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The Oklahoma
Lion
March 2020, 405-947-6540 Oklahoma Lion online: www.oklahomalions.org
3/8 Daylight Saving Time Begins,
3/9 Purim Begins at Sunset, 3/10
Purim ends at Nightfall, 3/17 St.
Patrick’s Day, 3/19 Spring Begins
60 AND BEYOND
If you are over 60, you are now probably
for the first time in your life, the person
you have always wanted to be. Oh, not
your body! You are sometimes in despair
over your body, the wrinkles, the baggy
eyes, and the sagging behind. Often you
are taken aback by that old person that
lives in your mirror (who looks like your
mother or father), but you do not agonize
over those things for long as it is what it
is!
You would not trade your amazing Lion
friends, your wonderful life as a Lion, and
your loving family for less gray hair or a
flatter belly. As you have aged, you have
become kinder to yourself and to others
and less critical of yourself. You have
become your own friend.
You don’t chide yourself for eating that
extra cookie at the last Lions meeting, or
for not making your bed this morning, or
for buying that silly gecko Lion Pin that
you didn’t need, but it looks avantgarde
on your lion’s vest. You are entitled to a
treat, to be messy and to be extra extrav-
agant. You have seen too many Lion
friends leave this world too soon before
they understood the great freedom that
comes from aging and having the time to
do more civic work with those Lions who
are still active.
Whose business is it if you choose to
read or play on the computer until 4 a.m.
doing Lions work and then sleep until
noon? You can dance with yourself to
those wonderful tunes of the 60’s and
70’s, and if you, at the same time, wish to
weep over a lost love or Lion…you can.
You can walk down the beach in a swim-
suit that is stretched over a bulging body
and will dive into the waves with abandon
if you choose to, despite the pitying
glances from the jet set. THEY, TOO,
WILL GET OLD!
You know you are sometimes forgetful
but there again, some of life is just as well
forgotten. And you eventually remember
the important things; your birthday, your
doctor’s appointments, Lions meetings,
and where you live.
Sure, over the years your heart has been
broken. How can your heart not break
when you lose loved ones, whether they
are y our own, close Lion friends or other
acquaintances, but, broken hearts are
what gives us strength and understanding
and compassion. A heart never broken is
pristine and sterile and will never know
the joy of being imperfect. Knowing that
we have room for improvement is one of
the reasons we look to Lions to help with
our improvement skills and for fulfillment.
We are indeed blessed to have lived long
enough to have your hair turning gray,
and to have your youthful laughs be for-
ever etched into deep groves on our fac-
es. So many have never laughed, and so
many have died before their hair could
turn to silver.
As we grow older, it is easier to be posi-
tive, with more understanding and com-
passion for those who need our help as
Lions. We care less about what others
think, you don’t question yourself any-
more. You have even earned the right to
be wrong. You like being old; it has set
you free to be more compassionate and
you like the person you have become. A
Lion of 60 is a very free person with time
and energy. We know we are not going
to live forever and so we put ourselves to
doing good for other people through Lions
so that our last days can account for
some of those times when family, church
and jobs come first. We try not to waste
time lamenting what could have been, or
maybe still worrying about what will be.
In our beginning, God has given us just
so much time on this earth and we know
we are not going to live forever, but while
we are still here, let us make good use of
our time by helping those in need through
Lions. I t will give us the fulfillment we
have been searching for.
While you are still able and you feel like it,
eat dessert every single day and whatev-
er you do—stay off those scales.
PDG Darlene Schulz
News from Darlene
Schultz, MD3 GMT Chair
If your Lions Club has access to a
hearing Doctor that would supply
their services at a reduced rate
please contact Marvin at the State
Office at 405-947-6540 or PDG/
VCC Neal Wood at 918-465-6397 .
2
Thank you, District 3East Lions. You just completed one of the best conventions for our district. My thanks to the host club, McAlester Lions and their president Michael Parks, and all who helped to make this a success. Convention Chair Nancy Wood is to be congratulated for her hard work. Most importantly, you put on a good convention for our International Director Dr. Jose Marrero from Puerto Rico who spent the weekend with us. I be-lieve he enjoyed the Oklahoma hos-pitality and our super weather. It was inspiring to have the Director give us a pep talk to encourage us to have a Lion spirit. It is apparent that we must all work on member-ship retention, new membership , and club expansions. All of this is possible for the District 3East Lions.
