The Rally raised $3,754 for the Montana Sight and Hearing Foundation and $1,353 to be split between Ronald McDonald Houses and Cam Mak-a-Dream. 105 registrants participated representing Lions Clubs throughout the Multiple District and several additional states. See the Saturday article for updates that were made during the day detailing some of the activities.

An audience view of the Demo.

4:00 pm 2/25/2012 Breakout sessions covering LCIF grants, Public Speaking and Plusoptix Demo of eye exam equipment are being held to inform Lions and provide opportunities for sharing ideas, solving problems and increasing our ability to meet community needs. See the photo captions for details.

PID Dana Biggs demonstrates public speaking.

Lion Jayne at a laptop preparing to give an eye exam.

2:00 pm 2/25/2012 SPECIAL UPDATE: The Membership session has begun and they did a unique warm-up.  Click the link Rally to play a verse.

2:00 pm 2/25/2012: The first afternoon session presented varying perspectives on Fundraising Urban and Rural.  Ideas were presented by different clubs highlighting what works – such as a local phone book for small communities. Use this web site to share your ideas in any of the comment areas (linked below each story).

1:00 pm 2/25/2004: Lunch was served – and it was tasty, too.  The Montana Sight and Hearing Foundation presented awards to clubs for their fundraising efforts and drew winners for their cash raffle.  In addition, an item that arrived after the live auction last night was auctioned by PID Tom Lehman. Another $420 was raised for the foundation in just a few minutes. Lions conducted a raffle for six pies and started the process for the other items shown in the photo.  This time proceed would be split between the two Ronald McDonald Houses in Montana and Camp Mak-a-Dream. More news to come.

10:30 am 2/25/2004: The Rally continues with small groups discussing ideas as a part of Building the Best Lions Club Ever.  Presentations from each focus group were presented to the Rally at large. Zoom in on the photo at left (or right click and select view image to have it fill your screen). See anyone you know?

9:00 am 2/25/2012: Lions Roar at the Holiday Inn on Saturday February 25th. A Trivial Pursuit social and auction the previous evening opened the event with $3,334 raised for the Montana Sight and Hearing Foundation.

Saturday sessions began with the traditional flag ceremony and reading of Lions protocol. The fun began promptly with Dynamics Between the Generations led by PCC Ben Apeland and PDG Christine Lank. Select music clips from 1942 to present were used to begin a discussion of the successive generations and how they view the world (and our Clubs). Mastering these differences is key to the continued success of Lions.

This post will be updated several times during the Rally.

Club volunteers are not expected to travel and the effort required on their part will not be extensive.  They will assist by providing information about their communities by email, postal service or phone. This program is evolving as more information becomes available. Its value is providing resources for use in the earliest stages of responding to an event without distracting officials when their attention is focused on other issues.

Your club can participate in this program by naming a chairperson (point-of-contact) who will perform three simple tasks with the assistance of their their club:

1. Answer a series of questions leading to a comprehensive list of “instant” locations where a disaster van (emergency food service) can be located in or near your community. These questions will be developed after a series of meetings with state and regional officials in February and March of 2012.
2. Serve as a conduit for information between Lions International, District 37S (or the Multiple District) and your club.
3. Serve as a point-of -contact for information if a disaster occurs (for example providing information to the District if a grant from the Lions International Foundation sought).

More information will be made available as soon as possible.  To designate your club’s point-of-contact please enter a comment to this message with the name of your club and contact information.

Thanks, Lions! And keep up the good work.

Jerry, 37S Alert Chair

Participant Qualifications

1. Candidates for this institute from Alberta, Northwest Territories, British Columbia and Montana will be given priority.

2. Candidates must be Lions in good standing. Candidates do not have to hold a position currently.

3. Candidates must be willing to commit to a three day institute including group mealtime activities. Attendance at all classroom sessions and scheduled meals is mandatory.

COST OF THE INSTITUTE

Registration Fee: $100.00. MD 37 will pay for meals and lodging during the actual days of the institute. Participants are responsible to pay for their own transportation and related travel expenses to and from the institute.

SELECTION PROCESS

Acceptance into the institute is not guaranteed. A maximum of fifty applicants will be accepted. The Institute staff will review applications and notify the applicants of the results. If applications received exceed the capacity of the institute, unaccepted applicants will have first priority for acceptance to the next institute to be held the following year.

RETURN APPLICATION TO (or for inquiries):
PDG Mary Kay Flanagan
MD37 GLT Leader
3615 Nelson Road
Bozeman, MT  59718-7718
Ph/Fax:  406-388-1262

Application Procedure

Prepare the following items and submit them as indicated below. Your application will be considered only when all completed forms are submitted.

A) Application form (click for form)

B) Candidate’s Lions history (click for form)

C) A minimum of two letters of nomination (click for sample form)
from a Lions leader who knows you from the following list:

International President
Past International President
International Vice President
International Director
Past International Director
Council Chair
District Leadership Development Chair
District Membership Chair
District Extension Chair
District Retention Chair
District Governor
Vice District Governor
Past District Governor
Zone Chairman
Club President
Lions Club Board of Directors

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: April 15, 2012

Friday’s Trivial Pursuit  will feature a “No Host Bar”, which is sure to help brains to work on coming up with answers.  After that there will be a live auction, as well as a silent auction, with the funds to go to the Montana Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation.  Please bring an item from your club to auction off.

For both Saturday and Sunday breakfast, the committee has arranged a No Host Breakfast Buffet, right at the Holiday Inn, with a reduced price.

After the Opening Ceremony on Saturday there are a number of classes that will help Lions from the new to the experienced.  Classes include: Dynamics between the Generations; Building the Best Lion’s Club Ever; Community Needs Assessment; How to Achieve Club Growth; Fundraising, both Rural and Urban; Grant Applications (focused on LCIF); Public Speaking; and Plusoptix (A vision screening device).

Inscription: “Gary Tschache – Heart of a Lion”

Sunday December 18th, 2011, marked the unveiling of the PID Gary Tschache memorial at Kagy Korner in Bozeman. The many Lions in attendance appreciated the warm sunny day and the fellowship of those who knew and appreciated Gary’s accomplishments for Bozeman, Multiple District 37, and the world. Thanks to the many clubs and individual contributors toward this testimony to a great Lion!

Lions of Montana: please mark your 2012 calendars for the following events. New posts on this site will provide details when they are made available.