Fellowship honours: From supporting her husband to leading Lions with excellence

From left, Melvin Jones Fellowship awardee Marcia Jensen, Past District Governor Kaye Smith and Blackall Range Lions Club President Peter Jensen.

A WOMAN who became involved with Lions to support her husband has been recognised with one of the organisation’s most prestigious awards.

Marcia Jensen, secretary of the Blackall Range Lions Club, has been bestowed with a Melvin Jones Fellowship, which is named after the founder of Lions and recognises outstanding contributions to Lionism or the community.

Marcia joined Lions to support her husband Peter when he and others formed a Lions Club Branch to serve the communities of Montville, Flaxton and Mapleton on 12th February 2019.

She has been the founding Charter Secretary, Vice-President, Marketing and Communications Chair, the Range Views newsletter editor and has developed and run morning teas. She ran the Taste of the Hinterland events at the Barn on Flaxton,  coordinated club dinners, tirelessly iced Christmas cakes every year, assisted with compiling the annual Blackall Range Calendar and has filled the secretary’s position last year and this year.

“In creating a Lions Club Branch, I had to find a president, treasurer and a secretary. I am sure Marcia had no idea when she joined Lions to help me get a club started, that she would get so involved,” said Peter, the club president. 

Peter felt she was deserving of an award and sought the Melvin Jones Fellowship for her at the suggestion of other members.

They managed to sneak it past Marcia, who had no idea she was in line for such an honour until the presentation at the June 22 changeover dinner. “I thought the awards were done and then Peter said there was a special award and he began reading out what this person had done,” Marcia said.

“I thought, ‘This sounds like me,’ and when he said it was a Melvin Jones Fellowship, I just about fell off the chair,” she said.

She said it was gratifying to invest time in helping the community, even if it meant making sacrifices. “I did have more time to spend in my garden. Now I just grow weeds.”

Marcia is the first member of the Blackall Range Lions Club to receive the distinguished honour.