It is my goal to make being a Lion a fun thing but a worthwhile activity with contributions to the community and to others. The 1st Vice President of LCI, Douglas Al-exander, reminded us that “kindness matter” as the Lions way of life and that above all else - “we serve”. We were honored to have Interna-tional Director Jose Marrero present special awards to the following Lions: Certificate of Appreciation to
Lion Wayne Middleton, Bartlesville
Lions; Certificate of Appreciation to Lion Linda Hughes, Tulsa Brookside;
and Certificate of Appreciation to Lion Terry Sloan, Gore/Webbers Falls.
Okmulgee Lion Beth Flud presented a $125 check to the Peace Poster Winner, Lily Bowcut, Dunlap Ele-mentary.
Silent Auction items brought in over $600, of which $400 went to the McAlester Lions Club. I want to thank each of you for participat-ing and especially those who brought items to sell. This is always a fun project to have at the Conven-tion. The training session was spent with various expert Lions to explain the whys/what fors to obtaining grants from LCI. VCC Neal Wood
gave us an overview of the grants. He was especially involved in the disaster on Highway 40 involving the collapsed bridge. The Gore/Webbers Falls Grant has
been executed per Lion Terry Sloan and a final report will be sent to LCI.
2019-2020 District 3-E Governor
Dollie Wooddell (C) 918-336-8833
Lion Marie Burns shared pointers as to what to do when applying for a grant. We started the morning with special speaker Lindsay Johnson who spoke to us about the baby monitor Owlet. It was a heart warming morning to be sure. These women represented those who go above and beyond. They see a challenge and accept it. We were excited to have a fine group of young people attend the conven-tion and thank their sponsors for getting them there. Steve Harbison, our Leo chair, spoke about the Leo program and brought info for us on how to start a Leo club. We had Leos from Idabel, Hugo and Bristow. These young people are do-ing a lot in their communities.
The election held at Convention re-sulted in the following. District Gover-nor – Dollie Wooddell; Oklahoma Eye Bank – Patty Bryant, Tulsa Downtown; Oklahoma Service Foundation – Colleen Fowler, Henriet-ta; Meadows of Hope – Henry North, Tulsa Downtown; Briggs Scholarship – Bob Fowler, Henrietta. As a reminder, all of you understand that District 3 East needs a 1st vice district governor and a 2nd vice district gover-nor. Please consider. Also, my week of district governor-elect training was the week prior to the convention. So I am now back in Oklahoma (thankfully) as we had 5 inches of snow in Chicago and temperatures of 12' chill factor. We were housed at the QCenter and did not need to get out in the weather so it was beautiful to see the soft snow for a couple of days
which we viewed from the classroom windows. There were people from all over the world present. We are all striving in the same direction to give the 1.4 million Lions a boost and see Lions expand into other countries. Right now, we are in 210 countries. But, the Lion membership in the USA has not grown. We lose as many members as we gain each year. We are challenged to change this trend and start with a positive number each year. If each club would bring in one new member, it would change that trend over night. Can we do it!!! I think we can. Just ask One. Reporting on service hours is still a problem. Remember: go to the MyLion, report service hours. Either have the club secretary, club president, or a designated person do this every month. Of course, members must give you their hours. We pass a signup sheet at the meet-ings for logging in the number and the secretary puts it on the web site. Call me if you need help with this. District NW Convention is February 29th in Ponca City. District SW Con-vention is March 6/7 in Elk City. Registrations are in the news-letter. Please attend and get ac-quainted with your fellow lions. CLUB REPORTS Gore/Webbers Falls – purchased three exam/glasses; continuing work on the Webbers Fall Community Park project. Tulsa Downtown –Partnered with Newview Oklahoma to expand com-munity outreach, rehab services and education for blind, low-visioned people. Received a transformational SightFirst Grant in amount of $180,984. Purchased two cycle for life bicycles to be awarded to individu-als with disabilities. Built by HUB in Tulsa. Passed on a 3-wheel bike which had been donated to club to the HUB to present to one of its clients. Several members attended MOH Gala and the 3E Con-vention in McAlester. Had speakers this month Terri Hozhabri, Project Elf and Julie Ryker, Hospitality House of Tulsa. Okmulgee Had several new members join
Wilburton Collected $300 for Salvation Army. Purchased 5 sets of eyeglasses. Muskogee Noon Pancake Breakfast March 25 – 6:30-1:00 at the Muskogee Civic Center, 425 W. Boston. Bartlesville Downtown – Attended the District 3E Convention in McAlester: Kevin and Debbi Reid, Wayne and Marla Benyshek, Dollie and David Wooddell, Wayne Middleton. Broken Arrow Noon – Zone meeting Jan 30, visited nursing home, plan-ning MHSU at health fair April 24, will have Kidsight vision screening April 21 at Discovery Learning Center Broken Bow – Doing annual planning, provided eye glasses McAlester – hosted the District 3E Mid Winter Convention with Interna-tional Director Dr. Jose Marrero and wife, Annie, along with International Director Mike Banks. Wife Ann, and PID Pat Shurley. Vinita - Spring Livestock Show March 7, organized by Lion Kevin Young. Premium Sale raised $50,000. Mem-bers manned the concession stand and sold chances on a .357 magnum rifle. Will host Senior Girls Tea and also the Senior Boys' Lunch with motivational speak-ers and prizes.
