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PRESIDENT’S BLOG
Lion President David Gregory
February 2012
Following the hard work in December the New Year festivities continued throughout January with many events arranged for the members and visits to other zones. Our first visit of the month was to Zone 2’s meeting in Llandudno where John Gregory, on behalf of Flint Lions Club presented Zone 2 Chairman Sandy Halliday a bottle of Whisky for being the first Zone Chairman to sell all his allocation of Convention pins. It was fun to meet up with old friends from another zone, and as only Flint could, we helped them “clear” the buffet following the meeting. We also had our own zone meeting this month, hosted by the Vale of Llangollen Lions Club. Flint was well represented with ten members present. Our social event for the month was our annual ten bin bowling competition. Again, this was a well turned out event with our wives. Following last year’s great performance, I decided as President this year, it was my “responsibility” to come last, alas, no matter how hard I tried at bowling badly (and I did bowl badly, and not on purpose!) there were others who were worthier of the wooden spoon. Lion Bryn Jones won the men’s competition with Lynne Cunnah winning the ladies competition. I suppose there is always next year… We also had a computer course run by Lion John Filce, showing the basics of creating PowerPoint presentations. Another good turnout, which hopefully was of benefit to others in creating their own slideshows. Alongside our busy social activities this month, we, as a club have still been busy organising the District convention in March – as time closes in, the planning is going well, and hopefully we will be able to provide the district with a convention to remember. During the convention, we will be able to introduce the District’s Peace Poster winner, Matthew Elliot, a Year 8 pupil from Hawarden High, sponsored by Flint High. This month, Zone Chairman Peter McCracken, 2nd Vice President John Filce and PDG Geoff Mitchell officially presented Matthew and Hawarden High School with their respective awards. Also, during the award, a donation was made to a fund set up by another Hawarden High Year 8 pupil, Jenny Blythe, to help her friend who has recently returned from a prolonged and costly treatment in the United States. It is certainly with pride that Flint has supported Jenny’s selfless act to raise funds for her friend, well done Jenny. And on that piece of good news, I shall leave it there until next month, until then, take care David Gregory
January 2012
December was a busy end to a fantastic 2011, with most of the members and many of their wives and families able to volunteer their time to collect money at supermarkets. During the month, we collected at six supermarkets, with two days at each. It was a demanding time on our time, but many thanks to everybody who volunteered and many thanks to you, the public, who were able to give. We finished our social calendar for 2011 with a Christmas Dinner at Holywell Golf Club, a most enjoyable and relaxed evening with everybody that attended. As 2012 starts, as a club, we are turning our attention to our annual District Convention, which we, at Flint, are proud to be organising in March. All bedrooms have been booked, so we are expecting a very busy weekend. Our Covention Committee has worked very hard over the last two years in bidding for the convention and organising the weekend. We now need to deliver on the weekend to make sure the whole district has a great weekend. As travelling wise it has not been a busy month, that is all I have to say this month, other than, Happy New Year everybody David Gregory
December 2011 November has been a quiet month for us in terms of visits; but it has also proved to be a successful month in terms of awards, firstly one of our members received an award for services to Lions, and the club also sponsored a pupil from Hawarden High School in the Peace Poster Competition - and he won at District level! Every year, Lions Clubs International promotes a peace poster competition, with a varying theme every year. We encourage local schools or groups to take part, and our Youth Officer, Lion Terry Withington, along with his team, have slowly built up a successful following in our local schools. This year, we had a record number of entries for our club, and it was won by one of the entrants from Hawarden High School (more information on the poster and entrant soon). The local winners (judged by an independent panel of judges sponsored by the club) progress to District, in which we were fortunate to have beaten other clubs in the District. Our entrant will now go to Multiple District (all of the UK), and if successful here, he will go forward to the International finals - good luck, we all have our fingers crossed. This month, we also welcomed our District Governor, Beryl, back to the club, this time for an official dinner meeting. During this meeting, we were presented a microphone and speaker set by Lion Ron Ellis, in memory of his late wife, Jean, who was a great friend to the club. In return, and unknown, it was my pleasure to be able to introduce him to DG Beryl so she could present Ron with a Melvyn Jones Fellowship award. This Fellowship Award (named after the founder of Lions Clubs International) is the highest form of recognition within Lions Clubs International, and is awarded to a member who has contributed greatly to both club and its community. Lion Ron, who was the founder member of our club, is certainly a worthy winner of the award. Well done Ron! As December arrives, we have already been out collecting at Morrisons in Connah’s Quay, and a thank you to those members who attended, but a bigger thank you all those we met and gave donations. We were also tasked with escorting Father Christmas to the Daffodils Club Party, also in Connah’s Quay. Lions Roy Swinburne, John Gregory, Bryn Jones and I had a great welcome when we walked in with Santa. Many thanks for the invite guys! We will be out and about at supermarkets near you during the rest of this month, so why not pop over and say hello to Santa or Leo our Lion. At least one of them will be present. Why not take a picture of yourself with Santa or Leo, and upload it to our Facebook Page? If you can’t make it to the supermarkets to see us, never mind, we are sure to see you next year, so until then, Nadolig Llawen , Merry Christmas. Take Care David Gregory
