Lions of PA Fellow Award Recipients

At our District Rally, I was honored to provide several awards and honors to deserving Lions, Lioness, and Leos in our District. Two Lions were unable to attend because of prior commitments. I finally caught up with them this week. I attended East Hanover Lions Club Meeting Tuesday evening where I presented Lion Eileen Longreen with a Lions of PA Fellow Award. Thursday evening, I attended Shermans Dale Lions Club 35th Anniversary amongst the tornado happenings. I was honored to present Lion Sherry Clouser with a Lions of PA Fellow Award. Both Lions are deserving of this recognition for their commitment to their Club, District, and most importantly, the community they serve.

PA State Convention

District 14-N hosted our 88th State Convention in Cranberry Twp, just outside of Pittsburgh. The Marriott Hotel was a great venue for the event and staff were accomodating to our needs, well except the Security Guard who asked us to take our party somewhere else, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Lion James and I arrived Wednesday afternoon with the State Merchanchise. Luckily, the rain was only drizzling as we unloaded the many carts of boxes. On Thursday was our preliminary State Council Session, followed by the General State Council Session. This is where the business of PA Lions occurs. It was, as sitting District Governors, our last actions, for the year. Thursday evening, our Council went to Smokey Bones, a BBQ place for dinner. This is one of the great reasons to attend Conventions, an opportunity to try new restaurants. The Governors were all placed on the seventh floor. This was a plus, since we had to use our room key to get there (no riffraff wandering around on the floor without invitation) and we had access to the Concierge Room, which meant free breakfast, appetizers in the afternoon, and desserts in the evening. So after returning to the hotel, we sat out on our front porch, which was the hallway. (think your home, go out door and sit on the porch) We pulled desk chairs and small tables out and spent the rest of the evening catching up. Friday was filled with informative sessions for Club Officers, Leadership, Retention, Membership. It began with the Lioness/Ladies breakfast. Congrats again to Lioness Frannie Mummert, Lower Paxton Lioness Club, who received Lioness of the Year for our District. Friday's Lunch was a model Luncheon. This means that the lunch was set up like a Club Meeting to show how they can be organized and how to prepare an agenda. Susan Graham Gray, from Greencastle, was the keynote speaker. She received a Leader Dog, Rascal, two years ago. Susan shared with us how Rascal has changed her and her family's lives. In the afternoon, Dr Amy Nau, from UPMC Eye and Ear Institute, provided us with a powerpoint on the Brainport Research and the progress made in helping sightless individuals see. Friday evening was the PA Counsellors Banquet. I was officially sworn in as a new member. The Necrology followed. It was a moving and uplifting service, remembering Lions and Lionesses who died last year. We returned to the hotel, changed clothes and enjoyed Hospitality Night with Johnny and the Halo Angels Band, wonderful oldies music. I then went to bed, while others sat out on their front porch. I was very tired and would need to get up at 6:00AM for the Key Member Breakfast. I was privileged to stand in for PDG Sarah Clark, Penbrook Lions Club, who won the PDG Category of the State Membership Contest. She brought in 3 new members this year. A new contest will begin July 1. Stay tuned for details. Then off to the general business session, to hear reports. I stopped afterwards to be certified and to purchase tickets for the basket raffle. Unfortunately, my luck stayed true and I did not win any. Saturday lunch, we tried a new place to eat. It's called Quaker Steak and Lube. It's a restaurant fashioned like a garage, complete with block building, garage doors. cars on lifts with tables below. There was a corvette attached to one of the walls. Pretty amazing and the food was good too. Back to the room for a nap. Saturday evening was the International Banquet. Prior to that, we were invited to a private social with IP Sid and Lion Judy Scruggs. Photos were taken and he shared words of inspiration with us. The Banquet was a dressy affair, but yet fun with clowns everywhere in the decorations. The defining moment was PID Dr Harold Ott walking into the room with Lion Barbara. He had made himself a goal to be at the Convention and to be able to walk in on his own two feet to the banquet. He did just that and received a standing ovation. PID DR Harold still has many months of rehabilitation and still has some memory problems. Keep him and Lion Barb in your prayers. IP Sid gave out many awards that evening. Congrats to IPDG PDG Dalton Paul for receiving the Presidential Award. IP Sid and Lion Judy both thanked us for our service and dedication to others. They have been able to travel around the world and see for themselves the countless individuals helped by our efforts. A special gift was given to IP Sid from the State Council. We did Council pins this year with lighthouses as the theme. Lion James designed and built a shadowbox with a lighthouse shape for the pins. After the banquet, off to the front porch. this is where the security guard comes in. We were sitting in the foyer by the elevators, tons of food on tables, many adult beverages and lots of people. We had invited others to join us for the evening. A guest, who wasn't a Lion and wanted to get some sleep called the front desk. So security arrived, asking us to take the party down to the front lobby atrium. That seemed like too much work. So several of our guests left and we moved the party to the end of the hall where only Lions were staying. Sunday morning was voting, final business session and the convention was over with one more event in the evening: District Governors Honors dinner. This is where the current Governors are recognized and the incoming Governors are pinned, unofficially signalling the beginning of their year. Congrats to DGE Dave and his partner in service Kitty. I know you will have a great year and will have many adventures as well. The theme for the Convention was Bringing Back The Fun. Fun it was, lots to learn, catch up with old friends, make new ones, all great reasons to attend the State Convention. Next year it will be held May 17-20 in Gettysburg. I would like to see many 14-T Lions, Lionesses, and Leos there.