MD1 Lions of Illinois State Monthly December e-Magazine

The Illinois Lion, Lioness, Leo MD1 e-Magazine (Lite) Vol. 4 - Issue 6, December 2016

“Trees For Tomorrow” PARIS LEO CLUB PLANTING OAK TREES AT SUNSET PARK 1

success in your communities is our success all around the world!!!

From MD1 Council Chair: Lions of Illinois, Well, we had quite a rally last month and are swiftly headed to Thanksgiving and beyond. Christmas bells are ringing in many a town as we head into the holidays and the end of the year. Yes, soon HALF of our Lions Year will be over.

“Time provides all of us with the opportunity to change, alter our belief system, and create new perspectives that challenge a person’s character and teach him or her how to become a happier and wiser person.” Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls I do hope we have gained a lot of knowledge with the passage of time that we may be better Lions and assist our clubs and our communities in new and more fruitful ways. This time of year generally makes us more aware of needs of the people around us and should lead to us being thankful for all we have and can share. That after all is what Lions is all about and what makes me proud to be a member with all of you!

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”

Charles Dickens “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet As we celebrate the Holiday Season and Ring in the New Year lets think about our entry into a new century of service with Lions. Let’s keep up the Centennial Service Challenge and also introduce some new projects and even perhaps a Legacy Project.

Get in touch with your District’s Centennial Service Challenge Coordinator; they can help with new ideas!!!

And do not forget to attend the Zone Meetings…..ALL the District Officers are there for YOU the Lions Club member and YOUR club!!! Your 2

PLEASE have a safe and happy Holiday Season!!!!!

Maggie and I wish you all the best! It is a pleasure to work with and serve the Lions of Illinois! Thanks for a great first 6 months!!

Thank you for your time! Thank you for your Service! Thank you for being an Illinois Lion!!!! And remember “1917-It All Started Here”, in Illinois.

Best Regards, Lion Mark Williams Lions of Illinois “With You in Service” md1lionsmark@gmail.com

Editorial: ANNUAL HOLIDAYS OF GIFTS Every Year month of December brings us the spirit of Annual Holidays of Gifts Giving. Christmas trees are lit in neighborhoods, cribs are illuminated and the carols are filled in the skies.

As a good citizen, it is our duty and responsibility to give back at this festive time of year end holidays.

God has blessed us with good job, good family and good health to serve less fortunate in our communities.

We have two huge charities to help as lions – Lions Clubs International Foundation and Lions of Illinois Foundation. Let us not forget to donate our contributions to these charities. Also as lions, we have our own club charities, Leader Dogs, Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind, Lions of Illinois Eye Research Center, Hadley School for the Blind, Mary Bryant Home for the Blind, etc., etc., to name a few to help in this holiday season of giving.

We took the challenge from Helen Keller to be the Knight of the Blinds. When get inducted as Lions Club members, simultaneously we become the Knights of the Blind to fulfill the promise we gave as Lions to Helen Keller in 1925 during our International Convention.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO OUR READERS!

Lions are the quiet ‘givers’ in our communities. We do not spend any money for advertisements or publicizing our activities. We do it because we care and share and we follow our motto – We Serve.

-PDG Austin D’Souza, Your e-Magazine Editor ILStateEditor@gmail.com

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP CORNER: Jama Wahl This is the second in a series of articles about Leadership Institutes offered by Lions Clubs International. Any Lion can participate in an institute.

Prepared Lions provide better leadership at their club, district, or multiple district level. Stronger leadership means stronger service for our communities.

According to information on the Lions Clubs International website, the Emerging Lions Leadership Institute (ELLI) “ focuses on building skills for Lions working at the club level.

Candidates must be Lions in good standing, who have served on a club committee, but have not yet been a club president. Charter club presidents are also eligible.”

This institute is especially geared for Lions who are seeking to be more active on the club level.

Applications are available at http://www.lionsclubs.org/resources/EN/pdfs/ellichicago.pdf LCI staff reviews all applications and makes the invitation to participants.

A non-refundable participation fee of US $125.00 is required to offset the cost of the institute. LCI covers the cost of lodging and meals during the institute.

Participants are responsible for transportation to and from the institute. Many clubs will assist the participant with these fees.

The next ELLI for Constitutional Area 1 and 2, which includes the USA, Affiliates, Bermuda and The Bahamas, and Canada is January 21-23, 2017 in

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Chicago, Illinois. The application deadline has been extended.

Questions can be directed to the Institute Division at LCI headquarters, 630-571-8890.

-Jama Wahl, MD1 GLT Coordinator jamawahl@yahoo.com

President's Message Dear Lion, For 100 years, Lions have served like no one else.

