News

The District 12-L Spring Convention, on 8-9 February 2008, was fun and informative. The hospitality room was full of lively conversation, Lions fellowship, and some good snacks. We enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner. District Governor Al McNeely welcomed International Director Willian Hansen.  We had a higher than usual turnout of Lions which added to the good time. We have gathered some of the information that was presented on the second day here for those that could not make it. (Agenda)

Our Treasurer, Dessie Reed, presented the following financial statements:

Guidelines on the Virginia Lindsey Leadership Award were provided and clubs were encouraged to select candidates for submission.

PDG Floyd Schriber gave a presentation about the Canada/USA Lions Leadership Forum. The 32nd Annual Forum is scheduled for September 18-20, 2008 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. PDG Schriber indicated that the assistance of District 12-L Lions would be appreciated to help at the event in 2008 to present information and conduct pre-registration for the 2009 Forum scheduled to be held in Memphis. We will need participation from a large group to make this event a success. PDG Schriber has asked us all to plan ahead to attend and assist with the 2009 Forum.

The District was scolded for our low numbers of screenings in support of KidSight Outreach.  All other Districts in MD-12 have far exceeded our numbers. DG Al indicated we had actually done better than the numbers indicate and acknowledged we had a reporting problem. He pledged we would do better.

PDG Robert Hurt gave a PowerPoint presentation on the importance of Leo Clubs and the level of community support they provide.  He reminded us that retaining Leo’s as Lions is a great way to help turn around the downturn in membership that the Lions have seen in recent years.

Mid-South Lions Sight and Hearing Services thanked us for all our support, encouraged us to continue our club support, and asked us to be boosters on an individual level. Several clubs provided checks on the spot.  We were invited to attend a walkthru of the facilities to demonstrate exactly where our support dollars are going.

Lion Hank Hess from the Lakeland Club was nominated from the floor to be the VDG elect. The nomination was given a second and he was duly elected by the quorum. VDG Ray Murphey’s nomination for DG elect was sent to the nominating committee and accepted. He was elected as the DG begining July 2008.

After lunch, DG Al introduced our guest speaker International Director Ken Schwols. ID Schwols reminded us that we became Lions for good reasons and we should rededicate ourselves to continuing the Lions tradition of service by encouraging participation of new and younger members. He asked us to remember that our younger generations can provide new ways of looking at problems and possibly new and innovative ways to be Lions.

Ken Ketchum gave another stirring presenation on District 12-L Retention. He provided a Microsoft PowerPoint slide presentaion that unfortunately was not presented due to rearrangement of the schedule.  It is provided here to help everyone understand ways to help retain our membership by “Keeping Control” of our meetings.

Lion Robin Butler indicated the Silent Auction went well. Trimble Lions donated the auction items that raised the most money.  One of our Lakeland Lions was our Tail Twister for the event and helped keep things fun and interesting with some prize drawings, contests, and a 50/50 drawing. The 50/50 was won by Lakeland President Lew Cornett. This money will help fund training for future Lions Leadership.

Once again, everyone had a great time, enjoyed the fellowship with Lions from several District 12-L clubs, and learned alot about how our efforts support our community and the world we live in.  Please join us in the future so that we may continue the good work that we do.