2012 Feb - Lions Australia

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28 yoursay Lions’ letters Best days of my life Today was one of the best days of my life. In particular it was one of the best days in my life as a Lion, which has been in excess of 32 years. For today my Lions club – The Lions Club of Altona Inc. with financial support from the Altona Community Bank and equipment support from our local Hobsons Bay Council – officially presented to the people of fire-ravaged Flowerdale a parkland consisting of two electric barbecues under cover, five sets of seats and tables and a toilet block for their public use. The project commenced when a small group of Lions met on site with a couple of Flowerdale residents and simply asked “How can we help?” The answer was “create a park for us – a place where we can meet, talk and relax”. Dick Murdoch from Altona Lions and John Dawson from the Altona Community Bank with plaque for the shelter. This challenge took three years to complete for a whole host of reasons but today it was completed and as we cooked, fed and shared this place with the Flowerdale folk, we experienced a wide range of emotions – pride, joy, satisfaction, relief, love and a happiness brought about by knowing we have forged lifelong friendships with those same people. Yes today was one of the best days of my life. Lion Dick Murdoch Lions Club of Altona Inc. On your metal Now that you have had a good clean-out over the Christmas holidays, it’s time to take all your ring pulls and metals (even gold if you have it) to your nearest Sims Recycling Depot, or their subsidiaries. The funds will then be credited directly to the Lions Spinal Cord Fellowship ... how easy is that? Clean up the yard (or paddock) and help one of our projects at the same time. If you have a large quantity or bulky items then Sims will arrange for a bin or truck to come to you. Don’t forget to give them the code for your state – Victoria and Tasmania is LION02, NSW and ACT is LION16, S.A. and N.T. is LION04, WA is LION03, and QLD is LION04. Sims will give you a receipt and if you could send us a copy it would help us to reconcile the deposits – plus, we would like to acknowledge your donation. Do you know of or work for a corporate who would be willing to donate a percentage of their industrial waste to the cause? Even 1% from a mining group would be a great return ... think outside the square and see what you can come up with so that we can get our friends out of wheelchairs David Oakley LASCF District Chairman Liaison oakheat@bigpond.com What Lions means to me What does Lions mean to me? It’s another name for family, There’s husbands and wives and a few grandmas Mustn’t forget our dear grandpas We’ll take brothers and sisters too Aunts and uncles, even you We slave over big hot BBQs To bring hot snags to all of yous’ We break our backs to make things last Do unto others rings in our hearts From glasses sent to SightFirst We love to provide that little burst For local centres who maybe lack We ask for funds to give them back My Dad was one, now I am too I extend my hand to all of you We meet two times in every month Join together like grapes to a bunch What does Lions mean to me? A way to give back to MY community! Lion Nicole Seng Lions Club of Ipswich, Qld A Lion for life? Some years ago I heard mention of several Lions clubs creating their own Life Membership of the club signed by the Club President of the day. I have recently heard once again of Lions clubs doing this. The existing Life Member plaque from Lions Clubs International states as follows: “The International Association of Lions Clubs by action of its Board of Directors approves the recommendation of the Lions Club of Australia and does hereby confer upon John Citizen Life Membership in said club”. If a club were to create a plaque the only change needed for a “Club” Life Membership would be the signature by the Club President and action by the club board. One of the main issues facing club management is when a Lions club has several members who qualify for Life Membership. The Lions club may not have sufficient money to pay for the usual Life Memberships @ $US500. The easy option is to agree on a “Club” Life membership. However a system to relieve this problem could be put in place. Payment over a three-year term might be one way. There are several other issues that arise when reviewing the Constitution and By-laws. Life Member is a permanent category. It provides for all other membership categories. This is best reasoned when reviewing the content of the two tables in the Constitution and By-laws: (1). obligations and (2). rights and privileges. From these tables it can be determined that there is no reason why a Life Member should ever seek to change his/her designation. Why? Because the rights and privileges are all conditional on active membership BUT they do not take away the title of Life Member and the member does not need to participate in club functions or projects. When a Life Member transfers to another club his plaque requires alteration if the constitution is to be followed. A system is needed to do this. And finally: Should the constitution be changed so that Life membership is for Life and NOT Life as a Lion? Most (if not all) organisations in Australia grant life membership for LIFE. Tony Carr PDG ANZI- Pacific Forum 2014 Following the very successful ANZI- Pacific Forum held in the Gold Coast, Queensland in September 2012, the ANZI- Pacific Executive Standing Committee is calling for bids to host the 2014 ANZI- Pacific Forum in Australia. Bids are being sought from clubs, (or a consortium of clubs) to host the forum. Bids must be received by Executive Officer Rob Oerlemans, no later than 31 July 2012. Bids will be considered by the ANZI-Pacific Executive Standing Committee consisting of representatives of MD201, MD202 and MD307. Intending bidders should contact Executive Officer Rob Oerlemans to request a bidding package consisting of the Policy Manual. Lion