November 2011 These months are flying by, and I find myself reflecting on yet another busy month. With club visits to Stockton Heath, Knutsford and Wrexham, Charter Night at Prestatyn & Rhyl, Autumn Training Forums and a Walk for Sight, both I and members of the Flint Club have been out in the District in force. Lion Zone Chairman and I visited Stockton Heath at the beginning of the month, and we were warmly welcomed by the members there with some excellent home-baked cakes. A very enjoyable evening was had. The following night, we were again in the area, with Lion John Gregory joining us for our travels to Knutsford. I was taken with that visit even before arriving as we passed a McLaren sales room in the town, with David Coulthard's car from the early nineties on display. Unfortunately, Peter and John would not let me stop so I could have a picture taken with it. Too "touristy" they said. Our big event of the month was the annual Walk for Sight in Llandudno. About twenty members and wives from Flint turned out, and we were divided into groups and allocated a number of shops to visit. The wives were obviously thrilled at this outcome. However, we were also given a couple of blindfolds per group. The idea being a couple in the group were to be blindfolded, and the others would guide you around, thus raising our awareness of the difficulties those affected by blindness suffer, and to raise awareness for the shopkeepers as to the accessibility of their respective stores. In my group, I had Karen and the kids and my parents. So, as President, I volunteered to be blindfolded, and with Karen guiding me, our group set off. I must admit, it was a very scary experience. My hearing sense had suddenly increased as I tried to use that to compensate for my lack of sight, yet it made matters worse, as without sight I could not gauge logically from which direction it came. At one point I panicked and came to an abrupt halt, thinking a car was next to me - it turned out to be a coffee machine from a fancy cafe, a noise which we take for granted as we walk past, but blindfolded, it reduced my nerves to tatters. Despite this, I thought I had done well, walking down the long Llandudno High Street, but when I asked Karen where we were, she told me we were still on the side street between the hotel and the High Street. Walking around the shops (we were allocated sports shops, pottery shop, clothes shops and a record shop) it was obviously difficult to find anything. Where would I find the latest AC/DC artwork? Where could I find the latest Welsh rugby shirt out of all the clothing in the shop? How could I find a nice new mug? Then it dawned on me, all these things are immaterial when you can't see. Practicality is more important. And that really opened my mind towards the difficulties of losing sight. In fact, without intending any pun, being blindfolded around the high street has really opened the eyes of everyone who turned up that day. A very humbling experience. Following the Walk for Sight weekend, Lion ZC Peter and I again hit the road, this time visiting Wrexham Lions Club, this time we were accompanied by Lion David Evans. The month ended with Lion ZC Peter, Lion Ken Greig and myself attending a forum for members within our district to share ideas on a range of subjects, including youth development, press releases, effective use if ICT and raising awareness. All three of us were impressed with what we heard, and a few of which may be taken on board - watch this space over the coming months for details of new developments or events. So with new ideas, travelling lions points and a scary confrontation with a coffee machine behind me this month, I look forward to the challenges of next month, so until then, take care David Gregory
October 2010 Every time I sit down to write these monthly blogs, I always want to start with “What a month…” It has been “what a month..” but that is part of the job of being President, so I suppose I shouldn’t really be that surprised. Whereas we have been quiet on the work front due to holidays this last month, we have been very active socially and in planning our Christmas collections - yes, I am pleased to say it is that time of year again. Lion Zone Chairman Peter and myself have been visiting other clubs
within the zone, with a Charter Evening at Vale of Llangollen, accompanied kindly
by Pauline and Karen (and respect to Peter and Pauline, they were up very early
the next morning for a car boot sale with Lion John Gregory and Marian), club
visits to Lymm and Buckley & Mold, and I have been over the Zone border and
into West Kirby to visit our friends there. We have also been over to Bangor to the District Governor’s Service of
Rededication at St Mary’s Church, and in fairness to Flint club, we took over
half the church, so thank you members of Flint for your support. As a club we were also visited at our monthly
