February
6, 2007
Presenting: The Beaches Lions Club –
Celebrating with the Community and Making a Difference
For many decades now the Beaches
Lions Club has been an integral part of the Beach Community
and the driving force behind one of the flagship events: The famous
Beach Easter Parade is an important fixture of the Beach community
calendar every year, an event that draws tens of thousands of people
and provides fun for the whole family. Together with Centre
55 and the Beach Metro
Community News, the Lions Club also recognizes outstanding community
service and awards the Beach Citizen of the Year Award. This was
definitely an organization that I wanted to find out more about.
Talking to the real community experts, I asked Sheila Blinoff and
Carol Stimmell from the Beach Metro Community News who I should
to talk to and they suggested Joe Bordieri, a long-term Beach resident
who has been involved with the Beaches Lions for many years. On
a Tuesday night for which a Director’s Meeting was scheduled
I headed down to the Beaches Lions Club building, located right
next to Ashbridges Bay, just a few meters southwest of the intersection
of Coxwell and Lakeshore Boulevard.
Joe Bordieri shows the Lions Club flag
As people were arriving for the meeting, Joe and I went upstairs
into the club’s meeting room and we sat down so Joe would
be able to give me an overview of the oldest service club in the
Beach. The Beaches Lions was founded in 1935 and Joe explained that
in the “good old days” the club’s main role was
to entertain children, seniors and help anybody in need. Membership
was closed to 80 members from the business community, and between
the 1930s and the 1950s there could only be one member from each
trade or profession.
Internationally the Lions Club also has a proud, long-standing
history. Founded in 1917 by a Chicago business man named Melvin
Jones, the club today has more than 1.3 million members in over
200 countries across the world. Its founder believed that local
business people should broaden their horizons and participate and
contribute to improving their communities and the world in general.
Three years after the club was founded in Chicago, it went international
with the first Lions Club being established in Canada in 1920. From
there the Lions Club expanded internationally throughout Europe,
Africa and Asia. A particularly active time for international expansion
were the 1950s and 1960s.
A Beaches Lions Club directors meeting
In the early years, one of the mottos of the club was that “no
club shall hold out the financial betterment of its members as its
object”. Unselfish service has remained one of the key objectives
of the Lions Club.
A key point in the Lions Club’s history was a speech made
by Helen Keller in 1925 where she challenged Lions to become “knights
of the blind in the crusade against darkness.” Ever since
then Lions clubs have actively dedicated themselves to serve the
blind and visually impaired. Lions Club members are working hard
to end preventable blindness, but they also participate in a wide
variety of community activities.
As part of its dedication to working with the visually impaired,
the Beaches
Lions Club sponsors blind people to work with seeing-eye dogs.
It costs about $8000 to train a seeing-eye dog, and there are two
institutions providing that training: an organization in Oakville,
just an hour outside Toronto, and another one in Oakbrook, Illinois.
The Beaches Lions Club's flagship event: the Toronto Beaches Lions
Club Annual Easter Parade.
Lions clubs have long held an esteemed and highly respected role
in communities across the world. Joe Bordieri, who came to Canada
from Italy more than five decades ago, explained that “in
the old country only the rich and famous” would join the Lions
Club. When he first joined in 1977 he was very enthusiastic. For
many years he worked hard to become the President of the local club
since he always had an interest in the local community.
Creative fundraising ideas were employed over the years. In the
mid-1980s the club would hold fundraisers called “Giant Bingo”
with a $5000 jackpot and more than $20,000 in prizes. Bingo would
be held at the Greenwood Race Track (formerly the Woodbine Racetrack)
for six to eight years. Throughout the 1960s the Lions Clubs would
donate wheelchairs and telephone devices for the deaf. Oil tanks
were being donated to needy families in the 1950s and 1960s. In
1967, the Beaches Lions Club built a Centenary Lions Home for Seniors
at 55 Norway Avenue. The Lions Club managed it for one year and
then donated it to the City of Toronto for one dollar. Over the
years, the Beaches Lions also sponsored a wading pool in Kew Gardens.
This pool is still fully operational today, a fixture since the
1950s.
Another big fundraising event for the Beaches
Lions Club is the Easter Parade, a hugely popular annual event
in the Beach that also features several bands at the Alex Christie
Bandshell at Kew Gardens. Through Loonies for the Lions the public
has the opportunity to contribute to the important causes that the
club supports. During the Canada Day Festival several ten thousand
people attend. Several bands are playing, and the event features
rides for children, and all around entertainment opportunities for
the whole family.
Joe also mentioned that there used to be a Beachfest that the Lions
Club would hold. The promoter of this event was a Lions Member by
the name of Lido Chilelli who also founded the Beaches
Jazz Festival. In addition the Lions Club used to hold a ceremony
called "Citizenship Court" to welcome New Canadians during
Canada Day festivities in the park.
