From DG Deb Weaverling

Transcription

1 Kansas Lions District 17-A M onthly New s Volume 1 Issue 6 December 017 Kansas Lions District 17-A Newsletter District Governor (DG) Lion Deb Weaverling Editor Lion Michele Reese Website kslionsdistrict17a.org Editorial Information Deadline to receive items for publication is the 5th day of the month preceding publication on the first day of the next month. Send electronic information to the editor at kslions17anews@yahoo.c om or Telephone contact for the editor is Inside this issue: From DG Deb Weaverling DG Deb Weaverling Thankful for YOU! Lions of District 17A, Greetings! I trust you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families. As we have traveled throughout Kansas visiting Lions & clubs, we are always reminded of how blessed we are to live in this state and country. Our country is one of few that sets aside a day to be thankful for all of our blessings. After the second state council meeting, we held our second successful District Cabinet meeting in Wamego on November 4 th. I want to thank the Wamego Lions Club for their great support. It is humbling to know how many LIONS do work when needed without being asked. The setup and breakdown is a shared task by many LIONS, thank you all very much. Exciting News! Since my last newsletter we had our first KSU Campus Club organizational meeting at the beautiful Student Union. We also had our second KU Campus Club reorganization meeting in Lawrence. Many young adults are becoming very interested in who we are and what we do. Be open to the young adults you encounter, they are most interested in the service to others and community. If you have children or grandchildren who attend KU or KSU please guide them to Canyon Liby (KSU) at canyonliby@ksu.edu or to Mekenzi Ford (KU) at mekenziford@gmail.com. We will hopefully have both clubs up and running soon. The Tonganoxie Lions Club was my only club visit in November. They continue to grow in membership; I had the honor of inducting Joe and Rebecca Layton, their newest LIONS. Since their charter, this club has become very active in the Tonganoxie community. I took a two-week vacation and returned to my birth home of Hawaii. My mom had a family reunion in Pohiki, on the Big Island. This reunion reinforced the bonds of Ohana and how heartwarming it is to see relatives we have not seen Continued on page DG s Column cont d 1VDG Burns VDG Hentges Club Features International Convention Club Activities & Other 4 5 Upcoming Dates and Deadlines January 6-8, 018, Kansas Lions Mid-Winter Rally, Four Seasons, Manhattan February, 11 a.m., District 17-A Cabinet Meeting, Trinity Baptist Church, Wamego 1

2 From DG Deb Weaverling continued... for years or relatives we have never met before. Then we spent time on Oahu, specifically Waikiki. We visited our Ohana, Ron and my brother traveled to the North Shore for the Surfing Competition where the waves were - 5 ft. high, and I went on my second parasail adventure with my brother (1,000 feet in the air) for 10 minutes. This trip was a lifetime experience. Our district is doing great in recruiting new members; we are at plus six for the year. Keep up the great work! Let s apply the same great enthusiasm in retention. I could not be more proud of all of your efforts in LIONISM. Thank you to all clubs who made donations to LCIF; because of you we are closer to our goal of $0,000. If your club wants to make a donation, contact me and I will guide you through the process. I hope to see you all at our upcoming Mid-Winter Rally on January 5 th thru 8 th at the Four Points by Sheraton, Manhattan. All clubs are asked to prepare a basket to auction; proceeds will go to the Band Foundation. You can bring handmade items to be auctioned off, too. The next big event is our District Convention on April 7 th & 8 th at Fort Leavenworth. The convention will be held at the Frontier Conference Center, hotel rooms on the Fort are still available at a cost of $69 per night plus tax. Lion Rick Dodson and Lion Greg Ruff, convention chairs, will have more information in the very near future. Mele Kalikimaka, everyone! Enjoy your family during the Christmas holiday and if you travel, please be safe. DG Deb Weaverling s December Club Visits Dec. 4 Morganville Lions Club Dec. 6 Wakefield Lions Club Dec. 11 Bennington Lions Club Dec. 18 Minneapolis Evening Lions Club From 1st VDG John Burns Well, hear it is December already. We are almost at the halfway point in our Lions year. It is a time to celebrate our successes and to plan our projects for the 1VDG John Burns next six months. I have visited all my clubs except three, which I will visit in December or January. Most all clubs have had many projects and activities to help their communities and to raise funds for many more projects. Many clubs will be having special activities this month whether it be celebrating with a Christmas dinner or attending outside programs. Some will be sharing with other clubs and helping those less fortunate in their communities. That s what Lions do, WE SERVE! I ended up only visiting one club in November. It was Keats Lions Club. What a fun club! We were met by President Richard Webster and Secretary Joyce Troyer. Zone Chair Al Keithley and his wife, Lion Mary (Mickey) also attended. I was glad to see them again. Keats Lions Club had many projects and activities and have many more planned. Some of those were Eye screenings, pa pancake feed and a road clean-up. They also contributed to one of the high school bands which will be in the Liberty Bowl parade in Memphis on December 0 th. They will be sponsoring a Community Christmas dinner this month and will be supplying the ham for the dinner. They have a very nice facility that they dedicated recently, associated with the Keats United Methodist church. They also presented me with a directory and a very nice scrapbook showing pictures and activities from 1979 to the present. My next two clubs were to be the Lancaster Lions Club and the Leonardville Lions Club. Both clubs had to cancel their meeting due to differing reasons. I will try to reschedule them in December or no later than January. I will be visiting the Easton Lions Club on January 4 th. I want to take this opportunity to wish all the District 17-A Lions clubs a very Merry Christmas and a happy and successful New Year in your personal and family lives as well as your Lions clubs. I look forward to the next six months as we plan many activities to serve and to prepare myself for the challenges and opportunities in taking over as your next District Governor. I have big shoes to fill (not literally) as DG Deb Weaverling has been a wonderful example to follow. I also look forward to working with my DG team of 1 st VDG Diane Hentges and our nd VDG to be named at the District Convention in April. I hope to see everyone at the Midwinter Rally in Manhattan on the 6 th,7 th and 8 th of January. We will also follow up with our District meeting on February rd in Wamego.

