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.

The tribute for PID Gary Tschace will unveiled in a short ceremony on Sunday December 18th at noon.  The statue will be covered from public view until that time.  It is located on the grounds of the Tschache business, Kagy Korners in Bozeman.  The tribute is a moving reminder of the efforts and love that PID Gary had for Lions so plan on attending if you can!

Wing-Kun Tam, International President

Dear Lion,

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya, where more than 2,000 trees were planted by Lions and representatives of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). These trees are just the beginning of a new partnership between Lions and the AKDN that will result in the planting of at least one million trees in Kenya by December 2012. Think of it — our entire worldwide goal for tree planting equaled in one nation alone!

This is certainly cause for celebration, not only because it will provide great environmental benefits, but also because growing and nurturing those trees will provide employment opportunities for young Kenyans.

It reminded me that growing and nurturing the Lions family is the most important work we do as Lion leaders. I am proud to report that this work is going very well. More than 337district governors have qualified for Excellent First Believer awards by chartering two new clubs or achieving positive membership results, or for Superior First Believer awards by chartering five new clubs and achieving positive membership on October 31, 2011. View the list at the Lions Clubs International Web site.

District governors’ teams share the work of growth and nurturing with the worldwide Global Membership Team and Global Leadership Team. The Club Excellence Process provides additional nurturing for Lions clubs around the world.

I hope that you will join me in congratulating the First Believer recipients for their success in helping to grow our Lions family. I also hope that you, your club or district will take full advantage of the nurturing opportunities provided by the GMT and GLT and the Club Excellence Process.

Thank you for all you do.

Sincerely,

Wing-Kun Tam

International President