Feature Story

MY MOST EMOTIONAL LIONS MOMENT

PDG Elvio Munzone of Sydney’s Lugarno Lions isn’t embarrassed to admit he has shed a few tears during his Lions years – but probably never as many as over a visit with others to a nursing home to give chocolates to residents, many down on their luck and recovering alcohol and drug addicts. “This story has had me in tears many times and I’m not sure why,” Elvio admits. “We were in the dining room and I remember I went over to a lady sitting on her own. I said ‘hello, my name is Elvio from Lugarno and this chocolate is for you – Merry Christmas’.“What’s your name, I asked. To my amazement, the lady replied ‘that would be none of your business, sonny”.“Determined to find out more about her, I continued asking questions. The residents sitting around said ‘don’t talk to her, she’s a trouble maker’ – but I continued.“I found out that from the age of 16 she had been a singer in a big band, so I asked if she knew ‘Danny Boy’ and said that I would sing it with her.“She replied that it was her father’s favourite and we started singing it together. Then I stopped and let her continue on her own. She had a magnificent soprano voice, and everyone clapped when she finished.

Five prominent Australian Lions reveal the experience that made them most proud and humbled to be wearing the Lions badge.

Story by Tony Fawcett

1. PDG Elvio Munzone will never forget the day Danny Boy brought happiness to a lonely woman.

TEARS, CHOCOLATE & DANNY BOY

relief appeal.“Whenever I think of the fires the memory of it comes back and chokes me up.“I work with youth as part of the Drug Foundation and it’s always pleasing to see that sort of thing happen in the community.”

THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT

Past Council Chairman Bruce Hudgson’s pride in being a Lion was never greater than in the late 1980s when, working for a global freight company, he flew into the remote port city of Lhokseumawe in Aceh, the westernmost province of Indonesia, to oversee the loading of a ship.“We were staying in nice Western-style accommodation but it wasn’t a very hospitable place back then and all around was abject poverty,” recalls Bruce.“I had a guide looking after me and I had been taking photos and needed to go down into the village to get them developed.“I happened to be wearing my Lions badge and as we went into the village this kid of about six or seven who you would have to say looked like a dirty little urchin kept grabbing at my trousers. The guide was shooing him off but the kid persisted and I asked the guide ‘what’s he want?’“The kid kept pointing at my Lions badge and I said ‘well, he can’t have that. That’s mine and I’m not giving it away.’ “Then the guide discovered he didn’t want the badge at all. He wanted to show us something. He took us through the fish market, which smelled terrible because it didn’t have refrigeration, and out into a

“She then said to me ‘sonny, my name is Elizabeth and, thanks to you, if I die tomorrow I will die a happy woman’.“It’s a moment I will never forget.”

“LOOKING FOR THE LIONS MAN”PDG David Daniels OAM has experienced numerous emotional situations in his 39 years of Lions service, many while working with young people in his executive roles with the Australian Lions Drug Awareness Foundation.Yet the one that lingers in his memory is the day a young boy gave up his pocket money to help victims of Tasmania’s disastrous January 2013 bushfires.“It was during the month of the fires when an event called the Taste of Tasman was being held on the Tasman Peninsula where the fires occurred and I was there as a Lions governor,” relates David.“Without warning, a young kid of about nine or 10, Archie, came out of the crowd to donate his weekly pocket money to the fire appeal launched by Lions Tasmania.“Unbeknown to me, Archie had been going around ‘looking for the Lions man’. He had heard that I was there at the event and he sought me out to make the donation.“It was only a small donation of course – part of the close to $700,000 Lions had raised in order to turn around the community – but it was one hell of an emotional moment.“After a couple of glasses of red on that day, I was a bit of a mess. Regardless of its value, young Archie’s donation meant so much. It just blew me away. For me it was the pinnacle of anything to do with the fire

