Lions Club accepting donations for Christmas charities
(UPDATED)
By Mark Schadenberg
By Mark Schadenberg
The
symbol of the Lions Club of Woodstock is a historic fire truck.
When
the Santa Claus parade rolled down Dundas Street in Woodstock last Saturday,
the float directly in front of the Santa Claus sleigh was this Woodstock-built
1957 King Seagrave fire truck.
With
retired Pumper No. 3 as the focal point and with Christmas around the corner,
the Lions Club has a new promotion to attract donations for the Salvation Army
food and toy drive, and other local charities. For four consecutive Saturdays,
the truck will be parked at different grocery stores to accept donations.
Saturday, Nov 23: Foodland on Dundas Street, 1 - 5 pm (A total of $660 worth of groceries were collected, plus monetary donations)
Saturday, Nov 30: Food Basics on Dundas Street, 1 - 5 pm
Saturday, Dec 7: No Frills on Norwich Avenue, 1-5 pm
Saturday, Dec 14: Sobeys on Springbank North, 1-5 pm
“Whatever we collect will be distributed to the various charity
groups,” says Lions member Ed Vitias, adding that the service club will accept
new toys and non-perishable food items, but also would like to receive everyday
items such as hand soap and toothpaste as they can be redirected as well.
“Our club wants to get our fire truck out in the community more as
something that is very visible, so we felt this would be a good way to promote
the truck and receive donations at Christmastime as well,” says Vitias.
Lions executive member Sandy Callebert points out that Vitias is deserving
of recognition for organizing this initiative.
“Lion Ed has worked hard to set this collection up and the grocery
stores have welcomed us,” says Callebert. “For our Lions Club this is a new
community service project.”
The local service club has traditionally collected donations for
the Salvation Army (769 Juliana, 539-9345), In Out Of The Cold, Coats For Kids,
and Operation Sharing (22 Wilson St, 539-3361), and has assisted with The
Christmas Place (Run by Operation Sharing) gift program, and has also sponsored
annually a Christmas dinner for the Big Brothers organization locally.
As for the King Seagrave truck, Vitias recalls that the club
bought the truck for $1 from the city in the mid 1980’s and had it restored.
On-going repairs make it quite a budget item for the local Lions Club.
“I believe the fire truck was in storage in a barn at the
fairgrounds for about a dozen years and stored at the old fire hall for awhile
before that,” says Vitias.
Lions Roar, which is small book written and researched by local
historian Doug Symons, notes the Lions Club spent a few thousand over the years
on the truck, but everyone, especially children, enjoy seeing it.
Mark
Schadenberg
Sales
Representative
Royal
LePage Triland Realty
757 Dundas
St, Woodstock
www.wesellwoodstock.com
(519) 537-1553,
cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
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