The much anticipated FREE Li-
ons PR Videos have arrived. Get
one by contacting your District
Governor, attending the next
Council Meeting, stopping by
the State Office, or by calling the
State Office at 405-947-6540
4
2019-2020 District 3-NW
Governor
Claire Scott
C:580 304-5689 [email protected]
IT’S A GREAT DAY TO BE A LION!!!
Here we are in March, ready for a little luck, green, and leprechauns. I hope everyone is trying to bring in new mem-bers to their clubs or even start an e-club for those that don’t want to attend meet-ings. The look of Lions must change to incorporate new members and their needs. Moving forward, we MUST contin-ue to recruit new members to our clubs. In order to be successful, we may have to look at changing something. It is a prov-en fact that people do not like change, but we have done it before, and we will do it again. Our membership is steadily declin-ing every year and we MUST turn that around!
As I write this article, we are preparing for our district convention and by the time you read it, we should just be finishing. We will have seen a lot of great Lions and good friends, honored some amazing Lions, and met International Director Jus-tin Faber. We will have heard about our state projects and trained on LCIF. Your generosity will have allowed for donations to LCIF and Angie’s Fund for the Oklaho-ma Lions Eye Bank, and the Meadows of Hope. What a great time!!!
Good news! All officers of all clubs in our district have been entered to LCI!!! It is now time to prepare for your club officer elections for next year. Your nominations committee should be hard at work. If your club does not change officers every year, please get online and enter your officers for next year NOW!!! All officers should be entered by May 1
st. If your club does
not meet during the summer, you will al-ready have this task completed and will be able to come back in August and hit the ground running. I would like to point out that this information is VITAL to the completion of the State Directory. It looks pitiful to see how many clubs are in the directory with no officers listed. This makes it extremely difficult to contact your club. Please, please be pro-active and get this accomplished.
Remember to get your projects complet-ed and turned in to LCI in order to receive your banner patch. LCI recognizes your projects that fall under any of the 5 global initiatives, but they must be reported in MyLion. Speaking of MyLion, please con-tact the district secretary Kim Coleman or myself if you would like to have training. I
know it can be frustrating as they do take it off-line to work on it. But we are nothing if not diligent in accomplishing our given tasks. Please report your service.
On to our activities!! The Stillwater Noon Lions have been busy doing eye screen-
ings. Here ID Mike Banks and Keith Dis-ney are screening children at Westwood Elementary.
Stillwater Noon President Doug Quinn is
shown presenting a Letter of Partnership to Narune Nakayama (Kameoka Japan Vice Mayor).
This was done during the meeting be-tween Stillwater Noon Lions members, Stillwater Chamber of Commerce, and
the Kameoka Japan Sisters Cities dele-gation which formed a partnership be-tween the Kameoka Lions Club and the Hozugawa Lions Club.
The Ponca City Noon Lions held a rib sale as a fundraiser for pediatric cancer.
The funds raised went to a local family whose 5-year-old daughter, Sylvia is fighting cancer.
The Cushing Lions have an upcoming Fly-In Fair on March 20, 21, & 22 in Cushing.
The Ringwood Lions Club continues to support the school’s Ag Boosters Club, prom planning, all-school sports boosters, and provide scholarships to 4 recipients. They also make donations to the Senior Citizens Center, the Ringwood Communi-ty Fair, Meadows of Hope, and the Ring-wood Education Foundation.
