Visits – Lions Club Sliema

Lions Malta: Dar tal-Provvidenza – 12.11.2023

Members from the three Lion clubs of Malta joined together to hear a mass celebrated by Fr Martin Micallef at the chapel of Dar tal-Provvidenza. Each club presented Fr Martin with a donation. It was also Fr Martin’s birthday and a cake was presented in celebration.

Id-Dar tal-Providenza was founded by Mons. Michael Azzopardi in 1965. The aim was to offer a home with a warm and family-like environment for persons with disabilities who for some reason or another cannot stay living with their family.

At the moment, one hundred and fifteen adults live in the homes of Dar tal-Providenza. The Home also offers a respite service on a regular basis to the families of people with disabilities, so that the family member who has a disability can continue to live with his family.

Four and a half million euro per year are required for the running of the Homes.

More information can be found here

https://www.dartalprovidenza.org/

Event: Tour of Qrendi

CULTURAL OUTING visit to QRENDI

For Lions members and friends

Thursday, 31st March 2022

A registered guide lead the tour.

Meeting was held at San Mattew tal-Maqluba at about 09.30am

The Mayor of Qrendi opened some places of interest.

Itinerary:

Visit the two chapels of San Mattew tal-Maqluba (enter inside)
Visit the Maqluba Doline

Visit the Sant’Anna Chapel (Outside)

Visit the Village core

Visit to Octagonal tower as seen from outside

Visit to Gnien tal Kmand (enter inside)

Location

Misrah Tal-Maqluba
https://maps.app.goo.gl/j61DMzJrkmbWFUTZ6

Report – Olive Oil Pressing at Stella’s Garden Centre Rabat

On Sunday the 27th of October, we were given a tour of Stella’s Garden Centre which has lovely plants, trees, and herbs. We were shown the advanced method of growing seedlings from high-quality seeds which are grown and then distributed as seedlings to farmers throughout Malta who grow them on to produce a variety of vegetables, flowers, and fruit for the local market.

Our guide for the visit was Mr Kurt Grima who gave an informative talk about the process of growing the seedlings and also explained the olive oil pressing method. We were told that in Malta harvesting olives is done from mid-September until the end of November.

The production area has a hopper into which the olives and leaves are placed. By means of a conveyor belt, the debris can be separated from the olives. After washing the olives are crushed and kneaded in a Malaxor tank for forty-five minutes. It is here also that oil, water, and solids are separated by centrifuge. The pure oil is then collected. This natural extraction process ensures the oil retains all the nutrients and antioxidants that are so beneficial for our health. The oil produced is Extra Virgin Olive Oil because it is not heated, nothing is added and the oil is not treated in any way. It takes approximately ten to twelve kilos of olives to produce one lit er of oil. The waste from production is used for compost or for making into logs for use in fireplaces.

We all appreciated sampling the oil with Maltese bread and bigilla….delicious!

Thank you to Lion Isabelle Micallef for kindly arranging this lovely visit and also thanks to her generous family for hosting us.

Very grateful thanks to Mr Kurt Grima for showing us around and explaining the process of obtaining the high-quality cold-pressed olive oil.

This was a well-attended fundraising event greatly enjoyed by all who came.

By Susan Galea Borg

Article about the Visit to the Malta Aviation Museum

By Lion Susan Galea Borg.

A visit was made to the Aviation Museum on 15th September 2019 which is especially interesting if you have a family member or friend who served in the RAF.

The museum shows the role of aviation in the Second World War and explains their contribution to protect Malta.

Some of our members watched a video of Malta being bombed in WW2.

There is an interesting range of exhibits that we could get up close to.

We saw wartime aircraft and also post-war jets…..A Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane, de Havilland Tiger Moth, Piper L4, Douglas Dakota 1V, Fairey Swordfish and others.

Some jets seen are de Havilland Vampire 11, Hawker Sea Hawk and Gloster Meteors. We also saw land-based vehicles. Uniforms and memorabilia also form part of the collection.

The museum also remembers individual men like Sgt. Pilot Tony Boyd who died in a Spitfire airplane to save Malta. Many men now lie at rest at Kalkara War Cemetery having died as heroes during 1940-1943.

The museum visit was a great success. Many thanks to our guide Mr. Ray Polidano who gave us an excellent tour full of information and history

of Malta’s role in aviation history.

