There was a big fire. It lasted for a couple of this winter’s coldest days and nights. When it was over, the meeting place shared by a half dozen Lions clubs had no roof. (CBC stories with fire still burning, and two days later after extinguishing fire.)

But Lions clubs enjoy a good relationship with the city of Toronto, and for good reason. Agincourt Community Centre, where we Lions had our den, sits on property donated by the Agincourt Lions Club. That’s a common theme, by the way. Lions were instrumental in creating other Toronto public facilities, including Birchmount Park CC, Lakeshore arera, Weston arena, and Heron Park CC.

City staff set to work after the fire, finding homes for all the programs that used to run in Agincourt CC. And they found a new home for the Lions to meet, as well.

Jack Goodlad Community Centre, 929 Kennedy Road, Scarborough

Look: they already put up our sign!

It’s a nice little one-room building. We have space inside for a few dozen people, depending on table configuration. Outside, there are two ball diamonds behind the building, and a couple of basketball courts in front. The courts attract a good crowd on warm summer evenings.

The building interior was underused. So all six clubs carried our meeting schedules to the new facility.

And we are capitalizing on this opportunity to work to develop partnerships between clubs. With more Lions working together, we plan to achieve greater service for our community. We’ll keep you posted.

If this rebirth might be your time to get involved, please get in touch.