Sean Roche Fund Raising in the NorthWest of Tasmania

Sean Roche, who originally hails from the Irish town of Cork, is flying into our Tasmanian North West for two charity events!

Sean has a unique brand of Irish entertainment that subtly integrates the music of his homeland with a sprinkling of Australian standards. He now lives in Perth, Western Australia.

Next Friday night, 9 April, at 630pm Sean Roche will be hosting and performing at an ad-lib dinner at the OzRock Inn in Ulverstone for CYSTIC FIBROSIS. Walter van Praag, a person with Cystic Fibrosis himself, is climbing Mount Kinabalu in Borneo on the dawn of his 45th birthday on 8 July 2010. The mountain in the jungle is 4095 meters tall and he is raising $1 for each meter of altitude for CF Tasmania; $4095 total.  Be there around 6pm for a 630pm kick off to the evening. $50 covers food and wine and entertainment. See list of sponsor for the event: <click here>. Please RSVP by phoning the OzRock Inn on 6425 1120 or emailing funraiser@coughing4cf.com.
Fifty percent of the proceeds go straight to CF Tasmania and the other 50% towards the July  climbing expedition. CF Tasmania also has a special website where you can donate directly towards the $4095 goal: www.everydayhero.com.au/walter

If you cannot make the Friday night, or perhaps just prefer to support  the Motor Neurone Disease Association come and see Sean Roche  at Weindorfer's Restaurant - Gowrie Park Wilderness Village at 6.30 pm. for 'Days of Silver and Gold': Sean will give a concert and also MC a Blackboard Concert - BYO instruments! A dozen musicians have already registered for the Blackboard Concert. RSVP by Wednesday 7th of April 2010 to Cathy Clayton on 0407 555 859 or 6427 2693. Cost $45. Note there is a FREE BUS to and from Gowrie Park so you don't have to drive out of town:  Bus departs 5.15pm from the Big Apple at Spreyton, leaving Weindorfers about 10.30pm.

Benjamin Does It Again!

Benjamin Knight, double winner of the Lions Club Of City Of Devonport, Inc. Youth Of The Year Competition, went on to take the honors at the Port Sorrell Regional Competition. He will now compete at the State level on 11 April in Burnie. We wish him the best.

Cleaning up before the BBQ

That is right, we will be cleaning up first! The City of Devonport Lions Club has sponsored a piece of Bass Highway and on Saturday 17 April at 10am we will be out in force to clean it for the first time. Meeting at the Tourist information parking area in front of the Vicotria bridge we will scour for hours under the watchful eye of a Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) employee.

After the hard work is done for the cleaners we can go and relax and have the biggest ever BBQ! The 2010 Lions Biggest BBQ has many Lions Clubs around Australia working together to encourage Australian communities to support the efforts of the Children’s Cancer Institute Australia. The Institute strives towards a brighter future for the children and their families affected by childhood cancer. The location of the BBQ will be the carpark between Harvey Norman and in front of the Devonport Library. Everyone welcome, starting at noon!

More Inductions

At our last meeting we inducted Emma Morse into the Club! Sponsored by her mother, Lion Jennifer Barwick. It is great to see we are recently attracting new members and especially great to see women and younger people join our club!

Last weekend was yet another successful Orana Luncheon, where we do the cooking for the elderly and infirm. We catered for over 40 people. In the past we also provided food, but following Orana's merge with Baptcare last year a corporate OH&S decision was made that stopped us from supplying the ingredients.

Our guest speaker for the night was Jeff Matthews. Jeff was deputy mayor in Devonport from 2005-2007 and an Alderman since 1996. He is well acquainted with the needs of Devonport. His baby, a Mersey Bluff Directional Sign, forms part of the proposed Mersey Bluff Headland development. Jeff explained that when people arrive to Devonport they see the lighthouse and the statue and often head in that direction. We really need to greet tourists there with an informative sign. Signage formed part of a Bluff Development which was passed by council in 2008 and $10K was allocated to the 'directional signage'. The possible total cost of the project could be more like $50K and Jeff is seeking interested community organisations to help the project along.


The signage is expected to be similar to the one at Braddon's Lookout between Forth and Don, and provides lots of local information, complete with historic photos, telling us about the history of the region.

If Devonport likes to retain tourists that arrive we need to alert them to our history, and give them the information. Information that not only shows them how far we are from Melbourne, Tokyo and Amsterdam, but also interesting historic information about how for instance the Marconi Company demonstrated a wireless telegraphy service between Devonport and Queenscliff, Victoria in 1906. It was the first radio transmission in Australia, and the Government was not impressed and did not purchase the equipment or approve of the service. Other information includes the history of that Don River wharf where Tasmanian timber was shipped for the construction of Melbourne Town!

It is envisaged that the attraction could be done in an aboriginally styled theme, highlighting the significance of Aboriginal heritage in the area (Tiagarra behind the lighthouse), complete with aboriginal petroglyphs and middens nearby. Devonport needs to enhance its personality, its identity, its flavour, we need to have our heritage proudly on display. Jeff is like a dog with a bone in his own words, and he won't let this one go! Let's hope service clubs like ourselves can come to the rescue!

Local Lions Youth of the Year Competition

The Lions Club Of City Of Devonport, Inc. hosted their local Youth Of The Year competition at their 11 March dinner meeting at the Gateway Inn.

Three students, nominated by their respective schools, competed for the chance to advance to regional competition and ultimately for the chance to win at national level.

St. Brendan-Shaw College was represented by Olivia Gerrard, and The Don Campus Of The Tasmania Academy & Tasmanian Polytechnic by Benjamin Knight and Taylor Beumont-Whiteley.

The students met with the judges (Dianne Atkinson, Geoff Harwood and Kim Marshall) during the week and had been initially judged on a number of specified criteria. On the night the students were additionally judged on their impromptu responses to questions regarding school bullying and their thoughts on betterment of our world. The final stage of the evening was speeches prepared by each contestant on the subject of his or her choice. Benjamin Knight swept the honors, winning both the Public Speaking Award and overall Club Winner.