The Kansas Lions News Vol. 61 No. 1 Summer 2015 Kansas Lions online: www.kansaslions.org 2015-2016 State Calendar Aug. 21-23, 2015 First State Council Meeting, McPherson Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2015 Second State Council Meeting, McPherson Jan. 15-17, 2016 Third State Council Meeting & Mid-Winter Rally, Salina June 2-4, 2016 Fourth State Council Meeting & State Convention, Lawrence Like Kansas Lions on Facebook Kansas Lions online 24 / 7 / 365 kansaslions.org In this issue: From the Council Chair...Page 2 Sight Week... Page 4 Saluting service...page 5 Sock hop fun...pages 6-7 Amendment defeated...page 8 KanLovKids...Page 10 Lions Band...Pages 11-13 Club news...pages 14, 20 New DGs... Page 15 First St Council...Page 17 State Convention photos......page 19 Kansan Bill Phillipi elected to LCI Board of Directors PCC Bill Phillipi of the Marysville Lions Club was elected to serve as an International Director of Lions Clubs International at the association s 98 th International Convention held in Honolulu Hawaii June 26-30. Bill is one of 34 International Directors representing 1.4 million members in more than 46,000 clubs serving communities in 210 countries and geographic areas around the globe. Phillipi also will support the humanitarian work of the LCI Foundation, the charitable arm of the Lions association. This year there were seven directors elected from the United States. One unique feature of his campaign was packets of Kansas sunflower seeds that were distributed to delegates prior to the election. There were 38 Kansas Lions and Leos at the convention to support his successful campaign. Bill became a member of the Marysville Lions Club in 1974 when he was asked by his Kansas Highway Patrol partner Trooper (and Lion) Richard Erickson if he would like to join a service organization dedicated to serving others. He has held many offices in his club, including club president and secretary. He was District Governor in 2009-2010 and Council Chair of MD- 17 in 2010-2011. He has been a Kansas Lions Foundation Director since 2010, and served as the MD-17 Global Membership Team chairman from 2011 - International Director Bill Phillipi at his first meeting. 2014. Bill was the associate Chairman of the USA/Canada Host committee in Overland Park in 2013 and has served as both presenter and moderator at several USA/Canada forums. Bill is very active in his community. He was both a councilman and mayor of Marysville and also was President of the Kansas Mayors Association in 2014-2015. He served 12 years on the Marysville Hospital board of directors, including four years as chairman of that board. Additionally, he serves on the U.S. Highway 36 board of directors and is active with economic development in his community Bill is married to Lion Vickie and they have three daughters and nine grandchildren. Both Bill and Vickie are Melvin Jones Fellows. They have been and will continue to be a team while See PHILLIPI on Page 3
Kansas Lions News Summer 2015 Page 2 Council Chair: Become a club of excellence this year This has been a special year for Regional Chair MO and me as we celebrated our 50 th wedding anniversary with a Hawaiian theme. This was due to our celebration and going to LCI Convention in Hawaii. It has been an exciting year to ask you to Strengthen the Pride in Lionism. Numerous new members have been inducted. And NOW is the time to be sure they are involved with meaningful activities of service. At the Lions International Convention in Hawaii, District 17-A and me, as the District Governor, were recognized with the Pride of Excellence Award as the #3 District in all of North America and one of 20 from around the world to be honored. My thanks and congratulations to all who helped to make this award possible. It s not too late for your club to submit Club Excellence to LCI. Your club must have had a net plus membership, have sent money to LCIF, and are submitting club reports to LCI. The deadline for this year is Sept. 30. There are now only 10 Kansas clubs that have obtained the goal as a Club of Excellence. Surely your club can do this. If you need help in making your club one of excellence, please let me know and I will do my best to assist you. This year, LCI President Dr. Jitsuhiro Yamada s theme is Bringing Dignity to Others Through Humanitarian Service. As you plan your four areas of service for the Centennial Awards, please submit them to LCI to help Lions meet the 100,000,000 people served by 2017. The four areas are Youth, Vision, Humanitarian and Environment. I am looking forward to serving and visiting with you with presentations, concerns or suggestions for Lions, and helping you with projects or fundraisers. Just so you know where we live, it s Milford on Milford Lake. Our insurance office is in Junction City. So, If you are passing by on I-70, our office is located a block north at 925 S. Washington. Stop by and see us. Oh, Junction City is where our new Lions International Director, PCC Bill Phillipi, grew up. In closing, remember the motto Where there s a need, there s a LION. Side by Side. Bev CC Bev Greenwood Milford Lions Club H 785-463-5486 C 785-223-1610 bgreenwood@ igroup.kscoxmail.com Council of Governors Council Chair PDG Bev Greenwood (Mo) Milford Lions Club Box 199 Milford 66514 H 785.463.5486 C 785.223.1610 bgreenwood@igroup. kscoxmail.com District Governors 17-K Fran Smith (Denny) Ulysses Lions Club 1001 Baughman Drive Ulysses 67880 H 620.356.5879 C 620.353.4135 fsmith@pld.com http://lionswowinks.org 17-A Carleen Rajala Shawnee Lions Club 10612 W. 93rd Terr. Overland Park 66214 H 913.541.1139 C 913.481.7328 lioncarleen@gmail.com kansaslions17a.org 17-N Dwayne Willis (Karen) Moundridge Lions Club 312 West Durst Moundridge 67107 H 620.345.8168 C 620.747.0064 drwillis10@yahoo.com kansaslions17n.com District Conventions 17-K March 4-5, 2016 Hays PID Randy (Kathy) Heitmann, Nebraska 17-A April 8-9, 2016 Topeka ID Karla (Clarence) Harris, Wisconsin 17-N March 11-12, 2016 Wichita ID Kembra (Bill Lowe) Smith, Georgia