3 From nd VDG Diane Hentges As November comes to end so do my official visits to designated clubs in District A. I have enjoyed each and every visit. The experience is priceless. My appreciation of Lions VDG Diane Hentges and service has grown tremendously. The spirit of WE SERVE is evident throughout District A. Ours clubs spend a considerable amount of time and energy on projects that raise money for the varied service projects. Pancake feeds, soup suppers, nut sales, trash bag delivery, garage sales, hosting at Culvers or another fast food venue, fireworks stands, golf and trivia tournaments, sock hops, concession stands, beer booths or cooking up burger and hot dogs at a community event are all carried out to raise funds so that Lions can put WE SERVE into action in their community. The Lions of District A take those dollars raised and convert them quite successfully into service projects. Sight and health issues, including diabetes and pediatric cancer are major areas of service. Clubs provide vision screenings, purchase eyeglasses, provide transportation for needed medical appointments, and host the MSU in their community; to name just a few. Clubs support youth through sponsorship of youth sports team, scout troops, scholarships, diabetes camp, Lions band, and through support and encouragement of Leos. Environmental projects include but are not limited to the improvement of park areas, beautification of public areas, highway or neighborhood cleanups, and recycling. Local Lions answer the call to feed the hungry in a number ways. Some clubs support local food pantries, provide food baskets to those in need, prepare and serve meals at facilities like Ronald McDonald House or homeless shelters. Lions are busy people and busy people get things done. Thank you; to all the clubs I had the privilege of visiting for the warm welcome, good food, and great Lion fellowship. Hearing your unique story helped me to reaffirm just how valuable Lions are to local communities. Keep up the good works and continue to make the Lions motto, WE SERVE, real to each of our communities. For over 50 years, the Concordia Lions Club has sponsored an annual Football Banquet for the Concordia High School. The event consists of a speaker and a catered meal, and is in appreciation for the coaches, players and their parents. This year, the event took place on November 16 th. I have attached pictures from the event. In the first picture, the people going from left to right are: Concordia High School Football Coach Austin Kingsbury, Speaker for the Banquet Brock Hartshorn, and Lions Dallas Nading, Nancy Nading, and Scott Tempero. Milford Lions were introduced to Coding for Robotics at Milford Elementary. To enhance and assist the Robotics and STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) program, the Milford Lions donated $500. The November Lions regular meeting was held at Milford Elementary. Teachers, students and parents presented how their coding skills on the laptop controlled the robotic movements. Lions were assisted in making the robots dance and sing. Pictured are the Milford Lions and students with their robots. Milford Lions were Randy Brooks, Allan Rothlisberg, Rod Persing, Bob Bork, Bev Greenwood, Principal Phyllis Boller, Sandy Rothlisberg and Gary May. Photographer was Lion Stacy Moritz. Student Coders from left to right: Emily Huehl, Aiden Vallon, Harrison Booher, Brooke Draper, and Addison Booher

