2002/03

As the Club approached the quarter century mark, the new President was Mick Brosnan, while Jack Stephenson took on the role of Secretary. The files for the year contain a letter from the World President of Lions International, Kay K Fukushima congratulating the Club.

The first meeting had a good outline of what was proposed by way of the programme for the year, and sub committees were set up for the different events.

As its main project for the year, the President decided to turn to the youth, and after a presentation by Triona Foley, opted to pledge the year's fundraising to the refurbishment of the youth facilities at Quanns.

The first mention of a club archive was also mentioned in September.

The local heats of the Youth Award were held in Dungarvan in September, and Dungarvan Lions Club also hosted the Regional Award in November - these were co-ordinated by John Hanlon and John Lawless.

In October the Club ran the second Faces, Places and Facts of the Decies, again headed up by Michael Colivet. In a well attended event, the net proceeds of over €3,000 were raised towards our chosen charity.

The Club had a small involvement with Dungarvan Dramatic Society on their opening night, and made a small profit.

The Christmas Appeal, with Eamonn Moore in charge, was, as now the norm, very successful. We had a new home this year, with the central point being in a unit supplied by Tom Murphy Car Sales. Income from the Appeal topped €40,000.

We had a visit from District Governer, Gilbert Lee, in March. He had driven from Antrim for the meeting, and was back there for work the following morning!

The Christmas Swim was again run by John O'Brien, who was completing his 31st swim. The President stated that it was his first - and last Christmas swim! A proposal that all past Presidents swim next year for the 25th anniversary was greeted with a huge lack of enthusiasm by the said people.

The Homemaker of the Year was again run with the support of Herlihy's SuperValu. It was chaired by Bridget Burke, and was another great Lions Club event, which raised substantial funds for the renovation of the Youth facility.

Pat Fahy gave a report to the April meeting of the US Air Forces in Europe Concert Orchestra event. They were playing their only concert in Ireland, and the concert contributed €3,500 for our charity.

Dungarvan Lions Club was nominated in April as a nominee for the Community Enterprise of the Year for County Waterford organised by the Waterford News and Star. While we did not win the overall event at the presentations the following January, it was a great tribute to the work of the Club.

Trabolgan happened again under the direction of Phyllis Davis. All very much enjoyed the week's relaxation, with the Dungarvan party being a real hit. The highlight, however, was the winning of the Talent Competition by our guest, the hugely popular Eoin McDermott.......the celebrations continued well into the night!

On the social scene Donal Verling proved to be the most proficient bowler in the Club. Incidentally he also made it to the top in golfing circles, being the current President of Dungarvan Golf Club. Late in the season many Club members went to the dogs in Waterford.