Governor‘s Comments...

Well as the dust settles behind thee ole wagon train and as we go farther down the trail keeping our sight or vision on what lays ahead of us, we must not forget how far we as a District have come in the last six months. As of this writing I will have made official visits to forty-one of the lions clubs within the District. One region has held its meetings already and a second region has one planned for early January. Six of the nine zone chairs have conducted zone meetings. Our Vice District Governor has held orientation classes and conducted training with over 400 lions in attendance. Our MERL team has met and developed a plan for our District. We have chartered a new lions club in the Statesboro area and I might add this club is growing in numbers. Our overall District membership is not the greatest in numbers but we are growing and are presently at 1275. Had a great District Rally in October and plans are being made for our District Convention, which will be held in Claxton in February. Camp for the Blind just finished one of the best years that it has had since it started the camping program.

This month I will add two more mules to our team. The first, and this will be our seventh mule, is LEO clubs. Listen to what we as adults think of priorities in our life’s verses what youth are not only thinking but also accomplishing. We as adults have a priority or involvement with our youth of 40%, our own health of 21%, a strong economy 18%. Static’s indicate that 49% of young people give back to young people in there own communities, additionally, 72% of young people asked to do volunteer work “will” do so. Sad, 28% never get asked to get involved. Our youth are only 50% of our population, but 100% of our future. We must “UNITE” with our young people and build long lasting life skills. Provide them with leadership opportunities, experience and develop opportunities to build a better tomorrow for them. We have one of the best tools for that in our “LEO” program (leadership, experience, opportunity). It is a tremendous opportunity for our established Lions Clubs to reach out to our youth in there own communities. Get united today, asked your local board of education, principals, teachers, coaches, anyone who will listen, but asked! We as lions are missing one of the best opportunities of a lifetime to get involved with the youth in our local communities.

The second mule, or the eighth on our team, is Surviving Spouse Membership. The death of a love one brings many sorrows; what it shouldn’t bring is the loss of friendships and the feelings of fulfillment by serving a community through a partnership in service. For so many Lions, family involvement is deeply ingrained in the tradition of club service. Wives and husbands--partners in life--work equally well together as partners in service. When a spouse passes away, that tradition of service to others should remain unbroken. A surviving spouse can often feel isolated and alone; offering a club membership is a thoughtful and kind way to continue a pattern of service that has already proven its value. Not only will this new lion be an asset to your club, you have extended a hand in fellowship to the surviving spouse to continue friendships and forge a new path in the direction of community service.

And this is the season of advent, and from our home to each of your homes through out the District, Brenda and I wish you a very ‘MERRY CHRISTMAS’ and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! May God continue to bless each and every one of you!

DG Jerry

Trivia Time!

What former Lions Clubs International President was at one time the world's Light-Heavyweight Wrestling Champion? Answer is somewhere in this newsletter.

PORT WENTWORTH: Received reports timely. 12 hours admin, 50 hours on community service, 90% attendance at mtg., $75 donation to camp to assist with meal for senior campers, had region chair give program on DG suggested topics.

REIDSVILLE: Reports received timely. 50 hours admin, 25 hours community service, 388 hours community betterment,74% attendance at mtg., one new member inducted, one media article, $400 donations to camp, $200 donation to lighthouse, $200 donation to Emory Children’s Eye Care Center, $200 donation to RFTB&D, $200 donation to leader dog, $200 donation to LCIF, report received within 3 days last mtg. Held 2^nd annual Peace Officer/Fireman of the Year Appreciation Awards.

WAYCROSS: Activity report received, no MMR. 65 hours admin and 30 hours community service, 93% attendance at mtg., displayed club banner at other event, collected 100 pair used eyeglasses.

Date                Day                    Club                         Time

January 6^th      1^st Monday        Rincon                     7:00 p.m.

January 7^th      1^st Tuesday       Wilmington Island    6:30 p.m.

January 20^th    3^rd Monday       Hinesville                7:00 p.m.

January 21^st    3^rd Tuesday       Bulloch                    7:30 p.m.

The Emerging Lions Leadership Instituted for the United States of America, its affiliates, Bermuda, the Bahamas and Canada will be offered in Oak Brook, Illinois on April 10-14, 2003.

