Welcome to  Ohio Lions 13 OH 1 

March Highlight

 Here we are in the middle of March already. The District Convention is just around the corner. Please register as soon as possible so we can order meals, plan room arrangements and make other preparations in a timely manner. Pictured are two clubs from Region One, we are featuring prior to the Convention, Swanton Lions on the left and Bryan Lions on the right. Both clubs are active, typical of OH1 Clubs. Visitations by VDG’s Deb and Sue and myself have occurred recently, and we have been impressed by the activity of these clubs during winter months. Celebrating their charter, planning for Easter and other Spring activity, and continuing traditional service like Red Cross Blood Drives have been the business of February Meetings. It’s exciting in Swanton as they are working to bring back their LEO Club. The momentum is provided by one of their LEO to Lion members, Tristan Potts. Secretary Holly Lawson does a great job communicating with the district. The Patches, Dawn and Daryl, just received their ten-year dangles and letters. Annual events like their Easter Egg Hunt, Red Cross Blood Drive, and Golf Outing are in the works. A relatively new program, the display of American flags on holidays, has grown to serving over 300 households. This project was initiated by Joe and Carolyn Kahl, and Carolyn continues to chair the project since Joe’s passing. Swanton has fun with Trivial Pursuit tail-twisting each meeting. Active tail-twisting is a traditional Lions practice that adds to the fellowship and enjoyment of meetings. Bryan Lions celebrated their 74th Charter Anniversary on February 28th by adding new member Tricia Rath. Welcome to the Lions, Tricia! Club Vice President Denver Henderson III, also the OH1 OLF Representative, is her sponsor. The club also took the opportunity to present Lion Denver with a Melvin Jones Fellowship, Lion Keith Day with a Dick Bryan Award and Lion Deb Opdycke with a Journey of Hope Award. These awards represent the club’s commitment to supporting LCIF, OLERF, and OLPCF, as well as the OH1 Walk a Mile Project. Bryan Lions has played an important role in District OH1 leadership with Lion Joanne Moats, wife of Past District Governor John, acting as Zone One Chairperson, and Lion Denver as the assistant ZC and OLF representative (mentioned above). With 31 members, Bryan is an active club and acts as a nucleus for Lions clubs in the Northeast Corner of Ohio. Both clubs are active in their communities and recognize the importance of being active in District, State and International initiatives. After the District Convention, we will move to the other end of the District and see what’s cooking at Coldwater and Celina!

DG Dave Stockum reporting!

March Update:

There are lots of things to talk about this month. First and foremost, don’t wait until the last minute to register for the District Convention. To find the registration form, go to ohiolions.org, look about a third of the way down the lefthand side of the page, and links to all the Convention stuff are there. There are numerous different plans for attendance ranging from $10 to attend the district meetings and “county fair” to $85 for the whole shebang. Saturday with two meals is $60. We will be done by 8:00 pm Saturday evening so as the Beatles suggested, you could be a day tripper. You all come!

At the March 5 Cabinet Meeting, we approved the following motion, “From the 2022-23 District Convention until the 2023-24 District Convention, any OH1 Club that adds a new member and pays that member’s initiation fee and half dues from its administrative funds is entitled to apply to the OH1 District for an incentive grant to pay the initiation fees and half dues for the next two members to join the club. This process can be repeated once, thus potentially adding 6 members, before the third Cabinet Meeting of the 2023-2024 Lions Year.” Two membership thoughts are relevant here. Number one, we are currently -14 in growth for this year, and number two, we have $18,000 in our District Savings Account. These funds give us the opportunity to invest in our future. Each year this account receives $1.84 per district member (our district dues). With over 1400 members, the math says we add over $2500 to this account each year. The above motion is a one-year program we may wish to renew at next year’s convention so if we could add 200 members in the coming year with this program, it would cost the District no more than $9500. We had 1793 Lions in the District when we redistricted in 2016. We currently have 1426. Our best year we added 142 members. Last year was our best in total membership when we lost 31 overall. I challenge the clubs in OH1 to take advantage of this grant. This grant gives a club the opportunity to add three members for $70 in administrative funds or six members for twice that sum for six months. The club’s challenge at that point becomes to show the new member a reason to continue his or her membership. I will offer some strategies to support this process in next month’s newsletter and Update.

We approved a method to provide support for families with children who have cancer by submitting an application for STEPS funds. We can, and are, doing this by applying for funds from the Ohio Lions Pediatric Cancer Foundation. We currently have one family in the District taking advantage of the OLPCF program. See the website for the application.

Finally, the third Cabinet Meeting was an excellent gathering at Waynesfield. Thank you to PCC Darlene Roll and the Waynesfield Club for providing the facility and refreshments. There was a lot of input, camaraderie, and sharing. March 23, there will be a Zone 7 Meeting at Spencerville, March 30 brings a Region One Meeting to Napoleon, Willshire is having their Pancake and Sausage Breakfast March 11, and there will be a STEPS walk in Napoleon on April Fools Day. Check out the website weekly to see what’s happening and support community activities, Lions and otherwise, when you can. Folks that are serving their communities are happy people in service and share that joy with their projects! I will be featuring the Bryan Lions and Swanton Lions on the website later this month. You have a few more days to check out the February featured club, Glandorf Lions.

Best Wishes this month,

DG Dave Stockum

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DG Dave and 1VDG Deb Crawford delivered a check for $6000 to the Ebeid Children's Oncology/Hematology Unit of the ProMedica Hospital in Toledo, Ohio on Friday, September 24th.  The donation, the result of a Community Impact Grant from the Lions Clubs International Foundation, will be used to purchase 55" TV screens for the six infusion rooms on the oncology floor.  Ebeid deals with around 75 pediatric cancer patients annually, many of which are dealing with prolonged stays to assure recovery from sickle cell anemia issues.  Chemotherapy often also requires extended treatments.  Community Impact Grants are one way donations going out of our district are returned in part to us.  OH1 has been an excellent supporter of LCIF which has donated over $2 Billion to disaster relief and other charitable causes since 1968.

 Millersport, Ohio Lion Ron Keller becomes MD-13's latest International Director, joining PID's Steve Sherer, Steve Thornton, and OH1's Jerry Smith.

2022-2023 Zone Map

Dates to remember

2023

February 26 – March 18 - Zone Meetings TBA (Convention, Officer Election reminder, Club Reports)

March 5 -- Third Cabinet Meeting (2:00 PM at The Waynesfield Lions Club House)

April 1 – Deadline for registration to District Convention

April 14-15 – District Convention @ Hilton Garden Inn, Findlay

May 15 – Compliance Deadline for clubs on January 1 – December 31 accounting

May 19 – Final Quarterly Council of Governors Meeting (Marriott Columbus/Dublin)

May 19-21 – MD13 Convention at Marriott Columbus/Dublin

June – TBA Potential End of Year Picnic

July 7 – July 11 – LCI International Convention (Boston)

• Club members can attend any region meeting that fits their schedule or location needs. Simply contact the appropriate Region Chair to make a reservation so there is enough food.

Sept 13 - 17  -- Pilot Alumni Association Convention (Staybrikdge Suites -- Maumee)