IT WAS mid-July in 1974, when two members of Ipswich-Redbank-Goodna Lions Club, were passing through Rosewood and stopped for lunch at the Royal George Hotel.

Publican, the late Sel Heit was tending the bar and struck up a conversation with the two men.

“They started talking about their Lions Club and Sel kept asking them questions, as he hadn’t heard about Lions and was quite interested,” Eirys Heit wrote in an address given by one of their grandchildren at the funeral of her late husband on Friday, March 14.

“Those men convinced Sel that he should talk to some of his fellow business associates in town.”

The outcome was the placing of a notice in the local paper, asking interested people to attend the inaugural meeting of the intended Lions Club of Rosewood.

The meeting was held on September 25, 1974.

“By the end of the evening, 12 people decided to become members,” Eirys continued.

“Sel was elected President pro-tem, and this small group started fundraising and doing community service projects immediately, while still trying to attract more community minded people to become members as they needed 20 members for the club to be chartered.”

It was March 19, 1975, when the membership target was reached and during the following month, the Rosewood Charter was signed in America at Lions Clubs International.

This year, Rosewood Lions will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the club’s charter night (May 17, 1975) when District Governor Jack Connolly inducted the 20 members into Lions International and presented President Sel Heit with the Lions Charter and the Gong and Gavel.

Lion Len Myles from Ipswich-Redbank-Goodna Lions Club, the sponsoring club, presented Sel with a set of Flags of the Nations in which a Lions Club existed.

“Those founding members were immensely proud of what they had achieved in forming the club, in the community projects they had already undertaken and the projects they planned to achieve in the future,” Eirys wrote in reviewing the club’s history.

“Lions Clubs International is the largest service organisation in the world and the Rosewood Lions planned to do their part.”

This ambition was typified by the presentation of an Air Viva Resuscitator to Pat Nugent of the Rosewood Ambulance Service as part of the Charter evening’s celebrations.

Sel Heit was President pro-tem for eight months and President in 1975-76, 1976-77 and again in 1999-2000.

“He was chairman of the Club’s rodeo committee and a Board member numerous times over the years,” Eirys wrote.

“He attended a large number of club and community projects and conventions over his fifty years as a member of the Lions Club of Rosewood.

“And he was enormously proud of the contributions that Rosewood Lions, Lions Club International Foundation, Australian Lions Foundation and Lions Club International District 201Q1 gave the Rosewood Aged People’s Home Committee to bring their project of building an aged care facility to fruition.

“He was also proud that Rosewood club continues to support our Aged Care facility, Cabanda Care.”

Sel and Eirys’ youngest son Joel continued the tradition of service when he became the inaugural President of the Rosewood High School Leo Club.

The Rosewood Lions Club awarded Life Membership to Sel at the club’s 30th birthday celebrations in 2005 and he was presented with a Melvin Jones Fellowship Award in 2022. This is the highest award bestowed to a Lion.

“Sel was truly blown away when the club introduced the Lion Sel Heit Bursary in 2022,” Eirys wrote.

“A school bursary named in his honour, recognising the 50 years of service to the Rosewood community within the Rosewood club.”

The late Sel Heit was 91 this year.

“While he was no longer capable of helping with projects, he still enjoyed attending special events such as Changeovers, Birthday and Christmas party nights to catch up with his fellow Lions members and friends.”

— Sel Heit, 50 years a Lion