The event doubled as an awards ceremony with the club handing out a number of honours including naming three long-term members as a Melvin Jones Fellow.
Named for the club’s founder, a member is honoured as a Melvin Jones Fellow if they have personally, or someone has on their behalf, donated more than $1000 to Lions causes.
This year Lions Alexander Adkins, Margaret Poels and Graham Milner were all honoured.
Speaking to The Ensign just before the event got under way Ms Roff said she was pleased with what the club had achieved in the past 12 months, and was looking forward to leading it again this year.
‘‘I think this year went well. The first six months was a bit about learning the ropes, but after that I felt like I’ve been hitting my stride,’’ Ms Roff said.
‘‘So it made sense to do an extra year now that I do have some momentum.
‘‘One of the big goals I had for last year was to make the club more social. And we’ve now got a footy tipping competition and several social nights I’ve set up, which have gone well.
‘‘The last one we did, we went to the SES where everyone had some fun and we had a tour of all their facilities, which was nice. The social nights have been a big success.’’
Ms Roff said she had weighed up the idea of stepping aside, but thought staying on as president would be the best option.
‘‘I’d had a couple of members ask if I wanted to go again,’’ she said.
‘‘At first I said ‘well I just don’t know’, but after a while it made sense to do another year.
‘‘And as the club’s first female president it’s great to be able to stay on for another year.
‘‘Hopefully more females will see me in this role and want to join Lions and potentially take a run as president.’’
Ms Roff said her plans for next year were to keep it similar to the past 12 months, with her main role being to refine the work she had already done.
●The Benalla Lions Club is always looking for new members. If you are interested you can phone Ms Roff on 0477320405 or contact the club via Facebook.
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