If you would like to have your club includ-ed in the newsletter, please send me your pictures and project information. Let the rest of us know what great things your club is doing!!!
Attention Lions….when you bring
used glasses to the State Office from
now on we have a sheet hanging in
the back of the building so that you
can list you Club Name, number of
glasses, and date. Each month I will
list your information in the Monthly
OKLion. DON’T FORGET TO ADD
YOU NAME TO THE LIST
The following clubs brought used eye-glasses or ink cartridges to the State Office recently:
10/25 Bartlesville, 259 pair, Dollie Wooddell
10/26 Bartlesville, 280 pair, Wayne Benyshek
10/26 Wewoka, 11 pair, Ferrel
10/26 Atoka, 52 pair, Mike Elliott
10/21 Vinita, 500 pair, Ryalls
10/26, Ardmore, 25, Thompson
10/28, Wanette, 80, John Lester
10/29, OKC Downtown, 191 pair, Tom Spradling
10/29 , Muskogee Noon, 400 pair, V.K. Edwards,
11/1 Chickasha, 150 pair, Mike Len-nier
11/2 Seminole, 150 pair
11/2 Lawton Patriots, 40 pair, JP
12/10 Okmulgee 480 pair, 8 phones, 20 cartridges, Christie Baldridge
12/19 Edmond 254 pair, Marvyn Ol-sen
12/20 Beta Sigma 47 pair, Robyn Al-fred
1/16 Lawton Noon, 500 Glasses, 60 cartridges, Tom Love
1/20 MWC Lions, 9 cartridges, Ray Marler
1/21 Weatherford Lions, 100 pair, Janice E. Reeves (Do you know what club?)
1/21 Edmond, 334 pair Marvyn Olsen
1/24 Bartlesville, 185, Dollie Wooddell
1/24 Elk City, 500 pair, Karen Blanten
1/25 N Enid, 400 pair Charles Os-good
1/26 West Side, 31 pair, Pat Davison
1/25 Ada, 300 pair, Tony Dowell,
1/25 Tulsa. 1800 pair, Patty Bryant
So please remember to sign the sheet.
Please remember not to bring the eyeglass cases to the State Office.
Notice all Lions
The post office recently sent me a letter that had been separated from it’s envelope. It says: Congrats on being chosen as the Lions Club Stu-dent of the week! Have a snack on us! Signed: In Christ– Gina and Andy
The letter included 2 Wendy’s gift cards.
Picture of card is shown below
If you have any information about the post card please call the State Office.
West Side Lions sorting eyeglasses. From L to R Lion Pat Davison, Lion
Linda Bennett, Tabitha Bennett, Lion Cathy Tuton and her guide dog Jake, and Lion John Bennett. West Side Lions have adopted eye glass sorting on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday evenings as a project which includes their low vision Lions.
The Lions of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska invite you to be a participant in a great
learning opportunity
Attend the Great Plains Lions
Leadership Institute GPLLI is being held on July 24-26, 2020. Registration is from 9:00A.M. to 11:00 A.M. Friday, July 24. Adjournment and checkout is by 3:P.M. Sunday, July 26, 2020. Lunch on Friday, July 24 is at 12:00 noon sharp.Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville Missouri For additional infor-mation please contact Registrar PID Gary Fry at [email protected] or 515-967-4645.
6
2019-2020 District 3-SW Governor Ed Barry
(C) 940-391-4893
2020 State Youth Speech Con-
test theme is:
“Serving Through Diversity in
Lionism”
2020 Peace Poster Theme is :
“Journey of Peace”
Hello Fellow Lions. Sitting here look-ing out on the farm it appears that even though it’s still a bit chilly, Spring is just around the corner. These next few months will be busy ones with all the Lions activities that are in the pipeline. Between the Con-ventions that are planned and the training and transition to next year’s officers at the Club, District and State levels, there will be a lot to do.
By the time you receive this Newslet-ter there will only be a few days until
our District 3-SW Convention. It will be held the week-end of March
6th & 7th in Elk City.
Our Guest of Honor will be current International Director Lion Robert “Bob” Block from Illinois. There is still time for you to attend. Don’t miss this opportunity to join with your fellow Lions from across our District and begin prepara-tions for the coming Lions’ year.
