Brief History of Lions Club of Park Orchards in the eyes of one of the Charter Members
Nearly 50 years strong and still going.
In September 1977, shortly after moving into my new home with a young family, I attended a social gathering at the Park Orchards Chalet hosted by the Lions Club of Warrandyte. By the end of that evening, I and 20 others had committed to forming what would become the Lions Club of Park Orchards. We were young, enthusiastic and mostly in our thirties — as were our sponsors from Warrandyte.
Our club was formally chartered in November 1977 at the Croydon Hotel, with around 30 foundation members. Early dinner meetings were held on the first Monday of each month at the Park Orchards Chalet before we moved to the Coffee Bean Restaurant in Warrandyte (now an Indian restaurant), whose proprietor kindly opened on Monday nights especially for us.
From the beginning, we were an active and energetic group, united by a simple mission: to give back to our community. Over the past 48 years, more than 200 people have been members of our club, with an average involvement of around 10 years. At some stage, there would scarcely have been a street in Park Orchards not represented in our membership. Today, only two of the original members remain, with our 50-year milestone fast approaching.
Throughout this journey, the club has raised well in excess of $2 million in today’s dollars for local, national and international causes. Most recently, in partnership with the Lions Club of Warrandyte and the Rotary Club of Warrandyte, we raised $40,000 to build a solar-powered water well in Ikpro, South Sudan, providing clean drinking water to a village of 3,000 people. Completed before Christmas, the project has already transformed lives, with children no longer missing school to walk long distances collecting unsafe water.
Over the decades, there have been countless memorable projects and events: annual bush dances at Domeney Reserve, progressive dinners across Park Orchards, trade shows, Billy Cart Derbies, and even chartering a steam train from Spencer Street Station to Korumburra for 800 passengers — complete with music, picnics and the unforgettable spectacle of turning the engine on a country turntable.
We continue to run the Lions Christmas Carols, which began in 1980 at Daniel Court, along with Youth of the Year and the Christmas Cake Project. Our legacy can also be seen in the Park Orchards Heritage Trail and the millennium landscaping project at the local shops, including the planting of Pin Oaks and Manchurian Pears.
Today, our club remains part of the glue that binds together the many wonderful sporting and community groups that make Park Orchards such a special place — a village community in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, and a great place to raise a family.
Steve Graham
Charter Member
