BOYLE – Eleven Boyle locals have stoked the embers of volunteerism and community service by taking up the torch of the local Lions Club in a Feb. 3 ceremony that saw the club make a major membership comeback, both literally and symbolically.
“Up until last year, we were down to three members,” said Don Alexander, proud Lion of 10 years and former president. “We had a president, a secretary, and between my wife and I we filled some of the other voids that were left, but we managed to keep the club still going.”
The Boyle Lion’s Club has been a facet of the community for nearly 60 years, according to Alexander, a second generation lion himself, following his father’s example. The club’s efforts over the years have supported projects like the construction of the hospital in the 1960’s and the Senior’s Drop In Centre.
“When my father used to go to the meetings, it was a good source of information, it was prior to all the easy communication we have now with cell telephones Facebook and TV,” said Alexander. “I can stay at home and be fully aware of what’s going on in the community today — you certainly couldn’t do that 60 years ago.”
With interest dwindling and alumni members aging, a new push was needed to breathe life back into the fading flames of the club. And sometimes all a new push involves is asking friends, family, or neighbours.
Derek Skirrow, club secretary, said a simple question from a friend and club member was what got him in the door last March.
“I’ve been looking forward to giving back to my community for quite some time,” said Skirrow. When asked by current club vice president Devon VanDellen if he wanted to come to a meeting, Skirrow said it wasn’t a hard decision.
“I said yeah, I don’t know what they’re about necessarily, but they did a lot of volunteering in the community that I grew up in,” said Skirrow. “Let’s check it out, see what we can do to give back and really start to see some positive change in Boyle.”
As new members like Skirrow slowly trickled in to join the likes of Alexander, president Al Nikipelo, Brian Lazenby, and longest-standing club member Orest Muzyka, a Lion since 1998, word started to get around even faster.
“From there, we basically started talking to other counterparts, other people in the community. I started a Facebook page and we ended up bringing in one new member off of that right off the bat,” said Skirrow.
Thanks to the renewed recruitment efforts, eleven new Lions lit their candles for the first time as part of an induction ceremony held Feb. 3, and a twelfth is waiting their turn after an illness left them unable to attend.
Amit Parmar, owner of Boyle Value Drug Mart and recent recipient of the village’s 2024 Volunteer of the Year award, was among the pride of new recruits recently inducted into the club, and said he’s looking forward to more opportunities to give back to Boyle and it’s residents.
“Being a business owner, I like to help out in the community through donations and charities,” said Parmar. Although the business keeps him busy for the most part, he was eager to stay up to date on the local happenings and dedicate what time he does have to helping others.
“That’s my goal, that we can give back to the community as much as we can,” he said. “It’s always a great feeling, and like receiving the award, it just makes you feel better and better and do better.”
Parmar, the ten other new recruits, as well as the regular members each lit a candle as part of the induction ceremony, a gesture symbolic of both the legacy of the roots of the international organization and the reanimation of the club on a local level.
The first candle lit is that of the Lions Club International, and from that candle the flame travels to the zone level, then down to the club candle, lit by the local president.
“We light all of our individual candles after that, and it basically symbolized that we keep on passing the torch along to every different team member,” said Skirrow. “Every club member has that obligation now that the beacon is lit, and it’s your time to be able to shine and bring more positivity not only to the community, but the world.”
Following the induction ceremony, the Boyle Lions Club sits at 15 members, and aside from the Athabasca chapter, is the largest club an area covering communities from Lac La Biche, Waskatenau, to Radway, Thorhild, and more, said Skirrow.
“It’s one of those great things to see,” he added. “It’s also very positive to see for a ‘dying’ community that may not actually be dying; there’s a lot more people that are there and wanting to work hard and build the community, so it’s kind of awe-inspiring to say the least.”
Skirrow and Alexander are hopeful the new membership will mean better fundraising opportunities like raffles and charitable gaming casinos, which have brought in upwards of $20,000 for the club in previous years.
And of course on the agenda are ways to uplift and help out local community organizations and individuals. From assisting the chamber with events, raising awareness and dollars for the hospital auxiliary group, and seeking opportunities with the school, the Lions are not short on ideas to get more involved.
The club plans to honour their “Boyle First” policy by offering two $1,000 scholarships this year, and Skirrow said members are also considering beefing up the school’s woodshop equipment and tools after students saw success in Skills Alberta and Canada competitions last year.
For Skirrow, the revival of the Lions Club and it’s legacy of community service is as symbolic as the candle ceremony, but goes beyond the metaphor of passing the torch and letting his own light shine brightly.
“I look at it more as the phoenix rising from the ashes, because I see that those embers are still burning there. It’s just a matter of really getting back on our feet,” he said. “A lot of that is due to the foundation that people like out alumni’s — Brian, Don, Orest — really put out there for years, and their predecessors, and their predecessor’s predecessors.”
“The club’s been around since 1968, so we’re getting almost up to our 60th anniversary here, which is quite something to say, especially in a small community. But I don’t think we would be here today if we didn’t have those alumni.”
