions Club and spoke very highly of the organization.   We contacted him and invited him to a meeting and at that point we discovered he was the new incoming District Governor. A meeting of the anxious locals was again called at our little sales office on the corner of Doherty and Peachey and to our surprise we had a great crowd.

Ormeau Lions Club - Born Friday 6th December 1991 to a Capacity Crowd
 
This was a goer. Further meetings were held at Brien and Mona’s home to discuss the formation and so the Ormeau Lions Club was born Friday 6th December, l991 at the Beenleigh Show Hall. We had around 250 guests.

Our club, one of the first in Qld to accept women as full members, consisted of a wide range of local business people including, builders, accountants, sales people, trades, engineers, just to name a few, bent on building a better Ormeau.

Tragedy Struck - Our Visionary Passed Away

Our dinner meetings were held a Brien and Mona's home until Brien became ill, in 1992 and sadly passed away a few months later, he was and still is sadly  missed. The dinner meetings then, apart from a few short stints at various local establishments, were held at our home until the tavern opened.

Since we chartered in 1991 we have been involved in numerous fund raising activities including:

• We have run Sunday Markets for approx 3 years;
• Bingo nights monthly around the verandas of old shopping centre, for a few years;
• Collected for Cancer appeal at the roundabout;
• Ran baby shows;
• Great Trivia nights were held at the Woongoolba Hall;
• Youth exchange involvement each year with dedicated helpers;
• Collected recycled reading glasses;
• We ran a food van at the Markets after restoring it to council approval;
• We were also Involved with a Lions health expo at the Hyperdome for three years;
• Beautified the original roundabout and park areas of the roadside by planting and mulching over 1000 trees in conjunction with Greening Australia;
• Provided over 50 blankets to 'Youth in Search'. There were hand crocheted by volunteers,(these camps take troubled youth, many homeless, away to learn how to like and love themselves, often these blankets` are the only present they have know, something that’s theirs` alone, not handed down);
• Sold Christmas Cakes galore;
• Operated Driver Reviver with the assistance of local volunteers for the past fourteen years;
• Hundreds of sausage sizzles
• Keep Australia Beautiful campaigns at various locations;
• Stocklands sales promotions; and
• Movies in the Park not to mention our weekly events at the local IGA.

Our Biggest Fund Raiser To Date

Our biggest fund raiser is the Ormeau Fair and we are celebrating our 4th year in 2010. It started small and now it has turned into a 2 day family fun weekend and each year it is growing bigger and bigger.

We have also been heavily involved in providing financial and physical assistance to locals including:

• Purchasing a wheelchair for a local youth;
• Repairing a ride on mower and lawn cutting after a woman lost her husband;
• Providing food for a local family whose father died; and
• Providing special equipment for a child with cerebral palsy

In addition we have contributed financially to the following organisations on a small and large scale:

• Medical research;
• Miss Personality;
• Drug Arm;
• Qld Cancer appeal;
• Cord Blood;
• Diabetes Foundation;
• Lions Foundation;
• Bushfire appeal;
• Flood Relief;
• Drought Relief Appeal;
• Purchased blackout curtains for Media room at Pimpama School; and
• Financial donations to purchase books for library at Livingstone college, Ormeau Primary school, Pimpama and Coomera Primary.

An amount of $8,000 was donated to various organizations in the last half of the year alone in 2006.

A Close-Nit Group of Dedicated People

Membership numbers have risen and fallen over this period of time with people moving and being involved with other family activities, however, we are still here and solely for the betterment of the community. 

We do have a lot of fun along the way and meet some very interesting characters and make friends with people you would never have the opportunity to meet. Mona Harris and myself are the only two original charter members in the club, however we have a great membership of willing, vibrant, caring humans who want to make this world a better place.

Can You Help Us Grow And Build A Stronger Local Community?

If you would like to assist in anyway and become involved in the exciting work we do to grow our local community then please contact Norm Jessen on 0411 64 55 20 or go to the Contact Us section on this site.

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