Page 32 - Phonebox Magazine October 2015

Newport Pagnell and Olney Lions Club
Getting Ready for our Busy Season
The next few months see the club members and friends being involved in many activities within the two towns as the Festive Season approaches.
Probably the most enjoyable task we do is to give a small Christmas Gift to around 300 of the more mature members of our communities. This is something we have been doing for more years that any of us care to remember but a task which demonstrates the true meaning of being a Lion.
It is also one of the major fundraising periods for the club and with Dickens of a Christmas comes our three Craft Fayres. This event really stretches our resources as three sites require setting up, manning during the day and breaking down at the end. We are out from around 6.00am until after 5.00pm, something we couldn’t do without the support of our friends group, folks who want to help us out but do not have any aspirations for membership. A number of them come along for an hour or two which gives us the opportunity for a welcome break.
Our two calendars will be on sale from around mid October and members will be manning sales points at the weekly Olney and Newport Pagnell Markets on the lead up to Christmas. We will also be found at Dickens of a Christmas and the Newport Pagnell Christmas Lights Switch on. At only £5 each, they make perfect gifts for friends and relatives both at home and overseas. Pop into the Olney centre to see our display of the photos sent to us as entries for the competition which we run for the Olney Calendar and please, make sure you get your calendar early as stocks will be limited. All work and no play, the saying goes, makes us dull boys and girls so to compensate for the impending seasons activities, we and our friends will be celebrating 2015 when we have our annual Christmas Meal. Where this will be is a mystery – well at the time of writing, it is. We will certainly be in one of our local restaurants, but which one? Still to be decided.
Big Thank You to BOFF visitors
We were granted a licence by Milton Keynes council to hold a street collection in Olney on the same day as BOFF and a big thanks to everyone who dropped a coin or two in our collecting cans.
Unfortunately we didn’t have as many folks collecting as we would have liked so you may 32 Phonebox Magazine
have missed us despite our Hi Viz jackets. We still collected almost £200 which will enable us to make a donation to the BOFF charity, Ride for Willen, with the balance going into our own charity account.
Local Lions club talks a load of mincemeat
The club we are referring to is Stony Stratford Lions Club and no, we are not being disrespectful, on the contrary.
Our friends at Stony Stratford arranged a dinner meeting recently and this featured Michael Kushner, a guide at Bletchley Park, the famous Code Breaking Centre of WW2. Michael, who gives a range of talks about Intelligence activities during the conflict, was giving a presentation about ‘Operation Mincemeat’, the incredible true story about a British Intelligence plan to deceive the Axis Powers into thinking the allied invasion of Sicily would take place elsewhere.
The story is probably better known through the film, ‘The Man Who Never Was,’ but with the release of previously classified information, Michael was able to give a much more detailed insight into the story and dispel some of the ‘scriptwriters licence’.
A fascinating evening attended by some of our club and our friends group which was enjoyed by all.
Lions Shoot at Rushden
No large cats, no dentist but plenty of Lions took part in Rushden and District Lions Club annual Charity Clay shoot at Rushden.
A number of our club and friends group went
along for what turned out to be a great days ‘entertainment’ as we fired our shotguns at a range of airborne clays and the odd ‘rabbit’ which rolled along the ground at an amazing speed. To be honest, more often than not, the shot did more damage to the air than the clay but who cared, we had a great afternoon trying a sport which few of us had any previous experience of.
Finished off with a BBQ, a good cup of strong coffee with homemade cake and the knowledge that our efforts raised a lot of money for the Brain Tumour Charity made it a day we look forward to repeating next year.
And Finally
If you know of anyone who may need help or support from the local Lions Club, please do get in touch. Contact can be made via our Website Contact Us page. Simply give us a short outline of the situation and someone will get back for the detail.