This institute in Oak Brook is designated as an Emerging Lions Leadership Institute and is targeted to Lions in good standing with five years or less of membership who have not yet attained the position of club president, Charter club presidents are also eligible. For details, please contact the District Governor Jerry Kaiser. Participants are required to pay their own travel and any related travel expenses to and from the Lions Leadership Institute (Clubs may want to help with this expense if participant cannot afford the travel expenses). Lions Clubs International will pay for meals and lodging for the actual days of the institute only. Lions Club International will make hotel reservations for each participant in a “twin” sharing room.

The Southeastern Lions Leadership Institute is being planned for April 2003 and will be in Eufaula, Alabama. This Institute will include both new and senior Lions so long as the Lion has not attained the position of Vice District Governor. More details concerning the Southeastern Lions Leadership Institute will be made available in upcoming newsletters.

Second I.P. Clement F. Kusiak welcomes all Lions to the “Gateway to Leadership” USA/Canada Forum , September 18-20, 2002, in Portland, Oregon.

Last year, 55 Lions from MD 18 attended the USA/Canada Forum in Fort Worth. Information is now available for early registration and to take advantage of reduced fees. If you register by January 31, you can save as much as $30. Registration information is available from VDG Lil, in future issues of “The Lion”, or on line at www.usa-canada-lions-forum.com

Chuck and I want to wish each and every Lion and their families a Happy and Blessed Holiday Season. We all look forward to the coming year. Now for a few Lions Resolutions for the New Year.

There’s only six months left in this Lions year, and we have much more to accomplish. We all need to work on membership in our clubs. If each of us would invite one person to be a Lion, we could easily have 49 more Lions this year. That means 98 more hands to help with Lions projects. We all must remember to be flexible. Our Lions Club meeting is the perfect place to build business and personal relationships. There should be no fines if we discuss our careers—without those careers, we wouldn’t be Lions. We must be flexible in our membership roster—don’t drop a fellow Lion just because he or she did not come to a meeting. Instead, phone or visit and find out why?

Let’s make our meetings more meaningful. Discuss that upcoming project. Conduct an orientation program. If you need a speaker, just open your directory to the cabinet member pages, and a speaker is only a phone call away.

Attend your zone and region meetings. Your zone chairmen are really assistant vice district governors. They are your first line of contact. If you club or members need something, contact your zone chairman.

Secretaries, compile the data necessary for the Annual Activities Report. This is due in June to LCI and is available at the LCI website. Keep a running account to make it easier when the time comes. Also, send your reports in on time.

As we approach the coming year, let us all look to the future of Lionism. We need to keep it alive. The way to do so is to be active in Membership, Extension, Retention, Leadership, and Orientation.

During the month of December many clubs take time off from Lionism to spend more time with family, friends and also to devote more time to their religion. This does not mean that you can skip filing your club reports to International and the District. We need your reports even though you may not meet during December or in case you have no activities. Now is the time to reflect on what your plans are to serve the community during the coming months. Remember that the needs of the less fortunate do not take a Holiday. Let us remain aware of our purpose and that purpose is to “Serve.”

The cover art of this newsletter is the winning peace poster for District 18-B. The winning artist is Alan Arnold of Waycross. Alan is 13 years old and attends Ware County Middle School and was sponsored by the Waycross-Okefenokee Lions Club. His poster theme was “Everybody should dream about world peace”.

Seven different school systems with a total of 406 poster entries involving 5 separate lions clubs took part in this wonderful youth project.

Dropped for non-attendance! How many times have we seen this as a reason for dropping a club member? Unfortunately all too often!

Our society is changing! All too frequently we see many demands on our time. Family and work commitments take their toll and sometimes we have to make a choice between attending a meeting or attending some other important event. We must be flexible regarding membership and attendance at our meetings.

Club presidents and secretaries, before you just drop a member because they have not been attending, take the extra step and find out why. Maybe they have some family or work conflicts that keep them from coming. If they want to belong to the Lions Club but can’t attend the meetings, consider one or more of our other categories of membership before dropping them. Look at making them a Member-At-Large or an Associate member. Be creative but also be flexible. Our goal is to retain members, not lose them.

Every member is important and every member has a unique talent that can be used for the benefit of our clubs. Make the extra effort to keep them. Don’t give up and take the easy way out by dropping a member from the rolls. Many times a telephone call is all that is necessary to keep that valuable member.

A is for Agenda: Don't run a meeting without one!

B is for Building a Better Tomorrow: Participate in this year's ambitious International Program and watch your club grow!

C is for Community: Make sure your Lions club is a vital part of the community by planning service activities that fulfill pressing needs.

D is for Dedication: One of the key characteristics of a successful volunteer!

