Author: John Rush

May 29th, 2016 outing to the Mediterranean Film Facilities at Kalkara.

Narcy Calamatta kindly accepted our request to guide us at the Mediterranean Film Facilities at Kalkara. Narcy talked us through the setting up of the film making industry in Malta. He was very much involved in the setting up of the Mediterranean Film Facilities where are to be found three water tanks. The three water tanks known as Surface Marine Tank, Deep Tank and Covered Insert Tank are among the largest in the world and also among the few to operate with a natural sea horizon as a backdrop. The tanks were built about fifty years ago and among the many films shot there are Raise the Titanic (1980), White Squall (1986), Swept Away (2002) and Captain Philips (2013).

During our tour of the facilities we also saw a few scale models of boats and ships as well as sharks used in films.

Lunch was a happier experience this time. Lion George Attard arranged for us to eat at the open air restaurant of the Marsa Sports Club. He also chose a set menu. Lion Bella Micallef very enthusiastically took everyone’s order and collected a handsome sum of 150 Euros, 110 of which went into the Club’s Philanthropic Account. A good time was had by all those who attended. This outing was the final one for the year

 

 

On June 24 Mr Kenneth Delia on behalf of the Malta Hospice Movement was presented with a donation Euro 1600 by Lion President Chris Borg Cardona on behalf of Lions Club Sliema and the Royal Malta Golf Club. The amount was raised during the “Alex Mangion Golf Tournament” which was held in March at the Golf Club .

The tournament is a fundraiser when the 80 competitors donated a sum according to the number of points obtained on the golf course. The amount of Euro 800 that was raised by the golfers was matched by Lions Club Sliema form funds raised during fund-raising activities. Through this tournament which is held annually in memory of Lion Alex Mangion who was Captain of the Royal Malta Golf Club and an active member of our Club over Euro 50000 have been raised and donated to various organisations

Mr Kenneth Delia receiving the cheque from Lion Chris Borg Cardona in the presence of Ms Anna Zammit from Hospice Malta and Lion Joe Messina

 

 

Sunday May 1st, 2016the Club held a cultural outing at St. Mark Priory and Church at Rabat

Fr.David Cortis, who joined the Augustinian Order ten years ago, ably introduced us to the Augustinian Order of Friars and its history in Malta. We were told that the Augustinian Order arrived in Malta towards the end of the 1300 beginning of 1400. Unfortunately as the early archives of the Order was destroyed during the siege of 1551, the exact date is not known. The present priory is the third to be built in the Rabat area.
The library contains hundred of books mostly concerning religion, theology and philosophy subjects. One of the most intriguing contents of the priory is a giant size grand father clock dating to 1760 having been restored in the 1880’s by our very own clock maker Michelang Sapiano.

St. Mark Church was designed by Architect Gerolamo Cassar, as a prototype for the church of St. John in Valletta. The decoration is in High Baroque. There are paintings by Mattia Preti and artists of the Erardi Family.  Fr. David pointed out to us that it is believed that in the chapel dedicated to St. Jerome there might be skeletal remains of the architect. St. Jerome being the architect’s saint name.
The view from the terrace is spectacular as one can literally see kilometres away.

The party ate at Al Convento in Mdina, although the food was good the waiting was excessive, notwithstanding the fact that Bella and Margaret had personally gone to talk to the restaurant manager to see that service would flow smoothly. The waiting was due to the fact that there was a wide variety of meals ordered. The waiting was not wasted as it was evident that Lions and their guests were in pleasant conversation.

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Lion Paolo GATTOLA who is an honorary member of Lions Club Sliema was elected as Second Vice Governor of MD108YA at the District Convention held recently at Reggio Calabria. Lion Paolo will be the District Governor during the Lionistic Year 2018-2019. Lion Paolo and his twin brother Danilo are very active members of our twinned Club Salerno Arrechi.
They dedicate most of their Lionistic work to raise funds for the Dogs for the Blind. Lion Paolo had been appointed by MD108YA Governors Co-ordinator of the Dogs for the Blind project in his district. A task he does with utmost dedication.
Congratulations to Lion Paolo on his new appointment.

 

 

Sunday 19 October 2014 marked the first outing of the season – the Xemxija Heritage Trail.

The trail consists of 20 sites of archaeological importance all within walking distance from one another, taking about 90 minutes to complete.

The trail includes a Roman road, dry stone walls, a menhir, the Cave of the Galley, apiaries, an old carob tree, a burial cave, a Neolithic temple, a corbelled hut (girna), a grove, a Punic tomb, a farmer’s hut, a troglodyte cave, a granary/well, unique prehistoric tombs, a pill-box defence post, recently discovered Roman baths, a farmhouse, Mistra Gate and the enigmatic cart ruts.

This project was started in 1993 and to date these sites have been cleaned up and repaired. The San Pawl il-Bahar Heritage Group works hard on a voluntary basis and collaborates with the local council for the preservation of these sites.

 

The Sliema Lions Club is a proud sponsor of the 1^st Malta International Organ Festival

This festival will take place from Thursday, 28th August till Friday, 12th September, 2014 around Malta and Gozo.

The venues are St. Paul’s Anglican Pro-Cathedral (Valletta), St. Johns Co-Cathedral (Valletta), St. John’s Co-Cathedral Oratory (Valletta), St. Paul’s Metropolitan Cathedral (Mdina), St. Augustine Church (Valletta), Annunciation of our Lady Parish Church (Balzan), St. Cajetan Parish Church (Hamrun).

The First Malta International Organ Festival will feature some of the best local and international organists.

All concerts are free of charge. Donations will be collected to help Fondazzjoni Nazareth and the restoration of the St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral Organ.

Read more here http://www.maltainternationalorganfestival.com/

 

The Sliema Lions Club,at the request of their twinned Lions Club of Bosco Marengo with the logistics assistance in Malta of the the Risso Waterpolo Camp have supported a group of swimmers who crossed from Gozo to Malta this Saturday 19^th July.

The 2 protagonists of this group were:

Andrea Cadili from Genoa, aged 33, who suffers from a rare disease that has led him to be blind and made his bones very fragile. He is subscribed to Società Rari Nantes di Sori (Genova). Over the years he participated in competitions at sea crossing, the most important of which were of the Straits of Messina (2010), and the crossing of the Straits of the Bosporus (2012). Andre is an Italian Champion in the 400 meters crawl. He is always accompanied and guided by his coaches Davide Sanguinetti and Luke Puce.

Andrea Chiumminato, aged 35, is an an athlete who will be attempting this type of swim for the 1^sttime. He lost the use of his legs in a serious car accident.

Other Italians also attempted the crossing including Aurelio Bisso of the Lions Club Santa Margherita Ligure.

The swim commenced from Hodoq Rummien and ended on the Sandy Beach by the Cirkewwa Quays. The crossing took two hours. The boats crewed by the Lions Club Sliema and The Risso Waterpolo Camp assisted in the crossing to ensure the safety of the swimmers.

Cressi and Nuotomania are the Italian technical sponsors of the crossing together with the local logistics organiser Risso Waterpolo Camp.

 

Lions club Sliema sponsor Soprano Nichola Said and Pianist Catherine Norton to Les Chemins de l Amour

 

Lion Chris Borg Cardona (left) with Dr. Valhmor Zammit, who presented a talk on the pros and cons of the flu vaccination on Wednesday, 20th November.