Lions Club members (from left) Sandy Sandford, Ron Sheat, Vonnie Sandford, Eileen Birtwistle and Baz Stevens. Ada Birtles, 73, fronted the Palmerston Lions Club's 2019 Pink Ribbon Appeal just a year before she was ousted from the group. "By the time the house sold, I thought, 'I need to get out of this place, it's so toxic'." PreludeRon Sheat, former president of the local Lions, involved Birtles in club activities and said he repeatedly offered his support. Since Birtles' guilty pleas, it had felt as though the air had been cleared in Palmerston, Mrs Sandford said.

Source: New Zealand Herald April 30, 2021 21:48 UTC