Lions of SW Idaho and E Oregon

Remember how much fun you had at camp when you were a kid?  Now it's time to go back-this time as a volunteer! Lions stepped up to help the Winter Camp for the Blind with monetary donations.  This time we need to donate our time to help the Summer Camp,  sponsored in part this year  by the Idaho/E. Oregon Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation .    Volunteers are needed to help with various activities, including a talent show, a track meet, roller skating, rock climbing, horseback riding, and many more camp activities.  The Summer Camp take place at the Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind in Gooding, Idaho, as well as sites in Hailey, Meridian,Shoshone Falls, and  Twin Falls over the week of June 13th through the 19th. You can volunteer for a day or the whole week! And if you can't volunteer your time, money is still gladly accepted, too! If you can help, contact  Ron Gill at 221-5668  for a complete list of volunteer opportunities.

It's the final week of the District 39W membership contest!  Only a few more days to sign up those wannabe Lions-c'mon, you can do it! There have been some rumors floating around that one club has signed up 8 plus new members, another with a 30% increase, still other clubs aren't saying... We'll know pretty soon who wins the 2 nights stay in Sun Valley and convention registration, and if any of the rumors are based in fact. No matter who gets the prize, adding more dedicated Lions to our clubs is a win for all of us.  Recruiting is a year around priority, and the contest has put a spotlight on membership growth.  The new members you've added will bring new ideas to your club, lots of enthusiasm, and more hands to provide service to your community. The next challenge is to continue adding new members after the April 30 contest deadline.  And just as importantly, keeping all the members you have.  Share your ideas for membership with the rest of us!  Click the &

The committee for next year's 39W Midwinter Convention, chaired by Lion Linda Clemenger, is actively seeking input for the 2011 convention.  They've come up with a short survey which is basically 2 questions:  "If you didn't go to the 2010 convention, why not?" and "What break-out sessions would you like to go to?"  A few choices are listed to get you started thinking, but there are three spaces to fill in your own ideas.  After you've completed the survey, you'll end up back on the same page where you can scroll to the bottom and write in anything you want in the "Convention Ideas".  Got an idea for Friday or Saturday night entertainment?  Who would you like to hear as a keynote speaker?   What do you think of the food?  The cost?  The time?  The place?   Do you want more education, more socialization?  Write as much as you want on anything having to do with the Midwinter Convention.  Never been?  Doesn't matter.  Always go? 

Lots of Charter Parties this month!   Hats off to the District Governor and Vice District Governors for attending so many functions-don't know how you do it! Friday night was Parma's 61st anniversary-or was it 78th?  No, wait, that was somebody's birthday.  Well, a picture is worth a thousand words..... Let's just say you had to have been there.  The tables were gorgeous! Not to be forgotten, Kuna's Charter Party last week was tropical fun! So many Charter Parties, so little time...........

Something I've been wanting for my club is a brochure.  We always order the free ones from Lions Clubs International which give general information about Lions Clubs and Lions and look really nice.  But wouldn't it be nice to have a great looking brochure with your clubs specific service projects listed and days and times of your meetings? Well, silly me, LCI has an online template available where you can do just that.  All you have to do is type in the changes online and print!  You can change any of the pre-written text or just add your specific club information.  Buying some nice paper and using your color printer would look pretty nice, or you could take it to your local print shop. It's on my "to do" list! What a great recruiting tool this will be! Do you have a club brochure?

BEWARE!! The Star Lions club has been operating outside the guidelines of proper new member recruitment, and now are officially placed on probation. Their so called fundraising events are really a cover for recruiting new members. They offer great food, beverages and superb musical entertainment in return for a signed new Lion member agreement. This strong arm attempt at membership growth should not be a direct reflection of the Lions of District 39W. As you can see by the picture a couple of reliable spies from other clubs were the ones that brought this offense to our attention. Please beware of the Star Lions as they are on a mission to win the district membership contest by any means possible.

Lions do a lot of volunteer work and it's not always just Lions Club projects and activities.  Take Lions Pat and Glen Gore with the Boise Riverside Club.  In addition to serving in their Lions club and attending many events hosted by other clubs, they are also involved with the Veterans Resource Network , which provides care packages for the military serving overseas along with other Veterans' projects. The Gores and the other volunteers are in need of a new place to house the organization and store items to be sent in the care packages.  You can read more about Veterans Resource Network and what type of space they are looking for in Sunday's Idaho Statesman's Helping Works .

I've been searching around for something to blog about this week and today was emailed a bit of interesting information. It seems the Vallivue Lions are at it again . Back in October, several members of the Vallivue Lions visited the Star charter party and made off with a  framed award that had just been presented by VDG Pat.  They demanded that a Star Lion or 2 visit their club to retrieve the certificate.  Star Lions played along.  VDG Pat printed a replacement award, and he and a few Star Lions made the trek to the Vallivue Lions Den with the "fake" award for laughs and a pie to exchange for the original award. Last week, some Vallivue Lions (probably the same suspects?) attended the Midvale charter party and absconded with a couple of items, pictured below.   All they are asking this time is that Midvale Lions return the favor and come to the Vallivue charter party, tentatively scheduled for May 22.  (A quick check of the calendar shows May 22nd to be very busy..