The Bayfield Lions Club is celebrating 75 years of service to the community this year.
Past President Bill Rowatt says that they got their charter in 1947.
“The club was formed as the result of the major fire on Main Street of the old Ritz Hotel. When it burned to the ground a lot of the guys in the village got together and said, ``Look, we should form a Lions Club and our first act will be to form a new volunteer fire department,” said Rowatt.
Rowatt said over the years, the club, along with the Lionesses, has been involved in all of the major events in the village.
“They literally built the first arena themselves back in the 1950s and it was subsequently renovated and overhauled on a number of occasions. They were instrumental in fund-raising to take over the old town hall and rebuild it,” he added.
At the beginning of this year, the Lions club consulted with other volunteer organizations in the village and came up with a list of projects for their anniversary year.
One of their major projects for this year is the accessible sidewalk from Foodland, at the south end of Bayfield, to Cameron Street. That involved working with several other community volunteer groups.
Rowatt said the sidewalk was particularly important because people have been walking and riding their bikes down the side of Highway 21 to get to Foodland. He added they had hoped to have that done this fall, but the target now is April or May of 2023.
Rowatt says more information about all of their 75th anniversary projects will be posted on their web shortly.
