They were lured into the Lions den by appealing to their sense of community and now, 50 years later, they were being recognized for their contributions to the betterment of Estevan.
Al Senchuk and John Fowler were honoured by the Estevan and District Lions Club on the night of Nov. 22 with a gala supper meeting that was attended by close to 100 members and guests in the Nicholson Centre, a facility that was built with Lions money and involvement.
Lions president Jake Dyck was joined by District Governor Dennis Becker of Burstall, Sask., and International Director Marvin Chambers from Fillmore in honouring the two men who were recipients of special plaques of recognition for their long-term dedication to the Lions' ideals of public service.
"Dan Claypool talked me into coming to my first meeting and I decided to stay because I could see value in Lions," said Senchuk.
"So many things happen in our community and when I consider all the things we've been involved in, it's been rewarding. I can recall working at the first race track in the food concession, then I was the secretary-treasurer, did some additional work as tail twister and was on the visitation committee, zone chairman for awhile, went to an international convention in Las Vegas, it's been a great experience," said Senchuk.
"John Barabash brought me in," said Fowler, who said he was attracted to the club at first "because I had a terrible time getting up in front of anybody to say anything. Hard to imagine, eh? But it was so true back then. I took some Toastmasters' programs and I knew that if I continued going to Lions, they would call on me to get up and speak, get up and do things, so I knew I had to stay with it and everybody gave me a little bit of time to get adjusted and it worked."
"Somebody has to do the volunteer work in the community and Lions do some of it," said Senchuk.
"The community needs the Lions and the Lions need the community," added Fowler.
The local club that received its charter in 1957 has a current active membership of 28, which has remained pretty steady for the past few years.
"We're getting younger members now, and we'll keep them as long as we let them do their community work in the manner in which they are used to working. They understand about the needs here, they just may want to go about it differently than we used to," said Senchuk.
"We need to allow them to do it their way," said Fowler.
Asked if he had taken on any additional offices over the years, Fowler said he had, including being the club president for a couple of years.
"But to tell you the truth, I was probably the worst president they ever had. I wasn't much of a leader back then. I definitely wanted to help, but not necessarily lead, but again, you do what you can when you're a volunteer," he said in conclusion.
