Who will take over once the service clubs have disappeared?
It is a question I asked in the spring after the Barrhead Elks Club announced they were selling the Elks Beach Campground in Lac La Nonne.
And unfortunately it is a question I find myself asking again after talking to County of Barrhead councillor and Elks member Bill Lane.
Mr. Lane visited the Leader to talk about why the club decided to donate another $150,000 to the Barrhead and District Agrena Society’s fundraising effort to pay for its part of the construction of the aquatic centre. This along with the club’s previous $100,000 qualified the Elks to have the 25 year naming rights for the entire aquatics centre building.
As you have read on page A1 the answer is two-fold. The first being to honour the countless members who gave selflessly of themselves, in terms of time and effort, to maintain the campground over the many decades of its operation. Certainly a worthy reason, however, from my prospective the Elks second reason, that of more public exposure is more important.
Yes, everyone occasionally likes to receive a little recognition for their efforts, but in this case it is more than that. If what the Elks and other service clubs, such as the Rotary Club’s efforts, continue to fall under people’s radar or are just taken for granted, their very existence can be in jeopardy.
From my understanding, the Elks club currently has about a dozen members ranging in age from in their mid 60s to 80s. Without a new influx of members the many good deeds the Elks, the Rotary Club, the Legion, among others have and continue to do will cease. And then what will the community organizations that have come to depend on funding from these types of service clubs and all their good works will also come to an end.
Who will step in to fill the void? My fear is no one.
This is not a problem that I’m unfamiliar with. As many of you know, I am an amateur radio operator, who when I was living in B.C. was actively involved in not only the local ham radio club, but as part of the Emergency Operations Centre Communications Unit. Like the Elks, we were finding that our numbers were dwindling and aging, with the bulk of our members being seniors. Luckily for us we were able to get an influx of new and younger members through an affiliation with the ground and air search and rescue groups who realized how much more effective they would be if they had access to reliable, emergency communications.
For the service clubs, I am not sure if such a symbiotic relationship exists, but I am certain of one thing. If service clubs do not start getting an influx of new members they will cease to exist and when that happens we will all be the poorer for it.
