Lions’ pride in long-time volunteer

ANGLESEA Lions Club maintained traditional Australia Day celebrations last week to celebrate a major award for one of its longest-tenured stalwarts.

The Lions Club paid homage to Order of Australia Medal (OAM) recipient Elizabeth “Betty” Butterworth at their event, who earned the award for decades of community service which included foundation membership of the Anglesea club in 1968.

The Lions Anglesea Australia Day breakfast is a 30-year tradition at the town’s riverside lawn, and continued this year despite losing the backing of Surf Coast Shire ouncil, which voted not to acknowledge official celebrations this year.

Guest speaker Anthony Dillon and musicians Mike Brady and Billy Tea Bushband were among the entertainment on the day, which organisers predicted had about 200 guests.

Attendees also listened to Australian poetry readings and accounts of the regions’s early colonial history; including the story of escaped convict William Buckley, who lived with the Wathourong tribe at what is now Bremlea for more than 30 years in the early 19th century.

Torquay Lions Club also lent a hand to stage the event, donating the ever-popular kids train for a day’s use by Anglesea kids.