3. PCC Bruce Hudgson discovered the meaning of Lions in a remote corner of Indonesia

2. A selfless donation by young Archie still causes PDG David Daniels OAM to choke up.

square where there was a well with a hand pump. And on the pump it had a Lions badge. “This little kid had seen my Lions badge, put two and two together, and had to show it to us. The pump had a little tag under it that read ‘This fresh water well was made possible by the Lions of Australia and the Lions Clubs International Foundation’.“That was interesting in its own right but then he wanted to take us somewhere else. So we went with him and met his mother. I couldn’t understand what was being said but the interpreter told me that at some time there had been a whole heap of pedal sewing machines sent up here. The story was that his mother had got one, and with it she was able to produce items to feed her family.“At that moment I thought ‘well, that’s what it’s all about’. It made me realise how powerful the badge was, that this little kid didn’t know what the badge was all about but he knew it was the same as the emblem on the water pump.“It was an amazing experience, one I will never forget, and it had such an effect on me.”

BIRTHDAY HUG

The defining Lions moment for PDG John Muller OAM came when as President of Townsville Castle Hill Lions in the late 1990s he attended a Lions Ladies Auxiliary fundraiser to support a young couple and their daughter, Monique, who suffers Downs Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy.“As she developed, Monique required several major surgeries to rectify stomach and bowel complications and two Lions Ladies had formed a small trust to

assist with essential needs unable to be sourced through the health system,” recalls John.“As they paused for afternoon tea the two took me aside to advise that nobody knew it was Monique’s birthday, and asked if I would carry in the cake they had made – with candles lit and leading the singing of Happy Birthday. “As I reached down to place the cake in front of Monique who was seated in her wheelchair beside her mum, she reached up to me with a beaming smile, locked her arms around my neck and pulled me down for the greatest hug I have ever experienced. I looked at her mum, her eyes brimming with tears because someone had made a fuss of her daughter on her birthday!“And then I saw the two Lions Ladies who had made it happen – they too were teary eyed, as was my wife Shirley. In that moment, overcome with my own emotion, I knew that I was hooked as a Lion for life because that day, that one random act of kindness had made a huge difference in the life of that little eight-year-old girl and her family.“Fast forward to 2020, Monique is approaching 30 and lives in a safe, residential shared home with other special needs adults, which is close to her mother’s residence.“The two Lions Ladies who made it happen, Wendy and Jenny, together with several other Lions Ladies from that day, are now still happily serving their community as Lions in their Lions Club.”

WHEN LIFE-SAVING SURGERY ISN’T ENOUGHThe greatest inspiration for many Lions is being able to help the less fortunate achieve happiness and success. Yet sometimes even the best efforts don’t end in happiness.No-one knows that better than PDG Roley McAtee OAM, Chairman of LEHP-Australia and a Lion for more than four decades.Early in his Lions life when President of the Brisbane-Bunya Club, Roley became aware of a young girl suffering a serious illness and whose only hope for survival lay in a complex operation by a Sydney specialist.Sadly, the family, who had two slightly older children, was not in a position to afford such an operation. “When I met with them it was obvious from the surrounds of their rented house and the fact they were living off a single income that any surplus funds were non-existent,” recalls Roley. “Medical costs had already taken a heavy toll and exhausted available cash resources.“So I took this sad situation back to my club board and with their support we funded travel costs for the parents to Sydney for life-saving surgery.

4. “The greatest hug I have ever experienced” brought tears to all those around PDG John Muller OAM.

“The family were unbelievably overjoyed and emotional at our generosity. I subsequently maintained discreet contact with them and personally followed up any additional needs.“But whilst the original surgery in Sydney was successful, unfortunately and sadly the young girl passed away several months later.“It was a hugely emotional moment for the family and upsetting for me as well. “However I was comforted in the knowledge that through Lions we were able to provide some degree of assistance and comfort. And the family knew they had given their daughter the best chance of a future during her short time on this planet.”

5. PDG Roley McAtee OAM has learnt that sometimes in Lions even the most compassionate and best laid plans can end in sadness.