The Gisborne Wainui Lions Bulletin

Page created by Catherine Ross
 
CONTINUE READING
The Gisborne Wainui Lions Bulletin
The Gisborne Wainui
  Lions Bulletin
              July 2014
The Gisborne Wainui Lions Bulletin
FRANCIS W. YATES LTD

                                        BUILDER
                                        REGISTERED MASTER BUILDER
           Advertising space to
                                         NEW HOMES
                   rent                  ALTERATIONS &
                                          ADDITIONS

Freephone: 0800 428 429                 PH. 0274 513 629
Ph: 06 867 9811                         Office/Fax 867 9482

Upgrade your
existing
Windows and
Doors to
Double Glazing
NOW!

     Reduced Condensation
     Improved Insulation
     Improved Comfort
     Savings on Energy Costs
     10 year Warranty            Advertising space to
                                          rent
For a Free quote call
06 8677936
www.dualglaze.co.nz

2
The Gisborne Wainui Lions Bulletin
Club Officers .................................................... 4

President‘s Report (Evan Bowis) ............................ 5

From the Editors Chair ........................................ 6

Date‘s for your calendar ...................................... 7

Guess who ....................................................... 7

2014—2015 Committee ........................................ 8

Zone 1 Report .................................................. 9

Past President & Secretary Russell ......................... 10

Buddy List ...................................................... 11

Distant Member ............................................... 12

Projects......................................................... 13

Change Over night ............................................ 15

Christmas Trees ............................................... 19

International President Joe Preston ........................ 21

District Governor David McDonald .......................... 22

The Last Word ................................................. 24

3
The Gisborne Wainui Lions Bulletin
Gisborne Wainui Club Officers 2014—2015
    President                 Evan Bowis                  8678404

    Secretary                 Russell Hathaway            8679660

    Treasurer                 Ian Flockhart               8686255

    Vice President 1          Per Elzen / David McLean

    Vice President 2

    Lion Tamer                Check Roster

    Tail Twister              Check Roster

    Social                    David McLean                8676128

    Newsletter                Ben Chisholm                8679521

    Membership                Hans Kwak                   8685622

    Projects                  Richard Jackson             8677662
                              David Berry                 8676339

    Youth, Health             Ray Thomas                  8683638
     & Welfare

    Archives                  Peter Beuth                 8679602

Gisborne Wainui Lions meet every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month at the
Emerald Hotel, Gladstone Road. 5.30pm Fellowship, 6.30pm Dinner.
For apologies contact Ian Holloway by 8pm the day before on 867 4140 or txt
027 737 3134
(A Charge will result if no apology is received on time)

               Newsletter Articles to: benc@gisborne.net.nz
4
The Gisborne Wainui Lions Bulletin
President‘s ramblings..................
Greetings Lions and Partners
It was good to have most members attend changeover last month. Past DG‘s
Jacquee and Murray Neilson from Foxton Beach did a great job in their various
roles; it was also good to have Charter Member Pat Naden and Ellen with us.
It was indeed a memorable night with Ian Flockhart receiving the Melvin Jones
Fellow Award – well deserved for his active and loyal involvement in our Club
over the past 31 years – many of them as Treasurer.
Thank-you Ray for your considerable effort in obtaining and organising the
annual planting of our 400 Christmas Trees. Soil and weather conditions were
very good; also thanks to those carried who out the planting at Bartletts and
Aberdeen Road.
There was a good turnout of enthusiastic members at our 1 st business meeting
of the new 2014/15 year. We got through a very full agenda; I was encouraged
by the willingness to be involved in progressing many of the items; we also
managed to complete the CEP ―How are your ratings‖ survey – these will be
sent away for analysis.
Tail-twisting and Greeter will be on a similar roster basis as last year, but a
new addition I am introducing is a ―Mystery Member‖ (operates in several other
clubs) who will be contacted by the President 7-10 days out from the next Tea
Meeting – this person will act as a 2nd Tail-twister – BEWARE if you haven‘t
spoken to the ―Mystery Member‖ prior to the tail-twisting session – you will be
fined. With a fun ―twist‖ to the idea, the object is to get more mix and
mingling during the social time prior to the meal.
A Committee structure has been re-introduced. I have allocated most members
to more than one committee, in doing this I have endeavoured to bring your
individual skills and interests to that group. It is intended that this structure
will encourage more involvement in both the decision making and carrying out
the tasks – spreading the load off the chairman – across the membership. The
respective committees are detailed elsewhere in this bulletin and will also be
included in the 2014/15 Membership List (both Email and print).
29th July is a 5th Tuesday. Ian Flockhart and Basil Kendrew have organised a
Snooker night at the RSA – usual Tea Meeting timetable but a good turnout is
required to get our minimium of 20 persons in order for the venue to be open.
Yours in Lions
       Evan Bowis
       President