Kansas Lions News Summer 2015 Page 3 Phillipi Continued from Page 1 serving on the board of Lions International. Bill commented, I am extremely pleased and excited to represent Kansas as the International Director. I look forward to serving the Lions of the world and spreading the words of service around the globe. This election would not have been possible without the support of the Kansas Lions. I have many to thank for their help and dedication in seeing me elected as International Director. Hawaii was a wonderful place to be elected and of course I will have a role in closing out a century of Lionism and starting the next. As of the middle of July I have over 20 different conventions booked to speak at as well as the LCI board meeting in Budapest, Hungry and Savannah, Georgia. I will attend a board training workshop the first week in August at LCI headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill. Then it will be full steam ahead. If any of my fellow Kansas Lions have ideas or suggestions, please let me know of how I can assist you to make our organization better. In his 40-plus years of service, ID Bill has been honored by LCI with the International President s Award, the International Leadership Award and six International President s ID Bill Phillipi and his wife, Lion Vicki Phillipi Certificates of Appreciation. The Lions of Multiple District 17 are proud to continue to support ID Bill and Vickie as they embark on this exciting time in Lionism and service. The Kansas Lions News is published periodically by the Kansas Lions Foundation, 231 S. Tyler Road, Wichita, KS. 67209 Editor: Nancy D. Borst, P.O. Box 127, Goddard, KS. 67052; (316) 644-5430; ndbdesk@cox.net Deadline for next issue: Nov. 1, 2015 Please send your news to Nancy either via e-mail or snail mail. Send original photos - do not downsize them. Let Nancy know if you have questions.
Kansas Lions News Summer 2015 Page 4 Kansas Lions Sight Week coming Oct. 8-15 Mark your Lions club calendar for the week of Oct. 8-15 and start your planning for the celebration of Kansas Lions Sight Week. If you look ahead at the calendar, you will see that both Oct. 8 and Oct. 15 fall on Thursday, and you may consider it a little odd to have Sight Week beginning and ending on those dates. There is a reason! October 8 is designated as World Sight Day (a worldwide recognition) and Oct. 15 is White Cane Day (observed mainly in the United States). Those two dates make excellent bookends for a week in which Lions clubs can focus on specific vision-related activities, even though all Lions are committed to vision projects year round. As in years past, the Kansas Lions Sight Foundation will ask Gov. Sam Brownback to proclaim that week as Kansas Lions Sight Week. Any activities that your club plans during that week can use the governor s proclamation as part of your publicity. There are White Cane Day resources on the LCI website as well as other places that can be found on the Internet. These resources provide a way to convert from the old Candy Day to a White Cane Day. Other activities that might be planned during this week are a drive to collect used eyeglasses or a vision screening activity. The creativity of Kansas Lions will undoubtedly result in many different ways to serve during this week. Candy Day focus changing As a point of information: The Kansas Lions Sight Foundation has voted to discontinue focus on Candy Days because the cost of Lions candy through private vendors has become prohibitive. District 17-A has a limited supply of fruit-flavored and peppermint sugar free candies. If you would like to purchase a case of either of these types of candy, please contact Lion Beverly Nichols at taximath@aol.com. Screening Unit returns to Kansas State Fair The MSU will again provide free screenings at this year s Kansas State Fair Sept. 11-20 in Hutchinson. This is a great Kansas Lions service project. Lions volunteers are needed for all three shifts: 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m., 1:30 p.m.-6 p.m., and 6 p.m.-9 p.m. The first 30 minutes of the first two shifts are for training. Six volunteers are needed for each of the first two shifts and two for the last shift. Last year, Lions screened approximately 250 individuals a day. Screenings are offered from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day during the Fair. A free day s gate pass is provided for all volunteers who assist with this screening project. There also are a limited number of reserved parking permits for those with limited mobility. When this project was started five years ago, Lions could not get enough medically trained members to complete the blood pressure and blood sugar screenings, so nursing schools were asked to help. This is a win-win partnership as it provides clinical experience for these students while they furnish medically supervised help with screenings, and it introduces them to Lions and how We Serve Kansas neighbors to help them identify health concerns. If you are a Lions healthcare professional, your help would really be appreciated. Some of the screenings have been moved outside the MSU and usually there is only one instructor per shift. Please offer your assistance either as a Lions club or individual. There are some full shifts available and many times in which one or two additional individuals are needed. The MSU is located inside the Sunflower North Building on the fairgrounds, which is air conditioned and easily accessible. Please call Lion Ron Bretz at 316-283-1921 (cell 316-773-7740) or Sylvia Reinhardt at 785-200-6132 (cell 620-921-0130) to sign up to assist with these screenings. Kansas Lions Sight Foundation Mobile Screening Unit Committee Now is the time to book the MSU for 2016! Contact Lion Ron Bretz to reserve your date. (316) 283-1921 (316) 772-7740 E-mail: wildfires @cox.net
Kansas Lions News Summer 2015 Page 5 Saluting Kansas Lions clubs: We Serve Augusta Lions adopt-a-pot Augusta Lions Dianne Buggeln, Adopt-a-pot Chairperson and Patrick Laham, President, planted pots Thursday evening, May 29 at the corner by Williamson Plumbing in Augusta. Congratulations to the Wathena Lions Club which held its Charter event on June 14. Kansas Lions welcomes this new club to service in Multiple District 17! Feathered friends New 17-N DG Dwayne Willis and friends during LCI convention in Hawaii. Meet him and the other two new DGs on page 15.