Our Centennial is an exciting opportunity to celebrate our legacy of local and global service. And I want you to feel just as excited about our future.

We have set a goal of serving 200 million people per year by 2021—tripling our current humanitarian impact—so we can meet the emerging needs of our next century of service. It's ambitious. It's lifechanging. It's what we do as Lions.

To reach our goal, we developed a strategic plan called LCI Forward. We built this roadmap for the future based on feedback from thousands of Lions just like you. LCI Forward embraces new ways to serve, new cutting-edge technologies and new ways to engage youth in Lions. It will offer more tools for training leaders, more global marketing to raise our visibility, and more ways to experience the pride of being a Lion.

Learn more about our strategic plan by exploring the LCI Forward page. Then share the special LCI Forward video with your club. We will share new updates and resources throughout the year, and I look forward to working with your club to achieve our ambitious goals and ensure we remain the global leader in service.

Chancellor Bob Corlew Your International President

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO OUR READERS!

A message from the Illinois Pin Traders Association:

The Illinois Pin Traders Association is part of the Lions of Illinois organization. We are a small group of Lions that are either pin traders or interested in what pin trading means to the Lion Program. Over the years, we have been active with other states pin traders associations by participating in Pin Swap Meets throughout the country. The swaps offer the opportunity to meet new Lions, trade pins as well as ideas about your interest in Lions.

Through this association you can learn more about the Lions Clubs International Pin Traders Association. We are similar, but work more on a smaller scale.

This year the Illinois Pin Traders Association is in a rebuilding program with the hope that we will be an active club by the time the Centennial Convention comes to Chicago in June of 2017. As Chair of the MD1 Host Committee and the President of the IPTA, I look to this association to help out with the Pin Traders at the International Convention. So, please help in this regrowth of Pin Trading as well as membership in our State Association.

We meet once a year at the Lions of Illinois State Convention. During the year, we have the opportunity to join other states at Pin Swap Meets as well as trade pins by email. Our dues for the year are only $5.00 and is billed on an annual basis.

We are looking for more Lions to join the association. So please consider the idea.

International Lions Parade One of the highlights of the Lions Clubs International Convention is the “Parade of Nations”. For those who have never attended the convention, this parade is like no others that you have seen. There will be about 20,000 Lions that will participate. The individual delegations will march in their native dress. Along with the marchers, there will be about 20 marching bands and a few floats.

The parade will be Saturday, July 1st stepping off at 9:00 am at the corner of State Street and Wacker Drive. The parade will proceed south down State Street to Van Buren Street. Buses will be there to help the participants to return to McCormick Place.

The marching order of the parade will be led by the delegations from the International Officers, followed by more than 150 delegations from around the world. Being the Host for the convention, we will be the last unit to march.

Throughout the parade there will be marching bands and floats that will depicting the history of Lionism throughout the world.

If you are interested, please send your information to Lion Bob Block, PDG at 615 - 205th Place, Dyer, IN 46311 or by email to gov8990@aol.com. I hope you would think about joining our group, whether you have a hand full or thousands of pins, every Lion is welcome…

The Lions of Illinois are being asked to wear a similar dress that includes dark trouser, white polo shirt with a blue vest. We are looking for the dress to be similar in order to show the World how proud we are to host this Centennial Convention. Please refer to the attached forms for both the polo shirt and MD1 Vest.

Lion Bob Block, PDG President, Illinois Pin Traders Association (219) 671-0287

The committee will be looking for about 200 to 300 volunteers to help in the organizing of the units, getting the parade down the route and assisting

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO OUR READERS!

the participants to the shuttle bus to return them back to McCormick Place. Those volunteers will need to assemble around 7:00 am to get your assignments for the parade. So, please think about it and go to our web site to volunteer. It will be a fun time as well as you will be able to say that you marched down State Street. Everyone will be able to march as the day goes on.

I would like to challenge each District to have a minimum of 100 Lions marching. With the Multiple having 10 Districts that would give us 1,000 marchers plus all the parade marshals that will be helping out. So let’s show the World how strong and proud the Lions of Illinois are about our heritage.

Lion Robert Block, PDG MD1 Host Committee, Chair

Are you coming to Chicago for the Lions Centennial Convention in June, 2017?

Lions Clubs International is planning to celebrate their 100th Anniversary Celebration, the Lions of MD1, Illinois are planning to host the party. We have been in the process of preparing to host the Lions of the World as they arrive in Chicago to be part of this Centennial Celebration. We are looking forward to demonstrate our Midwest welcome and hospitality to all convention attendees and their families.

The Centennial Convention is June 30 - July 4, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. The main venue will be Chicago McCormick Place. At this time, the anticipated attendance is about 35,000 to 40,000 people from around the World. The different delegations will be housed in more than 18 hotels that are located along the “Magnificent Mile” - Michigan Avenue.