Another big annual event organized by the Beaches Lions Club is
“Christmas in the Park”, which is hosted by Beach celebrity
Glenn Cochrane. This event also
is the occasion of the Christmas Tree Lighting, the official kickoff
of the holiday season. Christmas trees are for sale, run by a Lion
member for the last 12 years.
Joe himself has long-standing connections to the Beach. He was
born in Sicily and came to Canada in 1955. After getting married
he bought Vienna Upholstery in 1964, and he and his wife had five
children. He has been working in the Beach since 1955 and has been
a resident since 1964. Over the years Joe has seen many changes
in the Beach: he said “in the 1950s you could shoot a cannon
across the street, and there would be nobody to react.”
At that time there were a lot of used furniture stores. Joe credits
the revival of the Beach mainly to two people: Lido
Chilelli, the founder of the Toronto International Beaches Jazz
Festival, and Zoltzz (local merchant Harold Wiseman) who opened
his popular fashion discount store “Ends”. Joe added
that people from all over the world come here to enjoy the area,
and from a point a view of living here he said it is the best place
in the city.
I inquired about the procedure for joining the Beaches Lions Club
and Joe said that it is necessary for an existing member to refer
a new member to the club. Presently the Beaches Lions Club has 56
active members. Many of the members are retired professionals and
business people, and the club is able to draw on their decades of
experience. A number of younger members have also joined the club,
and Joe said that the best age for someone to join is “when
they have made it professionally and they have the time to contribute
and give back”.
Joe adds that the members also have a lot of fun together. The
Club has monthly dinner meetings where members get together, socialize,
have fun and talk about club business. He explained that if a member
starts to talk about their business, a so-called “tail-twister”
will fine them. The fining of course is just for fun, but it illustrates
that the dedicated purpose of the club is service, not self-promotion.
Joe added that business relationships happen automatically as members
get to know one another.
The Beaches
Lions Club is a collection of individuals who come together
to make a difference, and its special events are treasured fixtures
in the community calendar. The Lions Club motto is “Many people
can do what one person is unable to do alone”, and the Beaches
Lions Club is a perfect example of this spirit.
Related Articles:
Celebrate Toronto
- An article series to celebrate my chosen home town
Gene Domagala - A human convenience
store of charity and community involvement in Toronto's Beach
Arie Nerman & the Beach Hebrew Institute:
The People's Synagogue
Vivetha Bistro: A popular spot
with eclectic food
Glenn Cochrane - Media
personality, author and expert fundraiser – a champion of
the Beach for almost 40 years
Michelle Gebhart: A
true Renaissance woman: from army brat to expert renovator, biker
lady, successful restaurateur & dedicated youth volunteer
Michael Prue: A working class success
story - from Regent Park to Queens Park
Alex Winch & the
Beach Solar Laundromat – Unstoppable when it comes to championing
renewable energy & innovative entrepreneurship
Mary Lee: A restaurant owner with a heart
for the arts
Marie Perrotta from the Pegasus
Community Project reaches for the stars
Burgie and Benedetta from the Konditor
coffeehouse create Austrian delicacies in Toronto's Beach
Bob Murdoch from Community Centre
55 - 25 years of community service in the Beach
Steve and Paul from Accommodating
the Soul B&B: hospitality with a personal touch
John Dowding: A private lesson in
photography from a true master
Lucille Crighton: A textile
arts Hall of Famer in Toronto's Beach
Lido Chilelli: Founder
of the Toronto International Beaches Jazz Festival
Fire Station 227: History, heroism
and local connections in the Beach
The Green Eggplant: Healthy Mediterranean
food and big solid portions
The Balmy Beach Club - Legend
by the Lake & Toronto's best-kept secret
The Garden Gate Restaurant a.k.a. "The
Goof" - Good food in the Beach since 1952
Ralph Noble: Firefighter,
lifesaver and creator of the most famous mural in the Beach –
a noble man indeed
Sandra Bussin
- City Councillor and Deputy Mayor shows me her neighbourhood
The Toronto Beach Rotary Club:
Service above Self and the joys of volunteering
The Beaches Lions
Club: Charity and community projects in the Beach since 1935
The Beach Business
Improvement Area: A general overview of the Beach and the merchants
and activities on Queen Street East
Maria Minna:
An Italian-Canadian immigrant story and a life-long fight for social
justice
The Beach Metro Community
News: Much more than just the news
The Kingston Road Business Community:
A neighbourhood undergoing revitalization and an integral part of
the Beach
Andrew Smith and Rachel Howard:
Creative entrepreneurs and dedicated community builders
Nevada's Ristorante: Where
hospitality is a family affair
Maria Minna: Another neighbourhood
walk and talk and discoveries along Queen Street East
St. Aidan's Church:The spirit of charity
in the Beach comes full circle
Gene Domagala takes me on a history
tour of the eastern and northern part of the Beach - a perfect day
of discovery
The Beaches Library: A centre
of learning for all ages
A walk along Kingston Road:
A shopping district definitely worth a visit
55 Division: Serving and protecting
- community policing in action
|