Grateful thanks to the family Polidano who take care of and run the museum.

This visit was a fundraising event which raised one hundred euros.

Calendar of Events

VISIT TO THE MALTA AVIATION MUSEUM

Sunday, 15^th September 2019

VISIT TO THE MALTA AVIATION MUSEUM

and

LUNCH AT IL VEDUTA, RABAT

We meet at 10.30am at the Malta Aviation Museum in Ta’ Qali for a visit at this Museum which will last about 1.15 hrs. Afterwards will we proceed to Rabat for Lunch at Il-Veduta.

Entrance fee to Museum – €8

Please email Lion Vivienne Zammit on vivzammit11@gmail.com indicating your attendance both for the Museum and Lunch by not later than 11^th September 2019

SAINT CYPRIEN Visiting in June 2019

OUR NEXT TRIP

SAINT CYPRIEN – FRANCE

29 May- 5 JUNE 2019

WE WILL BE WELCOMED BY Lions Club SAINT CYPRIEN CATALANE :

Lions Club St Cyprien Catalane meet at “Hotel Mas d’Huston **** “

Saint Cyprien is famous for the ‘Fauvist’ artists: Picasso, Matisse, Derain Chagall…,

the Royal Castle and vineyards.

Some places very close to Saint Cyprien that we can visit are:

Perpignano which is about 14 Km from St Cyprien

is the regional capital of 120,000 inhabitants

Here we can visit

The famous “Castillet”, the seat of the King of Maiorca in the XIII cent.

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

The Abbey of Saint Michel de Cuxa, the city of Prades and Villefranche de Conflent, a UNESCO world heritage site,

The Vauban fortifications and the Yellow Train that crosses the Pyrenees up to the border with Andorra

Full details, hotel tariffs, tours, transfers, restaurants will be available by the middle of January.

For further information please see the web sites below

https://lions-saintcypriencatalane.myassoc.org/

https://www.facebook.com/lionsclubsaintcypriencatalane/

https://www.france-voyage.com/cities-towns/saint-cyprien-plage-68450.htm

http://www.saint-cyprien.com/

https://www.france-voyage.com/francia-guida-turismo/collioure-2035.htm

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbazia_di_San_Michele_di_Cuxa

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prades_(Pirenei_Orientali)

https://www.france-voyage.com/francia-guida-turismo/villefranche-conflent-2053.htm

https://www.tourisme-canigou.com/decouvrez/le-train-jaune

Sliema Lions Charity Cruise

In August 2018 Lions Club Sliema organized the first edition of the Lions Charity Cruise. The event brought to the collection of more than 800 euro to support the purchase of guide dogs for blind people.

The Cruise was organized in collaboration with RMYC (Royal Malta Yacht Club) on whose premises a barbecue dinner and a pasta dinner took place to open and close the event.

In the night of falling stars 7 sailing yachts and over 25 between crew members and friends, including a group of fellow Lions from the twinned Club of Licata, left Malta to touch the southern coast of Sicily in the early afternoon.

The participants spent 3 days in Licata, all with a distinctive yellow bracelet from the Lions Club Sliema.

The local Past president Agostino Balsamo opened all the doors for the Maltese delegation to discover the city, in particular Sant’Angelo church, the maritime museum and the old Maltese District.

A special welcome came from the Mayor Giuseppe Galanti and other members of the City Council during the visit.

Nice weather, delicious food and wonderful company were the perfect frame to relaxed days in the spirit of friendship and solidarity.

The group sailed back to Malta from Scoglitti after spending a few more days in the city.

In the conclusive dinner a participation present was distributed to all the boat owners by the charity cruising committee and a special trophy was awarded to the best average per capita donor and thus winner of this edition: boat 4US.

A special thanks goes to all the volunteers who made all of this possible.

The great success of the event will most certainly lead to new amazing editions in the following years.

Visit to Bosoco Marengo, twinned Club

Lions Club Sliema Malta visit to LC Bosco Marengo Santa Croce near Alessandria, Italy on the occasion of their 10th Anniversary of Charter. An enjoyable break with good wine, good food and good company. Some good discussions were held about strengthening the ties between our twinned clubs.

Visit to Fort St Angelo

Visit by Sliema Lions Club and Guests to Fort St Angelo. The original fort used by the Knights of St John, with spectacular views of the Grand Harbor.