By Jack Brittle, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
On June 24, the Burlington Lions Club celebrated their 100th anniversary as an organization at Mount Nemo Golf Club. The event was attended by current and former Lions alike, as well as the immediate past president of Lions International, Patti Hill.
John Fanjoy, president of the Burlington Lions Club, spoke about what the celebration means to him.
“It’s a hundred years of dedication to serving the community,” Fanjoy said. “The Lions Club has endured through a lot of social changes over a hundred years. And we have a lot to celebrate because we have a lot of people that we support.”
Fanjoy said that the Burlington Lions Club is working to raise its profile by hosting more events with their name front and centre, mentioning the Festival of Lights and the Music Hall events as examples.
“We’re trying to elevate what the Lions do in the community so that people will say, ‘I think I’d like to see what they’re all about,’” Fanjoy said. “We take the new ideas that our members bring, like the Music Hall, like the scholarships, and we bring them to life because our members see those needs in the community.”
The Burlington Lions Club has also been refining their online presence, consolidating its various websites into one and consistently updating its Instagram and Facebook pages.
The club has evolved and adapted since it was started in 1925. “The Lions Club started out very modest, with 20 members, in the same location where we’re at today, but in a different building,” Fanjoy said.
He said that from the 1950s to the 1980s, the club was mainly focused on youth and sports initiatives, until other needs appeared.
“Society changed, and a need for mental health support [emerged], and food security slowly became an issue,” Fanjoy said. “We sort of shifted our focus. We still do a lot with sports, but we give to a lot of other parts of the community as well.”
With 48 current members, Fanjoy estimates the club collectively represents over 600 years of service and dedication. Despite this, Fanjoy said that their key focus is still finding new members.
Later on in the evening, Fanjoy announced that the Burlington Lions Club is going to donate an additional $100,000 to community organizations this year, on top of the $160,000-plus they have already donated in 2025 so far. The Lions haven’t decided whether the money will go to one or multiple organizations yet.
Julian Austin, district governor for Lions Club International District 7-11, handed out three Chevron Awards to current Lions in recognition of their tenure as members of the club.
Two were given out for 10-year anniversaries and one for 15.
Four members were also named to the Melvin Jones fellowship program. The program recognizes members who have donated at least $1000 to the Lions Club International Foundation and is named after the organization’s founder, Melvin Jones.
Pravin Sharma, a member of the Oakville Hospital Volunteer Association, gave a speech to attendees and presented the club with a Spirit of Giving award for their $46,000 grant, which matched funds raised by community members for an ophthalmology ultrasound unit.
Patti Hill, who spoke after Sharma, spoke about the importance of having a Lions Club in the community by speaking about what it would be like without one.
“I worry only for the communities that don’t have a club like Burlington,” Hill said. “I worry only for the communities where there is no one giving space for the Boy Scouts and the Girl Guides, or mental health and wellness. Where no one is inviting people who can’t afford paid entertainment to come out and enjoy the Lions’ Festival of Lights or the Lions’ park and playground.”
“Lions hold together the fabric of our society, without them, we can see when societies begin to unravel,” Hill continued. “That happens when no one’s willing to step up and do the good work for others. But I’m not worried about Burlington because you’re here. You’ve been here for a hundred years, and you have plans for going forward, and for that, let me just say congratulations.”