As a Team, a better tomorrow starts today!
5
The Gisborne Wainui Lions Bulletin
From
                                             the Editor's
                                                Chair
                                               July 2014

I‘m back!!!!!

After a 10 month break from the bulletin I have once again
accepted the role of Editor. I believe it to be an important part
of our Lions club.

I start off by giving a huge thanks to the many submissions I have
received for this issue. Fantastic effort. Please keep it up.

Unfortunately I will not be around next month to produce the
Bulletin so once again please save up those reports for the one in
September.

Well done to our Past President Bill Harrison and his team for the
past 12months and a warm welcome to our new President, Evan
Bowis and his team.
I suspect this year will be
packed full of events and
projects that we can all sink our
teeth into.

Ed

6
The Gisborne Wainui Lions Bulletin
Sunshine Bus Cleaning roster:
    2nd August: Bill Harrison / David McLean / David Berry
    6th September: Peter Beuth / Evan Bowis / Ray Thomas
    4th October: Basil Kendrew / Ben Chisholm / Ian Holloway
    1st November: Richard Jackson / Per Elzen / Garth Tattersfield
    6th December: Evan Bowis / Ian Holloway / Russell Hathaway

Venue: At the rear of Salvation Army Church building - rear entry off Disraeli
Street next to Allan Kellet - signposted Sunshine Bus.
DAY: First Saturday each month excluding January TIME 9:00am
SUNSHINE BUS CO-ORDINATORS: Craig & Bridget Williams who have
everything set up, ready to go. They also offer a cup of tea.

Next Months Tea Meetings:
    5th August
    19th August

                               Guess Who?

     This month’s baby photo.

   Take a guess as to who you
 think this is. The first correct
 answer given to me will win a
free drink at the next meeting.

     This young fellow is a quiet
        member of the club.

    Email: benc@gisborne.net.nz
         with your answers.

7
The Gisborne Wainui Lions Bulletin
2014—2015 Committee Members

                         President: Evan Bowis

                     Secretary                 Treasurer
                 Russell Hathaway             Ian Flockhart
                            1st Vice Presidents:
                          Per Elzen/ David McLean

                          Lion Tamer: Ian Holloway

                         Tailtwisters: See Program

                  Projects: Dave Berry / Richard Jackson
    Laurie Colvin, Patrick Cook, Terry Dononvan, Per Elzen, Bill Harrison,
      Ian Holoway, Brian Hutchinson, Basil Kendrew, Tony Land, Dave
      McLean, Alan Officer, Jim Osler, Ian Stewart, Garth Tattersfield.

                         Community: Ray Thomas
             Pete Beuth, Ben Chisholm, Ken Huberts,Tony Land.

                            Social: David McLean
    Patrick Cook, Per Elzen,Bill Harrison, Richard Jackson, Basil Kendrew,
                                   Jim Osler

                         Newsletter: Ben Chisholm
                     Per Elzen, Ken Huberts, Hans Kwak

                         Membership: Hans Kwak
                 Dave Berry, Ian Holoway, Brian Hutchinson

                            Achives: Peter Beuth
                       Ian Stewart, Garth Tattersfield

8
The Gisborne Wainui Lions Bulletin
Zone 1 News

As I head into my second year as Zone 1 Chairman I feel the local clubs
are in a better shape than last year. With the help of Tanya Leyland
and Jackie Reid running the CEP and Officer Training weekend, it has
been a good start to the year. It was good to see both days were
supported. Everybody got a lot out of the two workshops.

