NOVEMBER ISSUE
Mighty Lions of MD36!!! You should be so proud! The 41st Annual USA/Canada Lions Leadership Forum took place in Portland at the end of September and it was HUGELY SUCCESSFUL! Almost 1,700 Lions from all over North America and beyond descended on Portland and everything went like clock-work. The reason things went so smoothly … YOU MD36 LIONS!
All of the Lions volunteers were on time, reliable, knew their jobs and were so very friendly to our guests! My friend who is a new District Governor in Massachusetts asked: “How much did you have to pay the people here to be so nice to us?” Even the rank-and-file residents of Portland were great to our visitors, giving directions, helping with MAX stops, suggesting restaurants and breweries! Just so I could brag, some of the hardest workers at the Forum were your District Governors! DGs Debi, Bob, Tom and Bert were all hard at work with big smiles! What an amazing time! What amazing Lions!
A quick word about our guests, especially our elected representatives. I was lucky enough to greet all of our VIP visitors including all of the attending International Directors, a number of Board appointees and the Executive Officers, 3rd Vice President Haynes Townsend, 2nd Vice President Jung-Yul Choi, 1st Vice President Gudrun Yngvadottir and international President Naresh Aggarwal as well as Immediate Past International President Chancellor Robert Corlew. I also got to meet and get to know a number of Past International Presidents. What a lucky Lion I was!! Absolutely every one of our special guests was as nice as they could be and so appreciative and proud of you! The Lions of MD36! They all said this was the best Forum ever! Whew!
Well Lions, it’s fall and that means it’s school vision screening time! Stay in touch with your schools and your Oregon Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation so you can volunteer at a screening. It’s great fun and you’ll feel a little better about our overall future after you’ve spent a little time with the elementary school students of Oregon and Northern California!
It’s also time to keep service in mind! By the time you read this, our October 10-16 International Week of Service will be concluded. I know Lions all over MD36 have been busy collecting eyeglasses to send to the Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center (LERC) to send out all over the world to give people the gift of sight! This was a great Week of Service activity, but it’s one that we need to do all year long!
As Thanksgiving and the holidays approach, keep your Lions fellowship strong! Enjoy service projects, enjoy parties and fundraisers, and even enjoy meetings (?). Continue to provide leadership in your clubs, zones and district and especially in your communities, many of which are still recovering from natural and man-made disasters. As I always poke, prod and occasionally harp, communicate about the amazing things you do! Use your MD36 PR Manual (endless thanks to Lions Carol and Carrie!), and get the word out!
As I’ve said before … Be the source in your community of SERVICE, LEADERSHIP, FELLOWSHIP and COMMUNICATION … Do it … Lead it … Enjoy it … Tell about it!
Let’s keep “MOVING MD36 FORWARD”!
As always, I’m honored to serve you, so proud of your confidence in me and humbled to be counted among you great Lions of MD36.