Membership

There is any number of reasons to become a member of the Mount Seymour Lions Club. One might be to have an opportunity to get involved with other service minded individuals who want to give something back to their community. Another reason might be to enjoy the camaraderie that exists when a group of people work together to do something that makes a difference in the lives of others. And there is always just the enjoyment of being part of a fun group. Read what a 1966 Charter Member has to say, and also what a member who joined in 2010 has to say about membership in the club. Then contact us to come out to one of our dinner meetings and see for yourself what we are all about.
The Club meets every first and third Monday – September through June – 7:00 pm
at Lion Garey Ham Court
936 Bowron Court, North Vancouver

Becoming a Member

Just go to our contacts page and call or e-mail any one of the members listed. We will be happy to answer any questions and arrange for you to visit us at one of our dinner meetings or community events.

What it means to be a Lion

On my 39th birthday I realized that it was time to return to society some of the benefits that society has given me. We have a great community here in North Vancouver and I wanted to connect with the community and give a little back. I did some research on different service organizations and found that I liked what the Lion’s stand for “To empower volunteers to serve their communities, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding through Lions clubs.” A friend of mine invited me to attend a few dinner meetings at the Mount Seymour Lions club and what I found there was a bunch of great like minded guys who truly believe in helping their community.

My first Lion’s event was the Breakfast with Santa fundraiser at Parkgate community centre. I was on the cooking team and my job was to cook the sausages. It was a great event that raised a lot of money for the community. I had a lot of fun seeing the faces of the children when Santa arrived, and at the end of the day I felt great knowing that the money we raised will be well used in our community. A few weeks after that event on one of our Monday dinner meetings we had Stephen Miller from The British Columbia Lions Society for Children with Disabilities as our guest speaker. We had a cheque for $3000.00 for him and he thanked us for our support and he gave us a short presentation on how the money we raised helps them. I don’t know if there was a dry eye in the whole place, seeing what these children deal with and how we were able to help, it gave me a real sense of fulfillment.

Sometimes we do get locked into the “rat-race” of life and being a Lion can give that escape to everyday routine and create a balance in our lives. To me, being a Lion is ultimately about helping others and having an impact on people’s wellbeing.

If you are considering giving back to your community I encourage you to contact us and come to one of our famous dinner meetings.

Thank you,

Lion Arif Datoo – New Member

I am the only remaining charter member of the club. I have fond memories of the King Neptune Carnival that our club organized. The whole community of Dollarton and Deep Cove participated in the event which included a parade, children’s races and a huge paint-in for the kids. From day one we had members from all kinds of different professions and vocations and in working at our many projects we became close friends. As an Industrial Education teacher it was always fun for me to work on our equipment and build things we needed to raise funds. One of projects was through a federal grant to refurbish the Seylynn Hall on Mountain Highway as it had fallen into disrepair. We organized young people from our community to learn skills and give them employment. The result was a new preschool and a meeting room for our club for 14 years.

Another long time event has been our Breakfast with Santa. John Pavlik and I received recognition from the District of North Vancouver for serving the breakfasts for 30 years, with lots of help from the whole club. I served on our Mount Seymour Lions Housing Society board for many years. The Housing Society is continuing to give service to the community through affordable housing for families and seniors. It also serves as a meeting room for our club.
I have received many awards from our club and one of the most cherished is the Melvin Jones Award presented in 1992 from Lions International for humanitarian services.

For me the best thing about being a Mount Seymour Lion is the camaraderie and the friends I made. I hope the new younger members can carry on doing good work and making good friends.

Ron Morrice
Charter Member – 1966