Membership
Membership in 202m is doing well, we are not on the downward slope
we are on the plus, but only just though. A total of 71 new members to
the district. In Zone 1, membership is also going well, last year there
was 98 members this year to date 102 members, with Wairoa
Lighthouse Ladies and Gisborne Hosts doing well in membership growth,
plus they have more in the New Year to be inducted.

The new club in Taradale, even only one year from being chartered,
they did another membership drive with 25 interested that came to the
information evening and 18 going to the next meeting. Also a new club
is being chartered in Otaki very soon, I will find out details at
presidents weekend on the 19th July.

Just on Presidents weekend, Debbie, myself and the kids are spending
the weekend down in Porirua. I will help the new presidents fit in.
Also attend the first cabinet meeting for the Lions year under DG Keith
Kenderdine‘s rule, plus attend a special meeting to vote in the new 2nd
VDG.
That‘s all from the coast with the most.

     Peter Beuth
     Zone1 chairman

9
The Gisborne Wainui Lions Bulletin
Past President
Hi Lions and partners.

Well what a busy year we have had, helping the Hospice getting there
shop ready and raising funds by running a BBQ.
Supplying the new stretcher for the Rescue Helicopter which the pilot
told me they have used several times and it is a great help to them.
We have also donated money to Star Ship Hospital and Ronald McDonald
House and supplied a microwave, dryer and a washing machine to the
Lion House in Hamilton were people from Gisborne can say when having
treatment at the Hospital.
Of course this would not be possible if it was not for all the hard work
we all do fund raising, Ray looking after the Christmas Trees which is an
all year job. Richard and Dave with the Beach Dig and the Fire Wood,
the jobs and people are too many to mention.
I would like to thank Evan for stepping in when I was unable to take a
meeting.
Of course all this would not be possible if it was not for the HELP AND
SURPORT OF OUR PARTNERS.
I know you will give Evan your full support over the next year.

      Regards
      Bill Harrison
      Regard Past President

                         Secretary Russell
I receive a large number of E Mails from both International & District in the
form of Newsletters.. Some of them are lengthy documents. I am always
concerned about forwarding them on to members clogging up their E Mail
inbox. I would be grateful to receive members views on this. Per can include
these Newsletters on our Club‘s Website but we would want members to use
our Website like we do with our E Mail inbox & view the Website on a daily
basis. What do you think of this? I will continue to send E Mails on Club
matters as usual however do you want the Minutes sent in the form of an
individual E Mail. Per does place them on our Website as soon as I send them
out. I will bring this matter up at our next meeting. It‘s not a big job to
create different Distribution Lists for separate communications eg Bulletin,
Minutes, Rooster reminders, etc.

      Russell Hathaway

10
Buddy List 2014—2015

Dave Berry           -   Richard Jackson      867 7662   027 416 9470
Evin Bowis           -   Per Elzen
Pete Beuth           -   Ian Stewart          862 6681   027   461   4036
Ben Chisholm         -   Garth Tattersfield   862 8125   021   161   9451
Laurie Colvin        -   Ken Huberts          868 8860   027   445   4979
Patrick Cook         -   Ray Thomas           868 3638   027   393   3444
Terry Donovan        -   Bruce Stichbury      868 9511
Per Elzen            -   Russell Hathaway     867-9660   027   441 2967
Ian Flockhart        -   Basil Kendrew        862-8461   027   292 3757
Russell Hathaway     -   Ian Holloway         867 4140   027   737 3134
Bill Harrison        -   David McLean         867-6128   027   241 9052
David Henderson      -   Hans Kwak            868-5622   021   0240 1992
Ian Holoway          -   Russell Hathaway     867-9660   027   441 2967
Ken Huberts          -   Laurie Colvin        867 9215   021   413 106
Brian Hutchinson     -   John Jennings        868 8957
Richard Jackson      -   Dave Berry           867 6339
John Jennings        -   Brian Hutchinson     868-5486   027 243 6591
Basil Kendrew        -   Ian Flockhart        868-6255
Hans Kwak            -   Tony Land            867 2619   027   254 8297
                         Dave Henderson                  027   686 8062
Tony Land            -   Hans Kwak            868 5622   021   0240 1992
David McLean         -   Bill Harrison        867-1380   027   453 6904
Alan Officer         -   Jim Osler            867-7366   027   443 8823
Jim Osler            -   Alan Officer         863-0902   021   257 5472
Ian Stewart          -   Pete Beuth           867 9602   022   126 8748
Bruce Stichbury      -   Terry Donovan        868 9876
Garth Tattersfield   -   Ben Chisholm         867 9521
Ray Thomas           -   Patrick Cook         867 3215   027 417 6561

