Service From The Heart!

4:00 pm

As I finish describing our weekend, we are on our flight from Detroit back to Minneapolis. We had a little time yesterday to relax in the room and get changed for the evening events. We turned on the TV, and heard about the flooding in the Red River Valley area. The river receded a little, but they’re not at all sure it won’t rise some more before the danger is past. We also caught some scores from the NCAA Tournament, and watched the end of the Maryland – Vanderbuilt women’s game. Maryland had been down big (18 points I think) and came back to take their only lead of the game right at the end. We commented that Vanderbuilt was like the BA boys team in the Minnesota State Tournament. They had led Chisholm all the way until the very end, and then lost a heartbreaker.

 They held a hospitality room for the director and district officers and PDGs before the banquet. Debra dressed in her “whites” and I wore my black tux, and we went there and enjoyed the great cashews and conversation. We marched in for the banquet, and sat down to a prime rib dinner with cheese-baked potato and green beans, and, of course, more of those warm garlic buns. Debra nailed her after-dinner remarks; you could have heard a pin drop. Again, it almost brought tears to my eyes to see and hear her speak from the heart. She makes it sound fresh, with the perfect combination or emotional appeal and humor. Many people came up later to say how much they appreciated her (and I) coming and how wonderful they thought her speech was. After the speech, Debra and ID Chuck(ie) presented two Presidential Commendations, and announced two others that would be going to club presidents who were not present. Debra also had a Certificate of Appreciation for the Lions Eyeglass Recycling program to the long-time district chair of that project. Unfortunately, he had become ill, and was in the hospital.  Debra and I then presented her bags to Lion Jerry & Cheryl, Lion Dave (the Convention Chair), Lion Gert (who has been a Lion only one week), and Lion Cheryl (the district photographer). We also presented our gifts of a Faribault Blanket and a wedge of blue cheese to DG Chuck and First Ladybug Nancy. They gave us a clock in the shape of Michigan that Chuck had made, and a VERY nice quilt that Nancy had made. We were just overwhelmed that they would give us gifts with such a personal meaning.

After dinner; they drew the raffle prizes, and held a live auction. The proceeds of the raffle and auction are used to defray expenses of the convention. The Saturday Lunch had been free of charge, paid for by the proceeds of similar raffles they had held during the year. We had never heard of any district doing that, but it was obvious that it was very much appreciated by the membership, and they really supported both the raffles and the auction. The festivities did run pretty late, but many people held in there until the end. After the main events were over, we made our way to the hospitality rooms. They had a DJ and the drinks and snacks in one room, sponsored by the VDG Bob and the Berville Lions Club. That club is just amazing! They have 125 members, with a wide range of ages, and they do so much in their community. We chatted with some of the members, and were very impressed with their dedication and enthusiasm. The other hospitality room had the desserts. We had to have a couple, of course. We enjoyed all the opportunities to chat with Lions about their club activities, and shared ideas well in to the night. It was 1:00 before we finally made it up to our room.

The 6:30 wake-up call came way too early this morning, but we managed to make our way down to the continental breakfast. We sat down with a couple of guys, who said they were just about ready to leave. We got into a good conversation though, and they hung around for quite a while. Once again, we spoke about the Dictionary Project, and they seemed interested. After they left, an older couple came and sat with us. It turned out she was a former speech teacher. Debra thanked her for not telling her that last night, as she would have been very nervous. She complimented Debra on her speaking ability, and we chatted on and on about youth exchange experiences and the importance of service. The Governor had to come and drag us out of the restaurant, so they could start the election meetings.

They convened separate meetings consecutively in the same room for each region, to elect the region chairs, and then a district wide meeting to elect the DGE and First and Second Vice Governors. Another really unique thing about 11-D2, but it works for them. Suffice it to say that VDG Bob is now DGE Bob.

After the meetings, we went again to the restaurant for a light lunch with Chuck & Nancy and Jerry & Cheryl. Debra and I split a really good Baja Burger & Fries. (If you’re beginning to get the idea that Lions eat a lot, you’re right. Sometimes it seems all we do is eat and sit and eat and sit.). After lunch, we said out good-byes to Chuck & Nancy, and went to the airport with Jerry & Cheryl, where we bid them good bye as well.

So here we are, as Debra said in her comments at the meeting this morning, tired and hoarse, but that means we did what we came here to do. Spend a lot of time talking with a lot of Lions, and sharing a lot of great ideas about how Lions can better be of service in their communities. She said that she hoped that they were tired too, because that would mean that they had done what they came there to do as well. I’m pretty sure that most everyone was.

See photos from this convention!

3:30 pm

We slept in a little this morning (7:15), then headed down for continental breakfast in the hotel restaurant. They had some really good mini cinnamon rolls, so we had one of them yoghurt and coffee. We sat down with a real nice couple from a small town near Port Huron, and talked with them about their town and their club. Like so many clubs here, he’s a Lion, and she’s not. She obviously did a lot of work on the Lions Club projects though. I told them about the Dictionary project, and they seemed very interested.

