CARSTAIRS - The Carstairs Lions Club is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, with the milestone recognized at the recent Beef and Barley Days parade, along with STARS.
The pairing between the Lions Club and STARS is fitting, considering the link between the two.
Leslie Cunningham, club president, said that the club has always been a strong supporter of STARS.
She said it was great to be able to honour the air ambulance service at the parade, which the club organizes.
"We were able to raise some money for STARS during the weekend as well," said Cunningham. "STARS had an information booth and merchandise store here during Beef and Barley Days. "
Cunningham said the club has donation boxes throughout the town. She said all the money collected goes to STARS.
The Carstairs Lions Club has been organizing the Beef and Barley Days parade for several years, said Cunningham.
The club started in 1980 when a group of farmers from the area were wanting to raise money for STARS. In total, there were about 40 members that first year.
"The big push was through the rural communities' Lions Clubs but then Calgary clubs jumped on," she said. "The Lions Clubs provided the funds so that five years later STARS began. They put the Lions Club logo on the tail of the helicopters."
The club in Carstairs has two charter members still with the club including Brian Pound, a former district governor.
Currently, the club has nine members and meets twice a month at the Carstairs Community Hall.
"Our two main projects we do in the community are the Beef and Barley Days parade and the Christmas hampers," she said. "This past year we served 110 people in the community and surrounding area. As long as their mailbox is here we'll look after them."
Cunningham said supporting STARS has always been a priority for the club for several reasons.
"Because there are so many farm accidents and there are so many accidents at railway crossings in rural roads," she said. "There is a real need for STARS out in the rural area, much more so than in the bigger centres."
Cunningham said this year's parade featured 29 floats as well as a number of bands performing.
"It was probably bigger than ever," she said. "People are telling me it was an hour long. Usually it's timed but it wasn't this year. We had some local people out this time such as Dawn's School of Dance. They just returned from dancing at Disneyland. So they were dancing along the route. The gymnastics club were out too. So they were new too."
Cunningham said there was some tough competition among the entrants into the parade.
Meanwhile, the Beef and Barley Days parade results are as follows:
• Horse/mule/donkey(s) and carriage, wagon: 1st Cam and Julie Reine, 2nd Ron Morphy, 3rd Dennis Lloyd.
• Horse and rider: 1st Hannah Kipling, 2nd Chloe Sukhetsky, 3rd Paisley Sukhetsky.
• Antique cars/trucks: 1st Rick Fiturant, 2nd Carstairs Historical Society, 3rd Ken Campbell.
• Antique tractors: 1st Glen James, 2nd Dave Reinhart, 3rd Bruce Smith.
• Commercial floats: 1st Jim Bob's Nursery and Garden Centre, 2nd FYI Doctors, 3rd Rein Forth Equine.
• Club/association floats: 1st West Carstairs 4-H Club, 2nd Not Exactly Serious, 3rd Carstairs Horticultural Society.
