Lannon's Lions Lingo

By LION JACK LANNON
Forest Lake Lions Membership Chairman

If one decided to explore each of our 50 magnificent states by automobile, he or she would soon become very familiar with the large purple and gold roadside signs greeting them as they moved from town to town and village to village.

The two-headed lion with the Large L in the middle informs the traveler that the community they are about to enter has, as a distinguishing characteristic, a Lions Club.

What is a Lions Club? Who are the Lions? Why do these clubs exist? What is the purpose of these Lions clubs? What do Lions do?

The Forest Lake Lions Club is a member of the International Association of Lions Clubs which consists of over 42,000 Lions clubs in over 180 countries or geographical locations on six continents with a total membership well in excess of 1.5 million members. These impressive numbers make Lions the largest service organization on Planet Earth!

Lions are men and women from all walks of life, of all nationalities, of all races, of all religions and of all socio-economic levels. Truly, Lions clubs are a "melting pot" of community-minded individuals who are willing to give of themselves in order that their community be a better place in which to live and raise their families.

Lions clubs have one reason for existing: to serve their communities and their fellow beings. The motto of each club is: "We Serve." There is no place in Lions for those who believe that the community owes them a living and/or they are "entitled" to more than they have already received. Lions give, not of their wealth, but of themselves. Lions look for a "need," be it a need within the community or a need of one less fortunate -- and they do something about it. Lions do not wait for "the other guy" to make things better; they do it, and they do it now.

What is the purpose of Lions? As stated in Article II of the Constitution and By-Laws of the International Association of Lions Clubs, there are six objectives of Lions Clubs:

1) To create and foster a spirit of understanding among the peoples of the world.

2) To promote the principles of good government and good citizenship.

3) To take an active interest in the civic, cultural, social and moral welfare of the community.

4) To unite the clubs in the bonds of friendship, good fellowship and mutual understanding.

5) To provide a forum for the open discussion of all matters of public interest; provided, however, that partisan politics and sectarian religion shall not be debated by club members.

6) To encourage service-minded people to serve their community without personal financial reward, and to encourage efficiency and promote high ethical standards in commerce, industry, professions, public works and private endeavors.

To achieve these objectives in Forest Lake and surrounding communities, the Forest Lake Lions Club is involved in numerous community service projects. Lions are involved in Boy Scout and Girl Scout projects; they collect used eyeglasses for distribution to the poor in Central and South America; they collect food donations to supply the Community Food Shelf; they sponsor drug awareness and drug education programs in the local schools; they serve an Annual Turkey Dinner to the senior citizens of the area; they sponsor a wellness van; they conduct a kids' fishing contest and they are involved in many other programs and projects which give meaning to their motto: "We Serve."

Many of the Lions' service projects require money to be successful. Club members do not simply pull out their checkbooks and drop a check in the collection box. Rather, they give of their time, energy and expertise to several fund-raising projects.

The Lions' food wagon is present at many community activities to provide hamburgers, hot dogs and other goodies to the participants.

There is a pancake breakfast and a spaghetti dinner, as well as the sale of mints, daffodils, kids' coloring books and a community birthday calendar.

Go to any seasonal community festival anywhere in the country and more likely as not, you will find the local Lions Club prominently involved. Indeed, the Lions' fund-raising projects provide the fuel that drives their service programs.

For more information on the Forest Lake Lions Club, contact current membership chairman Lion Jack Lannon at (651) 257-2039 or e-mail him at aljl007@aol.com or at www.forestlakelions.org

Through membership in a Lions club, people not only help those in need, but have opportunities to develop personal friendships and gain valuable leadership skills.

Membership is open to men and women of legal majority and good reputation in the community, and is by invitation only. Clubs meet at least twice a month and elect officers annually. The association is governed by an international board of directors. Each year, more than 20,000 Lions attend their international convention to discuss new ideas, share experiences and reaffirm friendship and fellowship.

Those interested in membership should contact the local Lions club. If unable to locate a Lions club, e-mail a request to the Membership Operations Department at Lions Clubs International, lionextension@worldnet.att.net, providing name, address and telephone numbers in the request. Written requests can also be met by faxing (630) 571-8890 or writing to the Membership Operations Department, Lions Clubs International, 300 22nd Street, Oak Brook, IL 60523. For more information, call Lions International Headquarters at (630) 571-5466, ext. 322. Lions Clubs International will forward the information to the local club who will make the contact.

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