The International Parade will be Saturday, July 1, 5

2017. The parade will step off at 9:00 am and proceed down State Street. We are anticipating about 20,000 marchers, 18 marching bands along with cars, trolley buses and floats. This parade will be one of the convention highlights and demonstrate to the City who the Lions are.

Lions Clubs International has made some changes that will allow all those who attend time to visit the Centennial Exhibit in the main exhibit hall as well as to enjoy the sights and sound that the City of Chicago has to offer. Some of those changes include  The hours of the Convention Services and Exhibit Hall have been extended for additional hours per day. This change is to accommodate the high number of attendees.  The Delegate Certification and Voting Procedures have changed. Instead of getting certified as a delegate any time during the convention and then coming to vote on the last day of the convention, you will now be able to get certified and vote starting on Sunday, July 2 at 1:00 pm through Tuesday, July 4 until 10:30 am.  LCI has added a Business Session on Saturday, July 1 following the parade.

This session will be for the nomination of the candidates for International Directors. The third Vice President’s nomination will take place at the Sunday morning session.

On Saturday, July 1, 2017 not only do we have the Parade of Nations and a newly added Business Session, along with the International Show in the evening. The performance at the show will include the “Beach Boys” and “Chicago”. Both these bands are internationally known and will be performing individually at the show.

Something else that is new, is that during the International Show the main exhibit hall will be open to the attendees. The idea is to allow those that would like to take a break to go to the hall and

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO OUR READERS!

walk around. There will be food and drinks available in the hall during the show. The International Show will be starting at 5:30 pm which is earlier than years past. This may be a long day for those who participate in the parade as well as attend the Saturday afternoon business section, but I feel that it would give those the full experience of the convention.

I hope that you planning to come and celebrate this milestone in our Association’s History. Chicago has a lot to offer in the areas of site seeing, various food experiences, recreational areas and plenty of shopping opportunities. With Chicago being the Birth Place of Lions, this will be a great time to step back into the History of our Association. There will be a number of sites that you can visit during your convention experience.

Along with the traditional activities of the International Convention, Chicago will offer you an opportunity to walk up the steps of the Chicago Art Museum where the photo of Melvin Jones and the

So, as we celebrate the 100th Anniversary, let’s also take the time to renew our commitment to the motto “We Serve” and for the centennial celebration remember that “Where there is a need, there is a LION”. This idea will help us achieve our goals for our Centennial Celebration and at the same time renew our dedication to the service we offer to those less fortunate for our second hundred years of Lionism.

So plan to COME and CELEBRATE this milestone in the history of LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL …….

We will see you soon in Chicago.

Lion Robert C. Block, PDG MD1 Host Committee, Chair Visit us at: www.lions2017chicago.org CENTENNIAL SERVICE CHALLENGE MESSAGE: Dear Lions,

founding members had their picture taken with the Lion. There will be time for you to be able to visit the grave site of Melvin Jones on the west side of Chicago. And, an opportunity to visit our international headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois for a tour of the facility along with viewing more of the historical items that are on display throughout the building.

As chairman of the MD1 Host committee, I want to assure you that the Committee Members are prepared to make this convention one of the best in our Association’s history. Our goal is to make all the attendees feel welcome in Chicago and feel as if they are enjoying a family reunion away from home.

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For 100 years Lions have answered the call to serve those who need us most.

We have made it our mission to reach out to the poor and underserved, to promote peace and understanding, and to bring help and hope to humanity.

As we approach our Centennial in 2017, we have so much to celebrate. This once-in-a-lifetime event commemorates not just our association, but every Lion and club who has made a difference in the world. No matter where you are, there’s an opportunity for each and every Lion to join the celebration.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO OUR READERS!

This year, I encourage you to continue strengthening your communities by helping us achieve our Centennial Service Challenge goal of serving 100+ million people. I invite you to celebrate our Lions legacy by planning a Centennial Legacy Project in your community. And I’m asking you to take our clubs and association to new heights by chartering new clubs and inviting family, friends and neighbors to join us in service.

As members of the world’s largest service club organization, we change lives. We serve because

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the world needs us now more than ever. And we can achieve so much more when we work together. I hope you’ll join me as we celebrate our storied history of service, look toward our second century of service and show the world that wherever there’s a need, there’s a Lion.

Very truly yours, Chancellor Bob Corlew, International President -------------------------------------------------------------

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO OUR READERS!

MD1 State Monthly e-Magazine Edited & Published by PDG Austin D’Souza for Lions, Lionesses and Leos of Illinois. e-Mail Address: ILStateEditor@gmail.com Mail your articles, pictures and news items to above e-mail address.

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO OUR READERS!