The social Club was chartered at a banquet at Stawell Town Hall in 1972 and was formed with 22 members.

Group member Len Hunter said the club had achieved a great amount of success over the last 45 years. 

“In 1993 our first lady member, Margaret Dunn was inducted, she served as club president in 1998-99 and was appointed district governor for 2003-04,” he said.

“We have helped the community through many activities and events and really helped encourage the townspeople to work together and help one another.”

Mr Hunter said more than 60 people met at the Pleasant Creek Historical Gallery for the anniversary dinner.

“We celebrated 45 years of Stawell Lions Club, but let us not overlook the importance of Lions Clubs International centenary and 70 years of Australia Lions,” he said. 

Stawell Lions Club have contributed donations to flood, bushfire, tsunami and earthquake relief, sporting events, health initiatives and school functions.

“We started small and have grown enormously to participate in many ongoing projects in Stawell and in the district,” Mr Hunter said.

Club president Dorothy Williams said the anniversary night was a success and Stawell Lions Club members looked forward to many more years of service to the Stawell community. 

“It was a very enjoyable evening, people came with a mindset that it would be an enjoyable night and it was, you could tell,” she said.

“The memorabilia display added to the evening , some people were strolling through there for quite some time.

“Going forward we are aiming for our club to stay true to the ethics of Lions and continuing to help the community wherever there may be a need.”

Mrs Williams said the Stawell Lions Club was a very active group and had many intentions to continue their work in the future.

“We are a very hands on group, especially with things we do and support in the community,” she said.

“I am proud of everyone’s efforts from Stawell, Australia, and Lions internationally and they should be proud too.”