Community & Business
2 June, 2023
Lions founding father’s service recognised
ONE of the founding fathers of the Yungaburra Lions, Spencer Dig-by, has been recognised his half a century of service to Lions and was awarded a special commendation at a recent surprise ceremony
Spencer moved to the Tablelands with his wife and two daughters in 1969 and joined up with the Malanda Lions Club a few years later in 1972 as he wanted to help in his new community.
He then spent 13 years as a member and held several committee positions including secretary and president.
After the call was put out for a Lions Club to be established in Yungaburra, Spencer and his close friend Russel Prior, charted the group in 1985.
“We lived in the Yungaburra district together and there was no Lions Club there back then,” he said.
“In those days you had to be invited to become a member and I was lucky enough to receive an invitation.
“They wanted to start up a Lions Club in Yungaburra, so we started the club and stayed in the district.”
As one of the founding members of the Yungaburra Lions, Spencer held the position of president for a few years before stepping down.
In February last year, Spencer celebrated 50 years of service to Lions International however when he rung up to inquire about the process of recognising lions for their years of service, he was shocked to discover they had no record of his involvement.
Thinking nothing of it, he quietly mentioned he had spent half a century volunteering for Lions and servicing his community not knowing that plans were being set in motion to thank him for his selflessness.
Just recently Spencer was surprised with a special plaque to rec-ognise his service, his two daughters even flew up from Townsville, which Spencer said was a lovely surprise.