Learning new ropes at Camp Duckadang When the Queensland floods came Camp Duckadang, a recreational campsite owned and operated by Lions at Linville, north-west of Brisbane, was hit hard. Since then it has been all about recovery. A significant step in the process was the official opening of the camp’s new sequenced low challenges rope course. An extensive and exciting low rope course has now been installed on site. The rope course has over 18 elements from a swinging log, two-line bridge, Heebie Jeebie ropes (the name says it all!) through to swinging tyres and bosun’s chairs. Funding was gained by the Lions Club of Narangba from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund and the course was opened by state member for Morayfield Mark Ryan. “Seeing the recovery and the new facilities being offered shows how hard the Lions club and Camp Duckadang team have worked to get back to normal,” he said. He added that Camp Duckadang plays an important part in the development of young and disadvantaged youth and the new Low Ropes Course plays a significant part in strengthening the bonds between individuals. He highlighted his close association with a February - March 2012 Mark Ryan MP with Brian Stringer Camp Duckadang’s Chairman officially open the low ropes course. disadvantaged group who use Camp Duckadang on a regular basis. Mr Ryan acknowledged the high level of support of the Camp’s local State Member, Dorothy Pratt in assisting the Board of the Camp during the flood crisis. Anne Erskine, Camp Duckadang’s Site Manager, along with her husband Bill, is thrilled to see the new low ropes course installed. “After such a destructive experience and being unable to accommodate our many regular visitors during that time, it is wonderful to see the site back to its original state but with even more facilities to offer. We are very excited to see camp visitors using the new low ropes course for their team building and social needs”. Camp Duckadang has also launched a new website which showcases the site’s many facilities and services and provides visitors with the opportunity to view availability and book their camp experience online. Visit www.campduckadang.com.au for further information and to subscribe to Camp Duckadang’s newsletter to hear Camp Duckadang’s latest news and offerings. YOUTH OF THE YEAR Judges, choose carefully – and treat them well Judges, like umpires or referees, are a necessity in any competitive situation – and Youth of the Year is no exception. It is most important to choose your judges carefully, because they have the most contact with your contestants and will influence the experience that these young people will take away with them. At Club level, three judges are permitted. Make sure you have a gender balance – do not have three female or three male judges. Invite people who work with, or have regular contact with young people. Have a wide range of professional or work experience. Do not invite people from the same professional or work background. Refer to the Club Chairman manual as there are many suggestions for judges there. Once you have your judges in place, make sure they are well briefed. Spend at least an hour with them going through the Entry Form and the Guide to Judges form. These documents have most of the detail you will need. You must also explain the time commitment required. During your discussions the judges must decide the following: Four General Knowledge questions for the interview and two impromptu questions for the Public Speaking sections. As a starting point in your discussion with the judges – and to help them to choose good questions – ask them to consider the following areas: One question of local interest (careful with state/territory borders), one at state level (careful with state/territory borders), one of national importance and one of international significance. Don’t forget that questions cannot be ambiguous or require two separate answers – and keep them BRIEF and to the point. It is important to remember that at club level, only the winner will have a second opportunity to hone their skills. Therefore it is vital that all participants leave the quest with a feeling of achievement. So please try to keep questions at a level that all contestants will feel comfortable with. This criteria is especially important with the impromptu questions. Long complicated questions only confuse young people. Make the impromptu questions short and precise and consider only topics that the contestants at this level can talk about for two minutes! WINNERS ADVISORY FORMS: Remember, when the Club, Zone, Region and District Final have been run, you MUST complete the Winners Advisory Form and attach the original application form of your winning contestant plus his/her winners advisory forms from the previous levels. These documents must be forwarded to the next level. WHAT HAPPENS NOW: After you have run your final and completed your forms, what do you do now? Have you asked your contestant to come to a club meeting with their parents to practice their speech and answer a couple of impromptu questions? Some clubs do and this helps their contestant to gain confidence before the next level. It also lets the parents know that we care about their young person and are willing to put in the time to develop their skills. You could also let the person know about Youth Exchange and Leos as these are programs they may encounter when they attend university or take a gap year after finishing year 12. You could also ask parents to consider joining Lions. At national level we have a number of parents of contestants who have joined. These parents would have walked away from Lions if somebody had not asked them to join. If you want to learn more about Youth of the Year, please visit out website at http://www.lionsclubs.org.au/yoty Youth of the Year – “You just can’t lose” Bryan Coggle, Chairman Lions Youth of the Year 29
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Page 12 and 13: 12 PATRICK the Lion Namers P atrick
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Page 30 and 31: 30 Just some of our award winners

2012 Feb - Lions Australia

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