Not long after moving to town in 1981, Don Doyle was asked if he would be interested in becoming a member of the Fergus Lions Club.
“That’s probably the best invitation I’ve ever had,” said Doyle.
Now celebrating his 30th year with the Lions, Doyle has held every major position in the club and has enjoyed taking part in various fundraisers over the last three decades.
“There’s always lots of opportunities to take advantage of the Lions Club motto to help the less fortunate,” he said.
Doyle has filled various roles, including co-chair, with the Home and Leisure Show in Fergus, which this year will be held May 4 to 6 at the Centre Wellington Sportsplex.
Doyle has also dedicated his time to other Lions endeavours, including bingo events, the local Santa Claus parade, the Scottish Festival and Highland Games, the arthritis fundraising drive, the Fergus-Elora seniors transit bus, and the development of the Grand River Arboretum in Fergus.
At the district level, Doyle has served as cabinet secretary, chair of effective speaking events and presenter at district training days.
“I try to take part in any and all Lions projects that I can,” he said. When asked if the club helps keep him busy in his “retirement,” Doyle smiles.
“Oh ya … but not at all,” he said humbly.
President Norma Peterson said members of the Fergus Lions Club certainly appreciate Doyle’s “wonderful sense of humour,” in addition to his dedication over the years to club events like the Home Show.
“He’s very hard working and very dedicated,” Peterson said.
“He’s a mentor in some respects to the less experienced members … … he’s a very important member of the club in terms of his experience and knowledge.”
Doyle’s volunteer work does not end with the Lions Club.
For the last decade he has worked in Wellington County as a volunteer driver for the Cancer Society. He annually drives about 8,000 kilometres (on average) and is paid only for mileage, even though he has had trips that have lasted upwards of 12 hours.
“I’ve always felt it was an important cause,” said Doyle, whose mother died of cancer in 1952.
For him, what makes it all worthwhile is the feedback he gets from cancer patients, who are so thankful for the help in getting to doctor appointments or life saving treatments.
“I’ve driven for people who have said, ‘If it wasn’t for the volunteer drivers, I might as well stay home and die,’” Doyle said.
He got involved as a volunteer Cancer Society driver shortly after he retired in 1999. For the previous 17 years he and his wife, Mary, owned and operated Doyle Paint and Wallpaper on St. Andrews Street in downtown Fergus.
“We met a lot of nice people and the town supported us well,” Doyle said of their time owning the store.
The idea to open the store came up while Doyle was managing a paint store in Preston, near Cambridge. Feeling that was a dead-end job, and once their children were old enough, he and Mary decided to start their own store.
Doyle, an only child who grew up on a farm just outside Mount Forest, is now a father of five, grandfather of 12 and great grandfather of one.
He’s come a long way since his first job many years ago at a Cambridge factory, where he volunteered for the business’ benefit society and also as a representative with the Credit Union.
Over the years he has also volunteered with the Preston BIA, the Fergus BIA and the Fergus Truck Show (for the last eight years). He is also a member of the Royal City Ambassadors singing group.
And for the last two decades he has been a familiar face at the Fergus Grand Theatre, where he has volunteered as an usher, house manager and concessions worker.
Indeed, Doyle has amassed a volunteer resume that is the envy of many, but he can’t recall what first made him gravitate to a life of helping others.
“I have no idea,” he said with a laugh, before adding he does want to repay some of the generosity he has received over the years from those in the Fergus area.
“It’s just a way of giving back to the community that supported us so well,” he said.
In fact, he feels so comfortable in the area, he doesn’t plan on leaving anytime soon. He jokes that he and his wife have burial plots in the local cemetery so they’ll “forever” be in the town they love.
“We like Fergus; I wouldn’t want to move anywhere else,” he said.
One of the annual highlights in his home town is the Fergus Lions Home and Leisure Show, at which all of the 40-plus members of the club are expected to participate.
“It’s a way of us turning our free time into money for the club,” Doyle said, adding the show is the club’s largest fundraiser of the year.
There is no charge to get into the show and the Lions Club expects close to 150 exhibitors to take part at next week’s event.
“It’s a popular show,” he said.
And thanks to dedicated members like Doyle, the Fergus Lions Club will be able to capitalize on that success – as it has for over 30 years – and generate some much-needed funds for vital community projects.
For more information on the Fergus Home and Leisure Show visit www.ferguslionsclub.org.