11
Distant Member
Hello Fellow Club members.

Kai ora from Auckland.
Well life here is busy as you‘d expect, but it‘s a great place to be in
business. Everything here is at your fingertips and very accessible. The
logistics of business is very easy and I can understand why many
companies relocate or form up here.
On a lighter note it was nice to come back for changeover night and see
everyone. Wainui Lions is a great club and until you don‘t have it, you
don‘t know what your missing. I can attest to that.
I‘m an associate member of Papakura Lions club. We have a regular
attendance of about 14 members with lots of experience between them
all, however the club has a reduced membership compared to the years
gone by and its difficult to attract newer younger members in a bigger
city area. People don‘t seem to have the same sense of commitment to
the community as they do in regional areas.
I certainly miss the ease of moving around a smaller city and the
proximity to the beaches. Everything in Gisborne is so accessible.
I will be down for the tea meeting on the 5th August so will see you all
then.
In the meantime keep up all the hard work. Wainui Lions has a great
reputation for all it has achieved to date in the Gisborne community.
Think about all the people you have helped in various ways over the
years and it becomes very apparent what a difference you have all
made to peoples lives. People who unlike most of us, struggle with
health or other personal difficulties.
Take care.

     Regards
     Dave Henderson.

12
Projects
Another ‗Lions‘ year has started and we look forward to working with
our new president Evan.
At this time we have five major Projects on our books this coming year,
and I hope you will all give us your support as you have done in the
past. I would like to think you would all put your hand up to assist
when required or better still offer your services if you think you can
help on any of the projects.

Now an update on the projects;

1. BEACH DIG Unfortunately the tides don‘t really fit in with our usual
mid January slot so we are going to have it on the Sunday of
Anniversary weekend (25th January) starting later at about 5.00pm. I
think some of the games we have had in the past are now beyond their
‗best before by‘ date so please help me come up with some new ideas.
We should be able to concentrate more on food this time as it will be
more around meal time and the temperature won‘t be so hot. I hope
several of you will put up your hands to help organise this event
especially gaining sponsorship and take some of the load of Dave Berry
and myself.
I would still like it to be one of the major fundraisers of the year just
like;

2. CHRISTMAS TREES Ray and his team have already planted the next
crop of trees and we may have to have a working bee to clear around
this years crop before we harvest and sell them in December.

3. EASTWOODHILL We already have a quote from the Rotorua
sculpture artist and arborist, but are having difficulties in getting
anything from any local folk that may be suitable to do the job. I
believe Eastwoodhill now have all the funding they need for the
proposed playground.

4. KIWANAS NODDY TRAIN After months of haggling with the GDC
staff we now have been given the use of the building at the old sewer
site and permission to run the train on the Adventure Playground at an
acceptable price. Unfortunately in the time since we where given the
OK to use the shed (10 April) and the time we were able to put the
train in the shed (28 June) we have run up substantial rental fees on

13
the old storage shed because of the stuffing around by the GDC.
At a subcommittee meeting that I assembled it has now been decided
to call the train the LION EXPRESS and depending on costs we may
repaint it in Lions colours, flash it up a bit with some new wiring etc.
which Tony Land hopes can be accomplished by the Polytech students.
We also hope to repaint the storage shed before we start operations.
I am sure you will all help in some way to get the Lion Express
operational for the beginning of daylight saving.

5. CHILDRENS CYCLEWAY We will attempt to raise funds to build a
cycleway in Gisborne – hopefully a copy of the one on Napiers Marine
Parade. It is a layout of roads on a small scale that has everything you
would find on a normal road such as roundabouts, stop and giveway
signs, pedestrian crossing, bus stop and working traffic lights. I see it
as not only as a recreational facility for children under 12 but a safe
training area for teaching kids the rules of the road.
District Council CEO Judy Campbell said she liked the idea and will
contact the Napier Council to get the plans and spec‘s for the one on
Napier‘s Marine Parade.
Police Area Commander Sam Aberahama was also very supportive of the
concept and we hope that we can convince various trusts like the ECT,
ACC, Williams, Eastern & Central and Lion foundation, LMLCCT, etc. to
fund the approx $500,000.00 cost. On our part we may be able to put
up a small contribution and convince local contractors to do the work at
cost.

