Due to the determined effort of Australian Secretary for
Lions Clubs International, Jim McLardie OAM, the first
South Australian Lions Club was formed in 1961.
The Initial
Reward
The Lions Club of City of Adelaide was chartered by
District Governor Dr Howard Waters of District 201C on 1st
July 1961. The Club Charter was presented to Charter
President Bevan Rutt, OBE; other officers of the club
being Charter First Vice President Colonel Ron Hone and
Charter Secretary John Minks. Club projects were
undertaken immediately with the first being the printing
of 111,000 copies of a pamphlet aimed at making children
aware of the threat of molestation.
The Rapid
Growth
Following another visit by Australian Secretary Jim
McLardie and with the assistance from those first
charter members, Bevan Rutt, Colonel Ron Hone and John
Minks, the second club - Lions Club of Adelaide Light -
was formed in April 1962. In the same year the three
clubs of Burnside, Edwardstown and Marion were formed
with all three charters being presented by District
Governor William R. Tresise, MBE, the recognized founder
of Lions in Australia.
During this time of growth the number of Lions Clubs
throughout Australia was escalating at the rate of about
50 per year with Colonel Ron Hone and Bevan Rutt playing
leading roles in the South Australian expansion.
District Structuring
Lions Clubs are structured into districts; in the early
years the South Australian Clubs formed part of a
Victorian district with the designation 201C. At the
time there were five districts within Australia.
Because of the rapid growth of the Lions movement in
Australia, new districts were continuously being formed
and in 1964 the number of districts had leapt to 9 with
the South Australian Clubs being in District 201J under
the guidance of the first South Australian District
Governor, Bevan Rutt. The first Northern Territory
Club, Alice Springs, was formed in 1964.
In 1971, the 80 chartered clubs of South Australia were
divided into two districts - 201J and 201N. By 1977 the
number of districts in Australia had increased to 21 and
a major restructuring of the district numbering system
was made. The number in South Australia had swelled to
124 and so a third district was formed in the state.
The three South Australia districts were then designated
as 201S1, 201S2 and 201S3.
The last District Governors for
201S1,
201S2 and
201S3 were Don Currie, George Rajkovic and Bob
Rowell. In 2001/2002 it was structured into two (2) Districts,
201C1 and
201C2.
The first District Governors were for
201C1 Joan Ceely and
201C2
Bob Radford.
Sight Projects in South Australia & Northern Territory
Dr David Tonkin AO, chaired a committee which included
Dr Bob Coulthard AM and conducted the first Save Sight
week in July 1965. In 1966 Dr Tonkin was appointed by
District Governor Ralph Knox as the first Save Sight
Chairman in South Australia. The glaucoma screening
programme continued and in 1967 the new Save Sight
Chairman, Dr John Slade AM, achieved a greater coverage
of glaucoma than any similar population in the world.
The first National Save Sight Committee Chairman was
Lindsay McNamara of the Lions Club of Unley.
Lion Firsts for South Australia
First Club:
Lions Club of City of Adelaide 1 July 1961
First Club
President Bevan Rutt, OBE First Club Vice President Colonel Ron Hone First Club Secretary John Minks First Club Project Printing of Pamphlets re avoiding
children molestation First District 201J 1964 First District Governor Bevan Rutt, OBE 1964 First District Convention Glenelg 1964 First Multiple District Convention Adelaide 1965 First Multiple District Chairman John LeCornu 1966 First International Director Colin Ringer 1972
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