After breakfast, the business meeting was much like others we’ve been at. The usual reports by Region and Zone Chairs, then the Cabinet chairs. I was particularly impressed by a region chair who emphasized the need to provide service in the community. Nearly everyone who came to the mike, had a great time teasing “DG Chuckie” (with a French accent). After the reports, Debra spoke about the board actions at the last meeting, and some about LCI & LCIF in general. She opened up for questions, and got quite a few this time. She did an AMAZING great job giving thoughtful, honest answers to some VERY difficult (but also very pertinent) questions. I don’t think I’ve ever been more impressed with her ability to frame what could be contentious issues objectively, and speak to the very heart of what Lionism is all about.

The Luncheon speaker was Lion Greg Grabowski, the new President of Leader Dogs for the Blind. He gave a VERY interesting, informative presentation from a very different perspective than that of the field reps (who also do a great job of telling their personal stories). Leader Dog is also now providing services to people in several foreign countries and is looking for way to improve their delivery model to better meet the needs of blind people in places like Latin America and Europe. We talked with him afterwards about possibly pursuing a CSFII grant, and also about connecting with Perkins School for the Blind, who are also deeply involved in providing services around the world.

See photos from this convention!

9:30 am
As I write this on the airplane en route from MSP to Detroit, I’ve got to say that this morning was just “one of those mornings”. I was pretty much off my game. We had packed everything last night, and were pretty well ready to go, but I had a few things to finish up on the computer before we could leave. All of that went fine, but I had this feeling that I had forgotten something when we started out for the airport. Sure enough, about half way to Dundas, I discovered that I had left my cell phone by the computer after synching it. We decided the phone wasn’t a necessity, so we kept on going. Just before we got to the EZ Air Park lot, I realized that I didn’t have my parking card in my wallet. No problem, we could check in there manually, maybe we can even get them to credit the days to our account. We got to the airport in good shape, but I got the alarm on the way through security, I had forgotten to take my camera out of my pocket. No big deal, I just tossed it in Debby’s bag and went through clean on the second try. At the airport, we decided maybe I needed a cup of coffee. We had given it up for Lent, but this was getting too frustrating, so I relented. That perked me up good, but I still screwed up the Sudoku in the Daily News. What’s next???

3:30 pm
I think we really had a turning point in our day. Our flight landed smoothly in Detroit, and we got off the plane at 11:30. Thinking we had about 3 minutes to catch our connection to Saginaw, we asked the agent at the gate if she knew where our connecting flight was. She said “Gate A-57, right down the hall, but it’s the boarding that begins at 11:33; the departure time is 12:03”. We started hustling down the concourse as she directed, and that’s when we had our literal “turning point”. I had the sense to stop to look at the monitors, and, to our surprise, we saw that the gate was A-11, way down the concourse in the opposite direction. We completed our morning aerobic workout just in time to hear the final boarding call for Saginaw. We were the last ones on the plane. We stowed our two Sky Rolls, and sat down in our complimentary upgrade to first class seats, and enjoyed a cool cranberry juice before taking off for the quick 25 minute jump to Saginaw.

Once on the ground, we were met by Lions Jerry & Cheryl, who drove us a short 15 minutes to the Sheraton Four Points where the convention is being held. We met up with DG Charles and 1st Ladybug, Lion Nancy, along with a nice welcoming reception in the lobby. The six of us had lunch at the restaurant in the hotel. I had a mini pork sandwich and bowl of Baja Chicken Enchilada soup, both were great! Debby had a very good Southwestern Chicken Chop Chop salad.

After lunch we went up to the room on the sixth floor. What a nice suite!!! Very comfortable living room area, a nice little kitchen area with sink, microwave & refrigerator (full of juice & soda), and about the biggest, nicest bathroom we’ve seen anywhere. There was also a very nice assortment of goodies: hand-dipped chocolates, fudge, deluxe nit mix, pretzels, and a fruit basket with nectarines, bananas, apples & oranges. They’re way too nice to us!!!

11:50 pm
The evening festivities started with a world’s record shortest cabinet meeting (they should all be so brief). Debra gave some brief remarks, and opened the floor for questions, but there weren’t any. They had only one item on the agenda, so the whole thing was over in less than 15 minutes. Then it was off to the social and dinner. Dinner was buffet style, and was highlighted by a nice baked fish and rice, along with some great warm garlic rolls. After dinner, they held a brief Memorial Service, Debra was a hit with her two “points of personal privilege”. She said she was on a mission to hug as many Lions as she could who had been members 50 years or more. She also took the opportunity to let people know she was a person with a visual impairment and would appreciate it if people would understand that she might not recognize them across the room, but really wanted them to come up and introduce themselves.

The after dinner social was a country theme. They had a DJ who played a good mix of country and pop music. The highlights were when the governor’s club members and wives came in and did a nice two-step, and the appearance of Mademoiselle Fifi, the French maid, who came in to dust off the governor, and teach DG Chuck to count to three in a very French way. That was a real hoot!

See photos from this convention!