We are open to any other ideas you may have as to where to find funds
as we believe this could be a real asset for Gisborne.
Projects 1, 2 and hopefully 4 are our money makers whereas 3 and 5 are
where we spend our hard earned cash for the benefit of our community.
We must also recognise the contribution of smaller projects that help
fund our Administration account like the selling of firewood donated by
Garth and the Dog show catering (Hans) and New Years day Fireworks
security. If you know of any other projects that may bring in some
money for this fund let us know as it helps to keep our subs at a
reasonable level.

     Richard Jackson
     Projects Chairman

14
Change Over Night
                                  A successful Change Over night took place the
                                  other Saturday night at the Emerald Hotel
                                  with 37 members and friends attending.
                                  The room was nicely set up with our banners
                                  on the wall and the round tables well placed
                                  and nicely set out. After the toasts and the
                                  ‗tail twisting extraordinaire‘ by Brian Hutch,
                                  who had
                                  obviously done
                                  his home work
and managed to extract $33.95 from those
present, we sat down for the meal, even though
the dinner plates were cold!
(President Evan has already had a talk with the
chef, to ensure that doesn‘t happen again.!)
This followed by Past President Bill‘s report.
Next item on the agenda was a special
presentation by PDG Murray Neilson — a past
trustee of the Lloyd Morgan Lions Clubs
                                                Charitable Trust. He asked
                                                Richard and Elizabeth to come
                                                forward and on behalf of the Club
                                                presented him with an Honoured
                                                Membership of the L.M.L.C.T .
                                                PDG Murray spoke of Richards
                                                efforts as a leader and a worker,
                                                who enthused other members
                                                with his drive in organising
                                                projects, and the hospitality both
                                                he and Elizabeth provided after
                                                some of those big projects,
enabling members to enjoy some fellowship.
Next was the induction by PDG Jacquey
Neilson of President Evan and his Board
of Directors, which she did in a unique
manner. Using our train project as
inspiration, she inducted Evan as ‗the
driver of the train‘ and the rest of the
board members as different members of
the crew in their various positions –
stressing the team work in the year
ahead.

15
Before addressing those present President Evan showed a Toyota video clip,
‗capturing the mood of the Nation‘, featuring skipper Dean Barker‘s journey
through his yachting career to follow his dream. ―Dream Big for a better
tomorrow‖. Taking his theme from that Evan asked members to believe in
working together. ―A better tomorrow starts today along with teamwork.‖
―Dean Barker alone could not sail the boat, he needed the whole team.‖
President Evan wants us to dream big and ensure success in serving the
community. He mentioned new projects like the ―Lion Express‖, Eastwood
Hill, the Cycle project, which will need involvement from the whole club.
He quoted that ―as a club we have the ability to dream big and ensure
success‖. He hopes to get the Bulletin restarted (well here it is, ED), the
website kept up to date, to have regular guest speakers and on the social front
an event with our wives involved at least once every two months.
Another highlight of the night was the presentation of a Melvin Jones
Fellowship to ‗Flocky‘, our loyal stalwart member of 31 years by PDG Jacquey.
She asked both Ian and Pat to come forward and mentioned that Ian had a long
career of service to the community through Jaycees, the R.S.A and Wainui
Lions. She quoted a saying ―A picture tells more than a thousand words‖ and
asked for a specially prepared power point presentation, about aspects of his
life, to be shown.
She then asked Pat to put the special pin onto Ian‘s lapel and presented him
with the plaque.
All Ian could say was ―Words fail me‖, which according to Pat ―was rather
unusual.‖
All in all it was an enjoyable and memorable evening.

16
It was good to see Dave H again at Change
     Over, even though he‘s not smiling in the
     photo. Although living in ‗Jafa ― country
     at present, Dave is definitely a Wainui
     Lion. He‘ll be flying in to attend some of
     our meetings in the next couple of months
     and told me that ―You don‘t realize what
     a great club we belong to‖!
     Other visitors enjoying the evening were
     Pat and Ellen Naden (Charter members)
     and Brian and Noelene Emerson.
     Good to catch up with Bruce & June and
     Basil & Biddy.
     Biddy had only just come out of hospital
     that morning . She‘s had a rough spell
     lately but we hope that things are on the
     up and up now.