4 Kansas Lions International Convention Time Approaches Hello, Lions! First of all, I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving. We as IPCC Fran Smith Lions, Americans, and Kansans have so much for which we should be extremely thankful! We are blessed. See the quote at the top of this article? I saw this in Jon Gordon s article recently and decided it would make a good point for our Lions to think about. "We don t get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we do it. I know how very busy my life is, and I imagine yours is a lot like mine a whole lot of busy and just a little not that busy. We get so busy working on things, Lions work or not, that we sometimes lose our focus as to WHY we do the things we do. I taught for years, and I absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, I saw teachers who burned out after just a couple of years. At the time, I couldn t understand what their problem was. Now I think I do they entered the career thinking it would be something quite different from what the reality of teaching is. It seems that burnout affects all kinds of people in all kinds of careers and avocations. We don t want it to affect our Lions. If your club is like mine - small, aging, busy - you have felt pulled in different directions to the point you just wanted to hide your head in a paper sack and We don t get burned out because of what we do, but because we forget why we do it. (Jon Gordon, Motivational Speaker) ignore those calls/ s asking you to volunteer for one more thing. Those different directions are often what cause Lions to burnout. I believe that the solution is a simple one - one that doesn t mean we give up our projects and fundraisers. We need inspiration to keep doing our Lions work. I find that inspiration in the smiles of a child who now has glasses and can see his parents faces clearly for the first time. I find it in the simple thank you from a person who now knows he should see a doctor about the high blood sugar results in our Mobile Screening Unit. I find it also in the good comments from non-lions about our Lions Club s work in our community. This is the WHY in why we do what we do. We should not be plodding along, dreading the next project. We need to be enthusiastic and positive because we are making a real difference for others. Many times, the smallest act of kindness that we do as Lions will be enormous to the person who receives it. We may never know how that life has been changed by what we Lions have done. Keep your spirit of enthusiasm alive and well, keep working to make lives better in your corner of Kansas, and keep looking for new Lions to share in the joy we feel when our service has helped someone to have a better and happier life. Update on 101st International Conven- tion- After urging others to get their Las Vegas convention registrations done, I did ours last week. It was easy to get the form filled out - but only after I got the right form. Denny tried registering us on-line, but the form he had was impossible to work with. I hope that you have found the simpler, direct form on LCI s convention site. If not, let me know, and I ll tell you how to find it. Our Kansas delegation hotel will be the Luxor, which is pyramid shaped. Look at the map that is on en/hotels.html to see how near the Luxor is to the MGM Grand where all the Lions Convention events will take place. If you have questions, please don t hesitate to ask. You can also look online and see for yourself that there are many places to eat, which VDG Tom Baumann told me about this week. I will talk about those for our Lions group supper in Las Vegas in a future column. 4

5 Upcoming District 17-A Events Sponsored by Local Clubs (Listed in order by earliest date) December 7, Auburn Lions Club, Auburn Night Out Shopping Spree, 5:0-8 p.m, Auburn Civic Center. December 9, Auburn Lions Club, Auburn Old-fashioned Christmas Party with the Bennett Family and the Auburn Community Center, -6 p.m., activities for children and families and a soup supper with choice of chili, chicken noodle or vegetable soups and gourmet cinnamon rolls from Sommerset Hall Café, Dover all activities free; donations of winter outwear accessories for YWCA Center for Safety & Empowerment and non-perishable foods for the Auburn Community Food Pantry. Milford Lions Club Legacy Project...a new sign for the city (left). Auburn Lions Club Legacy Project...Peace Garden honoring military, law enforcement, and firefighters (right). The Centennial Service Challenge Patches and Legacy Patches have been received and will be handed out very soon (left). In memory of Lion Gary Adkins, District 17-A LCIF Coordinator. Gary died unexpectedly on November, 017. He was a longtime member of the Auburn Lions Club (right). District 17-A will again Participate in collecting personal care items for Kansas school children Please collect and donate: bars of soap, laundry detergent, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, lotion, feminine care products, & shampoos. Bring to our quarterly meetings. For more information and to see the complete listing visit For questions, contact Lion Margy Sundstrom Margaret16@gmail.com Cell D E C E M B E R C L U B A N N I V E R S A R I E S 5