Lions Club Robertson has a proud track record of its members pursuing the association's purpose under its international banner of "WE SERVE".
GPS Coordinates to Club House: S 33° 48.717 & E 019° 53.473
The club forms part of District 410A Western Cape and Namibia we are part of Zone 9 which falls into Region D.
WHO ARE THE LIONS?
1917 Founded in Chicago, USA
1957 Founded in Cape Town the first Club chartered in Southern Africa.
It was Melvin Jones, a young American insurance broker whose vision and dedication to the concept of international humanitarian service gave birth to the Lions movement. Jones , a member of a Lunchtime business circle, pioneered the groups community service programme which eventually led to amalgamation with several other service groups. One of these was LIONS and this name was then adopted for the fledging organisation.
In 1917 this acronym was appropriately determined to mean:
L - Liberty
I - Intelligence
O - Our
N - Nations
S - Safety
When Melvin Jones, the associations first General Secretary, died in 1961 Charles F. Kettering wrote:
Nothing ever built arose to touch the skies unless some man dreamed that it should. Some man believed that it could and some man willed that it must.
HOW LIONS BEGAN IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
Dr Louis Volks one of the founders of Lionism was born in 1909 in the Paarl Valley in the Western Cape. Shortly after his family moved to Worcester where his father, a textile engineer, was unable to find work in his trade so he bought the old Commercial Hotel, now the Cumberland. He also developed on interest in farming and owned a local electrical business. His mother was an American citizen and tutored Louis in the art of singing. He sang as a solo tenor until his early sixties.
During a 1991 interview , Louis attributed his confidence as a public speaker to his early experience of facing audiences. Other childhood interests included golf, rugby and Boy Scouts and, in this case, he went on to serve the movement for twenty-nine years ending up as District Commissioner. Educated at Worcester High School he attended the University of Cape Town majoring in pure and applied mathematics, physics and chemistry. Graduating with a B.Sc/BA, he went on to Neotarian College Dallas, Texas where he obtained a Ph D. His interest in music was never far away with him playing for the CTSO in 1926 and starting his own dance orchestra.
At UCT and again through his love for music he met his wife Toby, a music student, and they married in 1931. His family grew with the birth of their daughter Enid.
After qualifying he managed the family business and then moved to Cape Town and joined the insurance industry. Today Louis Volks and Associates are a thriving insurance broking business.
Together with other leading citizens he formed the Cape Town Club (Mother Club) which was chartered in 1957.
His involvement in the introduction of Lionism in Southern Africa led him to receive many honours including in 1961 as District Governor, the honour of addressing thirty two thousand delegated at the Atlantic City International Convention . In 1969 he received the Ambassador of Goodwill and was the recipient of three International Presidents Awards. His club Cape Town Host honoured him with life membership and a Melvin Jones Fellowship.
In 1989, Lions District 410A further honoured him with the creation of the Louis Volks Humanitarian Awrad for presentation to those who performed exceptional community service. The award is available to honour Lions and Community Leaders who have shown deep concern for others in the service of humanity.
The income generated from these donations is normally allocated to the District 410A Projects and Emergency Fund or a nominated District Project eg the Lions Eye Health Programme or the Lions District Food Project.
Dr Louis Volks passed away in 1992.
He always said I do believe that people should become involved in organisations to serve. They are the measures of ones fellow man.
Lions Clubs International is the world's largest service club organization with more than 1.4 million members in approximately 46,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas around the world.