17
Meeting 1st July.
                                         A planning business meeting
                                         chaired by Evan was held on
                                         1st July and we should be
                                         off to a good start with a
                                         number of ideas
                                         forthcoming.
                                         With no one coming forward
                                         to be the official tail
                                         twister this coming year,
                                         Evan wants to carry on with
everyone taking a turn, which he felt seemed to have worked OK.
The roster for the Greeter/Tail- twister will be on the Program
again and I would like to suggest the following: ―The job of tail
twisting is one to try and give a little enjoyment and light
heartedness to the club. This is helped in general by members
who come forward with snippets of information about anything
amusing that has occurred to other members. So how about
making the job of the person, due to do the task, a bit easier by
giving him anecdotes or faux-par‘s you‘ve discovered or heard
about. It all assists in creating fellowship.
To my mind, a couple of jokes (but keep them clean at ladies
nights) are all right, but every job needs some preparation and
there‘s more to tail-twisting than just telling jokes.

18
Christmas Trees
The 2014 Christmas tree planting was carried out in
perfect conditions. This year we planted each site on
separate days and this certainly made the planting job
easier. On June 6 a frosty start made for a perfect
winter‘s day as Dave McLean, Garth Tattersfield, Allan
Benson, Evan Bowis and Patrick Cook eased another 200
trees into the friable Bartletts soil. The summer grasses
were sprayed on time in March and that, combined with
favourable soil moisture, saw the job done ―in no time‖.

The incurable disease which has caused severe needle
death on our Bartletts Christmas trees and the
surrounding HFF forests over the last decade had hardly no effect during the
last disease season (i.e. summer). The trees planted in 2013 have around 95%
survival and the older trees look well. I am confident that serious disease will
return again in the future and having half the crop planted at Aberdeen Road
still makes sense.

At Aberdeen Road the planting holes were again kindly cultivated by Dave
Burgess. This is necessary due to the very high clay content in many parts of
the Aberdeen site. This year we did the cultivation far earlier, in April, to
ensure the soil was not saturated at the time. Last year the cultivation was
done on saturated soil and our survival was only 50%! All those trees were
replaced on 21 June when Tony Land, Ken Huberts, Ian Stewart, Brian
Hutchison, Hans Kwak planted another 200 trees at Aberdeen. The soil
moisture made for easier planting – clean boots even!

Our thanks again go to our friendly Fijian forestry
contractor, Osea Batisaresare, who provided us
with proper spades and Arbogen and Jude Parsons
from Puha who donated us 400 very good trees.

                 A couple of Saturdays ago, 200
                 more Christmas trees were
                 planted at the Aberdeen
                 road site. The job was cut
                 and dried in an hour and…
                 in time for smoko,
                 including chocolate cake,
                 supplied by Ray. Thanks to
                 Ray T, Tony L, Brian
                 Hutch, Ken H and Ian S.

19
C.E.P
Later on that day eight members attended the C.E.P session run by
Tania Leyland with assistance from Zone 4 Chair Jacquee Reid.

The session was well put together and Evan B, Russell H, Richard J, Ray
T, Ken H, Pete B, Bill H, and yours truly either learned more or were
reminded, about what makes a good Lions Club tick.
Part of the Club Excellence Process consists of members rating their
club performance and having those results analyzed to see where im-
provements can be made.
For this reason survey forms were copied and given to members attend-
ing last meeting to be filled in. The forms have been sent down to
Tania , who in August will return to take us through the second phase of
the program. At that meeting we would like to have a really good turn-
out.
The following morning we attended officer training, which was also
most informative for those attending.

20
International President Report
                      A ―pride‖ is a close-knit family of lions, as can be
                      found in the savannahs of
                      central Africa. Each member of the pride has
                      responsibilities. Whether they are the hunters,
                      protectors, caregivers,teachers, or learners, they work
                      as a team, for survival and prosperity. If even one
                      member of the pride does not fulfil its role, it can affect
                      the entire group.