E is for Evaluate: Take the time to evaluate your club and create an action plan to implement necessary changes. The President's Retention Campaign Clinic Series and How are Your Ratings? can help get the job done right!

F is for Fellowship: Plan social activities for club members to build the bond of fellowship between them.

G is for Grow: Look into ways your club can grow this year. Consider one of the new extension opportunities such as a New Century Lions Club, Club Branch, Lioness Lions Club or Campus Club.

H is for History: Your club can acknowledge the rich history and traditions of Lions while planning for future success.

I is for Involve: Make each member an essential part of the club by involving them in meaningful activities.

J is for Jump: Be proactive and jump into action at the beginning of the Lions year. Your positive attitude will be infectious.

K is for Knowledge: The best Lions are informed ones. Encourage your members to have a thorough understanding of your club, its goals and its history.

L is for Leadership: Creating future leaders is important for building a strong club.

M is for Meetings: Long/boring meetings are the number one retention challenge. How do yours measure up?

N is for New Members: A club can't grow without them!

O is for Orientation: A proper orientation is the best way to get a new member off to a great start.

P is for Publicity: Don't be afraid to "toot your own horn." Obtaining publicity for your club's worthwhile activities will help ensure its success.

Q is for Quality: Strive for quality in everything you do, whether it be recruiting new members or beginning a new service activity.

R is for Recognition: Recognize the outstanding efforts of your members at every opportunity.

S is for Strategies: Turn to the President's Retention Campaign for successful strategies to combat all your retention challenges!

T is for Team: Remember, Together Everybody Achieves More.

U is for Unity: Sharing common goals will help your members feel united.

V is for Variety: Try something new to keep your members interested and involved.

W is for We Serve: The motivating force behind what all Lions do.

X is for eXtra: Anything worth doing is worth doing well; encourage extra efforts from all your team members.

Y is for Year-Round Growth: Quality members aren't only available during certain months of the year. Focus your efforts consistently all year-round.

Z is for Zest: Can you take care of business and still have fun? You bet! Make your club enjoyable and productive.

Trivia Time! Answer

Past International President Johnny Balbo (1974-75) held the title of Light-Heavyweight Wrestling Champion.

Actually the term “Type” is not completely accurate. Our Constitution refers to membership categories as “Grades” of membership. Do you know what these “Grades” are? Actually, there are several forms of membership that are available for someone who wants to belong to a Lions Club. I’ll try to explain these types for you.

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas will soon be here. It will soon be time that we Lions must decide on our leadership for the next Lions year. We must encourage interested Lions to submit their letters of intent to the District Governor for the District offices of Lighthouse Foundation Vice President, Vice District Governor, and District Governor.

Eligibility for these offices is set forth in the Constitutions of Lions Clubs International and the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation.

For the office of Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, the candidate must …”have served as an Officer, Director, or Trustee of the Lions Lighthouse for a full term or major portion thereof, except that time served as Vice District Governor or District Governor shall not count toward required time of service.” For example, a Director or Trustee serves a three-year term. A candidate for District 18-B’s Vice President would have to have served a minimum of 18 plus months to fulfill the “full term or major portion” requirement.

For the office of Vice District Governor, the Lion candidate must: be an active member of his/her club, secure the endorsement of his/her club or a majority of the clubs in District 18B (minimum of 25 clubs); have served on the Board of Directors of his/her club for a minimum of 2 years; have served as the President of his/her club; and have served as a zone chairman, region chairman, district cabinet secretary or district cabinet treasurer. None of these offices can be held concurrently—thus, this office requires a minimum of four years as a club and district officer.

For the office of District Governor, the Lion candidate must: be an active member of his/her club; secure the endorsement of his/her club; and be currently serving as the vice district governor within the district from which he/she is to be elected.

In addition to these requirements, each candidate must submit to the District Governor a minimum of 30 days prior to the election (at the District Convention), a letter of intent to be a candidate and a letter from his/her club endorsing the candidacy. Our District Convention is February 22 in Claxton, Georgia. This means that the District Governor must receive all letters not later than January 22, 2003.

The Lions of District 18B deserve to be represented by the BEST elected officers we have. Several—no many—Lions in our District are qualified for these positions. Over the next month, think about the qualifications. If a Lion in your club would, in your mind, be a deserving and qualified candidate—urge that Lion to run for office.

Click here to sign up for e-mail notification of new Newsletter Issues

Previous Newsletters