The Flin Flon Lion Ls roar no more.
The women’s service organization has quietly folded, ending a nearly 60-year legacy.
“We just didn’t have the numbers anymore,” said long-time member Rena Poirier.
“Some people have left here, some people have passed away and it’s harder to get younger members.”
Declining membership had been the writing on the wall for the Lion Ls, forcing them to scale back their initiatives.
“It [got] harder and harder to do anything because we didn’t have the numbers,” said Poirier.
In recent years the club no longer actively fundraised, opting instead to spend dollars already accumulated.
The club’s signature project became supplying hundreds of corsages for guests at the Rotary Club’s yearly Seniors’ Christmas Party.
With just nine members left, even that became too difficult. At the Seniors’ Christmas Party last November, after supplying one last batch of corsages, the Lion Ls formally announced their demise.
Chartered
This year would have marked the 60th anniversary of the Lion Ls. The club was chartered on Oct. 17, 1955 with a membership of 27 women.
Initially intended for wives of Lions Club members, the Lion Ls provided support for their sister organization.
“Lion Ls assist the Lions Club in several major canvasses conducted throughout each year,” noted the 1974 book Flin Flon, “and have joined together in support of projects such as a tea and fashion show, a ladies gym club, and other events for the public and the club membership to enjoy.”
Independent of the Lions Club, the Lion Ls forged their own proud tradition of community service.
In their early years, the Lion Ls made donations ranging from a copying machine for a vocational program to a set of encyclopedias for the library.
They also launched a student loan program for young women to further their education, and treated Aboriginal children to movies and treats.
In the 1960s, the club spearheaded a proposal for an indoor swimming pool in Flin Flon, calling a meeting of various groups to discuss the concept and form committees.
As the years went by, the Lion Ls, like many volunteer organizations in the area, found it increasingly difficult to maintain a viable membership.
Not only did Flin Flon’s population gradually decline, the spirit of volunteerism that had permeated the community began to dim.
When Poirier joined the Lion Ls about 40 years ago, there were about three times as many members as the nine on board when the club folded.
By that time most members were no longer wives of Lions Club members, but that was hardly a concern.
“For the last number of years, our reason for being, really, was friendship,” said Poirier.
Final business
As a final order of business, the former Lion Ls must still agree on how to donate the small amount of money left in the club’s bank account.
Those decisions will be made once the entire former membership – Poirier, Sissel Hvidsten, Madalean Stevens, Irene Young, Sally Popp, Carol Mansell, Poomi Sethi, Linda Hinzman
and Diane Javorsky – can meet again.
As for the future of the ladies’ volunteerism, another women’s service group, the Inner Wheel Club, has invited the former Lion Ls to join their organization.
Though the Lion Ls no longer exist, Poirier said the former members will continue to gather regularly for supper.
“We’ve all been in the club for quite a number of years, so it [would] seem kind of strange not to,” she said.