                        There is another group of Lions just as proud. But unlike
the lions of Africa, these Lions aren‘t feared. Instead they are admired and
respected. They, too, form a ring of protection, and they have shown
themselves to be skilled hunters – providing food for the hungry and tending to
the needs of a different flock. These Lions don‘t restrict themselves to grassy
plains. Their territory has spread to every corner of the world, and they bring
goodness wherever they exist. It‘s us – the 1.35 million members of Lions Clubs
International.

The English dictionary provides another definition of the word ―Pride‖ – a
feeling of happiness that you get when you or someone you know does
something good. It is not the pride of being boastful it is the pride of
accomplishment in building communities, doing good, and reaching out to
assist others.

Lions are indeed a proud organization. There is a feeling of pride shared among
our members, knowing that our commitment to serve the needs of others is
what has made us, and keeps us, the global leader in humanitarian service. It
is the same pride that has sustained us for 97 years.

We can ―Strengthen the Pride‖ by bringing the full Lion‘s family, closer
together, working in a spirit of cooperation and understanding, with each Lion
member doing their share. And we can ―Strengthen the Pride‖ through our
many meaningful accomplishments. This is the platform for not only success
this year, but through our centennial and well into the next hundred years.

                            Sincerely
                            Joe Preston
                            Lions Clubs International President

21
District Governor’s Report - David McDonald
                      ―Pride in the Past- Confidence in the Future‖

                      David's Deliberations

                     This will be my final report – it has been a very
                     full-on year, Jill and I have enjoyed our District
                     Governor year and it has certainly been an
                     amazing experience. I have come to know the
                     District well and we should be proud of the
                     Clubs we have and the active and energetic
Lions who keep up a wide variety of service activities. In less than
two weeks we go to Toronto for the International Convention and by
the time we get back this Lions year will be over.

I began the year by saying that I hoped that we would ―Start the
Trend for Growth‖ in this year. I think we have done that – a new
Club has been chartered in Taradale and another new Club is well on
the way to being chartered in Otaki. At the date of writing this, we
have managed to hold our numbers and, as long as we continue our
efforts to attract new members to existing Clubs and to form new
Clubs on a regular basis, I think we have turned the corner.

As I have said before, I believe we need to budget for some ongoing
membership losses because of the rather high average age of
members in the District and because of the number of Clubs that may
be coming to the end of their active lives. To off set these inevitable
losses and to make progress forward, it is essential that we actively
work on increasing membership numbers and also concentrate on
putting new Clubs into the empty spaces we have throughout the
District. Finding new members may not be as difficult as we
sometimes think. I mentioned the success my own Club had recently
with a letter drop and a public meeting to explain what Lions is about
– our newest Club, Taradale, did exactly the same thing and managed
to attract about 25 interested people to their meeting, of who 18

22
were interested enough to go to the next Club meeting. As a result,
Taradale is now looking to induct a good number of new Lions early in
the new Lions year, which is a very creditable achievement for a Club
which is still less than a year old. There are definitely people out there
who are interested in becoming Lions and. with good organisation and
some hard work, it is not too difficult to bring some of them in. Forming
new Clubs is also very do-able, as has been demonstrated by Zones 2
and 7 in recent times.

At this point, I want to thank everyone who has worked during the year
to keep the District operating and to keep the Lions organisation active.
This includes all the Cabinet officers, whether on or off Cabinet, all our
Clubs, my own Club – which provided magnificent moral and practical
support throughout my year in office – and of course Jill, who kept me
organised and made sure I got to where I needed to be.

This year we have built on the achievements of previous Cabinets and
we have made good progress. I know that District Governor Keith and
his team will continue to build on these achievements as they lead the
District into the future. I wish them all the best for their time in office.

                         David McDonald
                         District Governor 202M

23
Next month I will not be around for either meeting as it is just too far
to travel for 2 hours once a fortnight all the way from Canada.

I am looking forward to three weeks (leaving on the 3rd August) in
Vancouver, The Rockies and Toronto.

Work is still very busy and travelling doesn‘t seem to have slowed down
so after two and a bit years of it I think I owe myself a good break.

Keep up the enthusiasm and contributions to the bulletin, as you can
see it has been a great effort by all of you. Well done.

     Ben

24
You can also read