Family Matters Club installs donated bench at Lodge

The Canyon Lake Family Matters Club unveiled its bench donation at the Canyon Lake Lodge on Tuesday evening. The club has been anxiously awaiting the bench since January.

The anonymous donor who gifted the bench to the club said the club was the recipient of the donation because of all the events and hard work the club has put into the community over the years.

“Even during the pandemic, the club continued to engage with the community in safe and fun ways,” the donor said. “Family Matters still had the Easter Bunny deliver eggs to children’s yards and Santa, too, was able to deliver Christmas gifts.”

Other events the club sponsored during the pandemic included giving away several computers with a photo contest, starting the fun Flamingo Flocking to raise people’s spirits by the flockee being able to enjoy the Flamingos in their yards, and putting on The Lucky Duck Derby for a fun race that was videoed on social media from the Lodge Pool.

Now that the Family Matters Club is returning to normal, it is back to providing low-cost events for the families of Canyon Lake like the upcoming Halloween Carnival and QuarterMania.

Canyon Lake Family Matters Club members Larry Mar, Donna Lovejoy, Jeannie Hoonnirun and Shawna Bowen sit on its new bench that was donated to the community by funds from an anonymous donor. The bench, located at the Lodge, was officially dedicated Tuesday. Photo by Dawn Rankins

The donor wanted the club to use the donated money towards something of the club’s choice for always doing so much for the community and it seemed fitting to choose a bench and its location being at the Lodge.

The simple inscription on the bench is the club’s name and the 2014 date of its inception. The date, the donor said, is a testimonial to a club that started only eight years ago and has managed to continue to grow with ideas to bring the community together despite all the recent hardships.

The Club’s motto is, “bringing the community together, one family at a time.”

“We are a simple family club,” Shawna Bowen, the club’s founder, said. “We want to provide the community with events and ways to make fabulous memories that capture what life is like living in Canyon Lake. We hope that the next time you are visiting the Lodge, you can take time to enjoy the bench knowing what it stands for and how someone’s gesture of kindness and money made it all possible.”

She said the club is thankful to this kind-hearted donor.

“We hope the bench brings as much joy to the donor as we hope it does for the community and current and future club members for generations to come,” she said.