A club that used to average 18 members a year had only eight active members in 2022. Sadly, the small amount of members left could not keep the club operational.

Crescent Head Lions Club president Peter Loveday, who joined the club in 2001, said the low membership was the final nail in the coffin.

"The board has been doing it for too long, and we just couldn't keep asking the same people to do everything anymore," he said. "There's only seven or eight active members now, and it's a lot for us to run the club on our own.

"The last two years have been hard too with COVID-19. No-one could go to the meetings anymore and we just couldn't run everything as we used to - it's definitely contributed to our decision."

Jo Watts, the first woman to join the Crescent Head Lions Club, said it's an emotional time for the club after making the decision to close earlier in the year.

"You get teary looking at all the photos, there's so many fond memories that we share with the community," she said.

"The people in Crescent Head have just supported us through and through, and they have always treated us with so much respect.

"It's very emotional to say that we have to step down because we loved helping the community. That's why we joined, you know, to help others, but now it's very hard for people to take that time out of their lives to do the things we used to."

Ms Watts said she's very glad she decided to join the club nearly 20 years ago.

"It was hard for a woman to come into a man's world, so to speak, back then," she said. "It was sort of a "man's club" back in the day, there weren't a lot of women who put their hand up to join, or felt like they could join.

"But over time, there were a lot of women who joined. We became like a big family, and we supported each other through it all.

"Hopefully, someone will come along and be there to support the village as we used to. I'm sure there will be others who step up in the community and we really encourage them to."

In 1976, the Kempsey Lions Club held a meeting to see if a new club could be established in Crescent Head. They officially chartered the Crescent Head Lions Club a few months later.

The charter members, made up of teachers, business professionals and essential workers, started the club as a way to give back to the community.

Mr Loveday said the club has worked with the community since the start.

"We had 26 members in our first year, which was quite big back then," Mr Loveday said. "It just showed how generous our community was, and still is, to think that so many people wanted to help others.

Over the years, Crescent Head Lions Club supported the community through fundraisers, event days, raffles and barbecues - raising on average $20, 000 a year.

"A lot of the money we raised went to the schools and the surf club. We also raised money to put in footpaths, walking tracks, water towers... that was all through our fundraisers and community support."

Most noticeably, the club created the popular annual event Skyshow in 1990 as a community fundraiser day. The show included music, fireworks, market stalls, sideshow rides, beach games and more.

"It just got bigger every year," Mr Loveday said. "Every year we would add something new to the event and the community and businesses really got on board with it."

The club also successfully raised funds to upgrade the Crescent Head Water Towers.

A Kempsey Aboriginal artist was commissioned to create the two murals. He, along with local mosaic artist Guy Crosley and a few school kids, created the mosaic murals for the Crescent Head and Kempsey community.

"The towers were getting dangerous because it didn't have a lid on it," Mr Loveday said. "So, we decided to raise money to close it up, and the local artists helped paint it. It's now a proud community attraction."

Mr Loveday said he wants to thank the community for supporting the club over the years.

"The community has supported us for 46 years, and we want to say thank you to them all," he said.

"We also want to say a big thank you to the Crescent Head Country Club for putting up with us for all these years. If it wasn't for them we wouldn't have raised half the money that we did. They were big supporters, and we are all very grateful to them for everything they did for our club.

"Mostly, we just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years. We've always had a great relationship with the community - we couldn't have done what we did without them".

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