The Lions Club of Mount Gambier will have a special guest in attendance at its 60th charter anniversary dinner next month.

South Australian Governor, Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, will attend the anniversary dinner.

Anniversary Organising Committee Chairman Eric Roughana AM said he was delighted the Governor had accepted the invitation to join in the celebration of the major milestone.

“We feel honoured the Governor will be in attendance,” he said.

The dinner will be held at the Mount Gambier Community RSL on Saturday, February 11.

Lions club representatives from a wide area are expected to join club members and their partners at the event.

Lions Club of Mount Gambier President Steve Bell said he felt privileged to be leading the club in its 60th anniversary year.

“It is even more special when you consider we still have one of the foundation members who is still very active within our club – Lion and Past District Governor Eric Roughana AM,” he said.

The anniversary dinner will mark six decades of commitment to the Lions’ motto ‘We Serve,’ which has seen numerous projects undertaken and many thousands of dollars raised for the benefit of the community.

The decision to form the club was made at a meeting held at the Rose Marie Restaurant on February 12, 1963.

The club was the sixth to be established in South Australia and the first outside the metropolitan area.

Within its first two years the club sponsored new Lions clubs at Kingston, Millicent, Naracoorte and Penola, which in turn sponsored other clubs.

The Lions Club of Mount Gambier also sponsored the Gambier City Lions Club, the Port MacDonnell Lions Club, a Leo Club in Mount Gambier, and the city’s Lioness Club which transitioned to become a Lions Club in 2021.