In last week’s blog, we celebrated our first finalist of the ANZI Top Club Service Award: the Solo Bengawan Lions Clubs and their project delivering free groceries to those who were greatly affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdowns in their area. This week, we’re pleased to announce our second finalist: the Opunake Lions Clubs in MD202 New Zealand.
Through the guidance of the Lions club, the entire community came together to create this loop track.
A little over two years ago, the Opunake Lions Club began researching information to create a loop track around their township for walking and biking. The club had previous experience with this kind of service project as they have been involved with the formation and maintenance of a small walking track in town for more than 40 years. This track is commonly referred to as the Opunake Lions Walkway, and the club now wanted to extend it into a loop more than double its current length. This new loop would total 9 kilometers and cross over streets, private land and council-controlled reserves. After much research, the club felt that, with community support, this project was within its capabilities.
The Lions collaborated with many partners and community groups to gain approval for the new loop track. The track extension would pass over land that has considerable history and importance to local Maori (the indigenous people of New Zealand), and the club wanted to show them the proper respect.
They consulted with the local Maori council, the highway authority and a leading New Zealand dairy company. There is a large number of heavy truck movement at certain times of the year, and all those involved wanted to ensure the health and safety of the track users. Meetings were also held with the local community board and the public as well as with private land owners to gain formal written agreements to cross their land. All permissions and approvals were granted by April 2019, and the extension began immediately.
Through the guidance of the Lions club, the entire community came together to create this loop track. Representatives of the Te Namu Iti Trust, on behalf of the local Maori community, carried out a blessing. The track was cut following the river at the south end of town and a pathway was formed under the two bridges at each end of town. A retaining wall was also constructed under the bridge at the south end of Opunake along the Waiaua River.
The loop track opened up access to an old dam spanning the Otahi Stream and the north end of Opunake, which was initially constructed in the late 1800s for a flax mill. The majority of residents did not know about the existence of the dam so it generated a huge amount of public interest. Articles appeared in the local papers, and the club received a lot of favorable publicity that directly resulted in one generous family offering the club US$1,000 for native plants. These were planted along the river by local high school students.
A contractor working on private property found a seam of high quality metal, which he convinced the landowner to donate to the club for the loop track. The club recognized that this was a tremendous offer as the cost of metal was one of the project’s biggest expenses. The one stipulation was that the metal had to be removed immediately, and within 24 hours, teams of farmers and agricultural contractors were carting the metal away and either stockpiling it or beginning to lay the track with it. This occurred for four days at no cost to the club and involved more than 12 tractors and trailers.
During the spring, students at a local primary school also engaged in planting along the stream, and other primary schools have expressed interest in undertaking similar work during the winter of 2020. Plant orders have been placed with funding coming from a regional native restoration group. Community volunteer predator control groups have offered to start trapping possums, rats, ferrets and other pests along the loop track. One primary school student had been selling rat and ferret traps, making a profit of $5 for each trap sold, and at the club’s November 2019 business meeting, she donated $1,000 to the club for the loop extension.
The Opunake Lions Club members wanted to have the loop extension ready to be used prior to Christmas 2019 to allow those vacationing at the beach to enjoy it. With a great deal of work, this was accomplished on December 24, 2019. Following the New Year 2020 and the Opunake Beach Carnival, in which the club already plays a big part, further metaling and grading was undertaken to give the track an all-weather surface.
It was the club’s intent from the beginning to involve as many members of the community as possible and more than 60 people attended a meeting where a community Loop Committee was established. The Lions have representatives on the committee, and the chair is the Lions club’s immediate past club president. This committee is divided into a number of subgroups designed to continue caring for the loop track while involving every facet of the community.
We would like to recognize the Opunake Lions clubs for this truly total community project. Not only did it improve their community, but the loop track also brought an immeasurable amount of favorable attention, not only to the Opunake Lions Club, but to Lions overall. The Lions of Opunake had a goal to provide easy and safe access to exercise and to enjoy nature for everyone in the community. Together with their fellow residents, they achieved this goal.
Read last week’s blog to learn more about the first finalist for the ANZI Top Club Service Award.
Lion Carolyn Hall is a GAT field specialist, primarily working with CA 7 and CA 3, at Lions Clubs International. She is a member of the Chicago Windy City Lions Clubs.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted communities around the world in different ways. To ensure we’re serving safely wherever we live, Lions should follow the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization or local health authorities. Visit our Serving Safely page for resources that can help you safely serve your community.
