As I write this, we are at the airport in Washington DC. The 24A Fall Conference was very successful, and we’re on our way home.
The Social on Friday night was very nice. They had a buffet dinner, with seating outside in a courtyard. The theme was “Octoberfest”, and they had a self-described “Milwaukee Bar Band” performing. We learned all about the “Stump Fiddle”, as well as some about the culture of German immigrants. We sat with PID Roy & PCC Shirley, and met a very nice couple at the table who had “refurbished” their club by bringing in many new members.
After the dinner/social, we went up to the hospitality rooms to meet more of the Lions, and have an opportunity to engage them in conversation. We met many very dedicated Lions, they have done amazing things with vision & hearing screenings, as well as medical missions to many countries including the Phillipines, Uganda, Haiti, Guatemala, and Honduras. They have many professionals in the district who are willing to give of their time in to be in service answering Helen Keller’s call to be “Knights of the Blind”.
Friday was a late night, and of course neither of us slept very well. The first night in a strange hotel is always that way. We’re always a little anxious about the next day, and aren’t sure the alarm will work or the wake-up call will come. We made it out of bed in plenty of time though, and went down for breakfast with Roy & Shirley. Debra had a yoghurt parfait that was just amazing, and I had the oatmeal, which wasn’t bad either.
We had good intentions of stopping in on the 9:00 seminars, but by the time we finished breakfast and made our way through the lobby (of course stopping to chat with almost everyone) the first round was nearly over. We did catch the end of three of them, though, as they were opening them up to questions. PID Roy introduced us each time, and Debra expressed our appreciation for their invitation, and always managed to contribute something of value to the particular seminar topic.
I attended the MERL seminar with Shirley (as she is the GMT for the district) that lasted during the second and third sessions, while Debra and Roy made the rounds of the other seminars. The MERL seminar was really well done, and I picked up some things that should be helpful as we go forward in our district. They have a very enthusiastic Membership Chair, and I found her presentation and my series of newsletter articles to be almost step by step on the same wavelength. It was good validation for me to hear someone else voice the same message I have been trying to convey. District 24-A seems to have a very well thought-out and consistent plan for reversing the trend of declining membership.
The head tables marched in for lunch. It was quite humorous, as the person who was organizing all the dignitaries had a couple of ropes. We walked in kindergarten style, hanging on to the rope to keep our proper place in line. We all got quite a kick out of it, as did the audience. Lunch was a turkey sandwich, chips, apple and cookie, which was just right, because most of the time the meals are really too heavy, and we feel stuffed all afternoon. Debra gave her speech at the noon luncheon, and it went over very well. We had worked on getting more about IP Wirf’s ‘Move To Grow” theme and the Gingko into the speech, and it seemed to work. Debra and DG Tony handed out three Presidential Certificates of Appreciation and one Eyeglass Recycling Certificate. They did a very nice job with the presentation, as DG Tony spoke about each recipient and Debra congratulated each one and posed for photos. We then exchanged gifts with DG Tony and his wife. They gave us a Washington DC Christmas Ornament, some Virginia Pecans, and a beautiful blanket depicting many of the historical locations in Virginia. We gave them our usual Faribault Blanked and Amableu Cheese, which they very much appreciated as well.