‘Charity begins at home’. It’s an old saying familiar
to all but uncertain as to its origin.
Its relevance is questionable at times when disasters of so many
different kinds affect peoples of far flung regions throughout the world. That is why a charitable organisation such as
the Lions Club is so important. Lions
International is reputed to be the largest charitable organisation in the world
and here in Athy we have a Lions Club which has been providing help and
assistance for a multitude of individuals and organisations for the past 43 years.
Athy
Lions Club comprises men and women who give of their time, skills and
experiences to raise money for local charities.
On Sunday 28th September the Lions Club will host its latest
fundraising event with a cycle rally starting in Edmund Rice Square at 1.30
p.m. It’s intended to be a fun event
with prizes for best fancy dress and all those participating will receive complimentary
refreshments en route.
The
cycle route will take in Levitstown and Kilkea, finishing in the People’s Park
which is perhaps one of Athy’s finest hidden gems. Local firm Athy International Concentrates
are sponsoring the event. The Coco Cola
manufacturers are proven enthusiastic supporters of local community events such
as this year’s cycle rally and the annual October Bank Holiday Shackleton Autumn
School. Other sponsors include K.
Leisure who have generously supplied a number of vouchers for the use of the facilities
in the local leisure facilities at Woodstock and these will also be available
to winners in the various fancy dress categories.
The
interesting aspect of the Cycle Rally is that the funds collected are to be
shared, one half between the local schools, with the balance going towards the
cost of replacing and improving the children’s playground equipment in the
People’s Park. I understand that the
local schools have arranged for sponsorship cards to be handed out to pupils
intending to participate in the rally so you may well be approached by your
young neighbours for sponsorship. The
Cycle Rally however is open to adults also and I am assured that some of the
elderly and out of shape members of the Lions Club will be peddling as hard as
everyone else on Sunday 28th.
Sponsorship cards are available in the Lions bookshop in Duke Street.
It
promises to be a fun event to be enjoyed by young and old alike. All you need is a bicycle, a helmet (which I
am told for safety reasons is now an essential piece of equipment on public
roads) and most importantly some sponsorship.
After all the whole purpose of the Cycle Rally is to raise funds for the
local schools and for the refurbishment of the children’s playground equipment
in the People’s Park.
Get
out your bicycle clips – and maybe even fancy dress – and come to Edmund Rice
Square on Sunday 28th at 1.30 p.m. to join in the Lions Club Cycle
Rally. It’s for a good cause and the
exercise will do you an immeasurable amount of good. SEE
YOU THERE.
In 1997 in my capacity as chairman of Athy Urban
District Council I wrote to Mrs. Mae Vagts, formerly of Athy, but then living
in America wishing her well on her 90th birthday. She was born in Meeting Lane, a member of the
Stafford family, and she later wrote to me with her memories of her father
Edward leaving home to fight in World War 1 and of the telegram which was
delivered to the Stafford home announcing his death. Mae was the eldest child of the Stafford
family. Her father and his brother
Thomas were both killed in the war and their names are recorded on the Stafford
headstone in Old St. Michael’s Cemetery.
May Vagts has since died but members of the extended Stafford family
have arranged for a family remembrance mass to be held in our Parish Church on
Wednesday, 24th September at 9.15 a.m. for Edward Stafford who was
killed at the Battle of Aisne on 24th September 1914 and for his
brother Thomas who died on 6th September 1916. It will, I believe, be the first such mass to
be held in Athy on the 100th anniversary of the death of local men
in the Great War.
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