As of this writing, we have as yet not heard of any potential candidates for our next 2nd Vice District Governor who will take office in July and suc-ceed to the position of District Gover-nor at the Lions International Conven-tion in New Delhi, India in July 2022. It’s not too late to throw your hat in the ring or encourage another Lion to consider running. The only require-ments for being a District Governor are to have served as a Club Presi-dent and a Zone Chairperson along with having served as a club board member no less than two years. Don’t miss the chance to serve. I can tell you from first hand experience that it is a rewarding opportunity.
Our own 1st Vice-District Governor / District Governor – Elect Tom Love is just back from District Governor School in Chicago. He, along with the other Oklahoma DGEs and all
incoming DGEs from across the globe, spent a week learning all about being a District Gov-ernor. Lion Tom reports that it was a busy week but a great chance to meet and get acquainted with his counterparts from all over. He’s now prepared to hit the ground running as he takes over the reins of leadership of the Southwest District.
Also, our own PDG and cur-rent Council Chairman Lion Dan Farrell re-cently attended the Lions Facul-ty Development
Institute in Houston. As a graduate of the FDI, Lion Dan is now qualified to lead various Lions training events around the region. Congratulations Lion Dan!
Across the District our Clubs have been engaged in a range of service activities in their communities. The OKC Downtown Lions again held one of their regular events for people with disabilities when they hosted the Val-entine’s Party on Feb. 8th. I can tell you it was very well attended and everyone received a number of gifts in addition to all the fun and food at the event.
The Hobart Lions also held a Val-entine’s Banquet on Feb. 13th.
It was an enjoyable time with a ver-sion of “Family Feud” that challenged everyone’s knowledge of Valentine trivia. As a result of the get together the Club was able to make a $100.00 donation to the Hobart Schools Food Pantry. Good job Hobart!
Both the Marlow and Ada Clubs have Golf Tournaments in the near future. Marlow’s will be held on May 1st while Ada’s will be April 27th. Entry forms for each event can be found on the District’s Facebook page.
Our Leo Clubs have not been idle either. The Shawnee Leos were busy help-ing out at the lo-cal Community Market, stocking shelves and un-packing food do-nations.
Down in Lawton the Leos were un-dertaking their quarter-ly Stream Clean-Up effort. See-ing all the hard work
done by these young people is en-couraging and makes the future of Lionism bright.
The newly revitalized Mangum Lions held a Pancake Breakfast where they raised $1300.00 to be used by the Club to support their charities.
And up in Edmond they have been conducting several KidSight screen-ings in the community. They also have their Annual Chili Supper set for March 24th.
That hits some of the high points around the District of late. Keep up the good work and hope to see many of you at the District Convention. Un-til next time, Continue to Boldly Go… In Service!
8
OK Lions SRVC FNDR
4123 NW 10th ST
Oklahoma City, OK 73107-5801
NON PRFIT ORG
US POSTAGE PAID
OKLA CITY OK
PERMIT NO 389
STATE POSITIONS
D
Lions State Office News and Notes
Mailing Address: 4123 NW 10th
St.,
Oklahoma City, OK 73107
Office Phone: 405-947-6540,
After hours or Emergency: State
Sec. Marvin's Cell 405-819-1045
Off Hrs.: Mon, Tues, Thurs. 8:30-
4:30
Wed & Fri 9:00– 4:30
Sat-Sun Closed
Email and Web Information
Marvin’s email:
Website address
www.oklahomalions.org
OK Lion Newspaper:
www.oklahomalions.org (scroll to bottom of
the page and click (OK Lion)
Lions of Oklahoma State Patches
(6” diam.) are now available at the state
office for $6.00 each.
Eye Glasses Recycling Boxes
are now available at the state office.
The cost is $9.00 each.
SW Pin Swap Convention, Jan 14 – 16, 2021
Lake Murray State Lodge, Oklahoma
Mid-Winter District Conventions: 2020
3-NW Feb 28 & 29, 2020,(First Unit-ed Methodist Church of Ponca City. The church is located at 200 S. 6th St (corner of 6th & Central).
3-SW March 6 & 7, 2020. Clarion
Inn, 101 Meadow Ridge Drive, Elk
City 580-225-6637
MD3 State Convention
May 8 & 9, 2020 Hilton Garden Inn,
135 NW 2nd St. Lawton
Phone: (580) 280-2100
Council Meetings-West Side Lions
May 30, 2020 (Tentative)
