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2017 State Convention Highlights
DG Bill Smothermon and PCC Joe Montag
From District Governors serving ice cream, to ghostly tours, to youth contests, to wonderful and informative speakers, the 2017 Lions State Convention had something for everyone. The District 2- A2 Lions and the Clubs in San Antonio did a great job making us feel welcome, starting with a kickoff banquet that began with trip down the famous Riverwalk and ending with dinner and music at the IBC center.
Thursday morning saw the celebration of our centennial with the establishment of a special rose garden honoring the 12 Founder Clubs from the State of Texas, including our own Dallas Founder Club. The garden is part of Lions Park which was established by Lions in 1925 and is still a vibrant and active part of San Antonio.
Friday and Saturday were filled with many different activities including tours of the various missions and historical sites, the Alamo, haunted places, and a historic pub crawl. In addition, the Lions were treated to a new exhibit “The Texas Experience”, which was a great chance to view the history, sights, and sounds of the battle at the Alamo.
If touring was not in your plan, or if you just wanted to cool off, Saturday afternoon featured an old fashioned 50s style ice cream social with the current District Governors and their spouses serving up the ice cream, floats, sundaes, and splits, not to mention the ladies as a great backup group for the karaoke singers.
District 2-X1 continued its tradition of performing well in the youth contests as Jones Kalarickal from Irving DFW Indian Lions Club won the Outstanding Youth Contest and Safal Lamichhane from Dallas Everest won the Drug Awareness Speech Contest. Congratulations to both these young men who represented our District very well, not only in the contests, but also with their maturity and wonderful attitude.
The final banquet was filled with several special touches including an elite honor guard of Texas Lions, several awards, and a moving presentation from Texas’ own PID Mike Butler, who said it is up to each of us to make the decision to serve. Lion Randy Kempf made the decision to serve by joining the Dallas Founder Club and being inducted by CC TJ Tijerina and PID Mike.
The event ended with our District Governor Bill Smothermon presenting a check for $100,000 to the Texas Lions Camp. The money was a donation from the Stephen Sanders family and will be used to help improve and enhance TLC facilities.
(L to R) Jones Kalarickal, Irving DFW Indian winner of the Outstanding Youth, Safal Lamichhane, Dallas Everest winner Drug Awareness Speech Contest, Reginald Lane, Bridgeport Lions, winner Diabetic Essay Contest, DG Bill Smothermon
100,000 Donation from the Family of Stephen Sanders was presented by (L to R) PCC John Eads 2VP TLC, DG Bill Smothermon and PDG James Browning President of TLC.
VOLUME 27 ISSUE 12 / JUNE 2017
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