The Chicago businessman founded Lions Clubs International 100 years ago, in 1917, and with about 240 Lions members in town for the Lions district annual convention, a banquet was held at the RSM Club on Saturday night with everyone dressed as if they had just stepped out of Chicago in the World War I era.

Lions from South West Rocks and other clubs throughout the region donned dark suits, fedoras, scarves, gangster-style ties, and feather boa accessories, embracing the dress theme. 

The South West Rocks Club is hosting next year’s convention, which alternates each year, between coastal and inland clubs.

District governor, John Davis from Tamworth Lions cut a birthday cake to mark the milestone.

In June 1917, an organisational meeting was held in Chicago, to form a service club after Melvin Jones had contacted business groups, encouraging them to expand their horizons from purely professional concerns to the betterment of their communities and the world at large.

Since then, Lions has grown to be the biggest service organisation in the world with 1.4 million members.

Saturday night’s banquet was the biggest social event of the weekend in Inverell, which included three days of meetings and functions for the Lions members who had travelled from across north-eastern NSW for the conference.

Bruce and Mareen Bithrey from Tamworth Lions Club won the prizes for best dressed ahead of Inverell mayor Paul Harmon and his wife Anna who were runners-up.

The convention had started informally last Thursday with a bowls competition, before officially getting underway started on Friday.

Convention chairman Duane O’Brien, a member of Inverell Macintyre Lions, said the two Inverell clubs got together two years ago and nominated to host the 2017 convention, because this year marked the centenary for Lions. 

For the last 12 months, a committee of members from Macintyre Lions, Inverell Lions as well as Bundarra Lions, had met monthly to prepare the event.

“We nominated to host it in 2017, because it’s 100 years of Lions, and 70 years since Lions came to Australia,” Mr O’Brien said.

Lismore Lions Club was the first one charted in Australia, in 1947.

On Saturday morning, the official opening for the convention took place at the Town Hall, where the mayor welcomed the Lions to Inverell, and was followed by a street parade with Lions members marching from the Town Hall to the RSM Club.

During the official business of the weekend, David Emanuel from Kootingal Lions was elected to be the next district governor.