business meeting by the District Governor herself, and accompanied by Lion
President Bryan Jones of Menai Aethwy club. At our monthly social evening, we were visited by the crew of Hovercraft
Search and Rescue UK, as a thank you to us for purchasing much needed equipment
for their efforts. As president, I was
allowed in the hovercraft, and despite giving it plenty of revs, I didn’t get
very far - the crew had heard about my petrol headedness and strapped the
hovercraft to their trailer!! But it was
a thrill nonetheless, and I would like to thank the crew for their kindness in
allowing me to “play”. Let’s see what this month brings :) David Gregory
September 2011 It gives me great pleasure to start this month’s blog by welcoming our newly badged member, Roy Swinburn, into Flint & District Lions Club. Roy has been a friend of the club for many years and has supported us on many an occasion, such as delivering plants on our annual plants days. Roy’s induction into the club was conducted by District Governor Beryl Roberts during our business meeting. Welcome Roy, and thank you DG for inducting him. August was another busy month, with Lion Zone Chairman Peter’s first
Zone Meeting and club visits. It was a
good turnout from Flint with many members attending and it was also good to
meet some new additions to our zone (Lymm, Stockton Heath and Knutsford). It has also been a busy month for our Convention 2012 team, with all
bedrooms allocated to us at the hotel having been booked bar two (at time of
posting the blog)! We are currently
looking to secure some more bedrooms to accommodate those wishing to stay the
full weekend. We have also been lucky
with securing our International Guest.
Every year we have a Past International Director as guest, however this
year, we will be honoured to have Past
International President William Biggs of Nebraska, USA. If you would like more information on our convention, our Convention
Chairman has posted his current blog on our convention pages. We also welcome back Lions Terry Withington and Ian Withington, along
with their family, who have returned from Africa following a visit to a village
school and donating books and sports kits.
Watch out for our news section this month as they will be posting an
account of their travels. Until next month, take care
David Gregory August 2011 Well, my first month is over and it has been a busy one for the club, with all our main events listed below.
Firstly, Lions Geoff Mitchell and John Gregory accompanied me to the ATC (Flint Squadron) Awards Ceremony in which I was required to present certificates to some hard working and successful cadets, and then in the same week, Lion Bryn Jones represented the club at Ysgol Pen Coch to present an award for achievements over the past twelve months. For the Flint Mayor’s Parade and Civic Sunday Service, the club was represented by John Gregory. Lions John Filce and Alan Jones were present at Flint High School’s Summer Fete, busy promoting the Message in a Bottle (and Wallets) scheme. If you have never heard of this scheme, please click the link on the right for more details, it is a worthwhile project. We also had a week of Handovers. The first, on the Wednesday was the club’s handover where I officially took over from Peter (which means I get the blame for anything that goes wrong now) which was well attended by the members of the club, and on behalf of Peter and myself, I would like to say thank you to the members of the club for their support. I would also like to thank Ann at Flint Golf Club for a great buffet. The second handover was that of the District Governors, and the club was well represented, with Lions John Filce, Wyn Jones, Peter McCracken and myself along with our ladies, and of course our very own Lion Geoff Mitchell who was in attendance there in an official capacity (Sargent-at-Arms) and Olive. It was a terrific evening in the company of friends, along with choice cuts of beef and an interesting interpretation of serving hot coffee. All this and we are still working hard towards organising District Convention which is to be held in March 2012. Most of the rooms have now been booked, so if you are a Lions member and wish to stay, please book now. Our convention badges have also proved a hit, and we have just ordered a new batch to meet demand. So if you would like a convention badge, please let us know, either by calling us, or emailing us here or on Facebook, and while you’re at it, have a look at our Convention Chairman’s latest blog on the planning. Thanks for reading, and until next month, take care
David Gregory July 2011 I am very proud to be taking the Presidency at Flint & District Lions Club for 2011 -2012. It is an honour that I enjoyed previously in 1998-1999.
Unfortunately, this Lions year will be a very different one for the Flint club. It is the first year that it will be without its Charter President, Walter (Wally) Millward, who died in April. In recent years, Wally had not enjoyed good health and we had missed him and his wonderful sense of humour at our club meetings.
For many reasons, Wally was an inspiration to me in my formative years - as a teenager and subsequently as a Lion.
His fellow Charter Members, John Gregory and Ron Ellis, tell of the way Wally ensured the success of the club’s first major fund raising effort in his Presidential year. He chose the St Asaph Eye Hospital Light-Coagulator Appeal as his special project. Wally indicated that he wanted to raise £500 for the appeal. The members agreed it was too much money for a young club to raise in so short a time. Wally’s response was to say that, in those circumstances, the members would have to raise the money between themselves. They raised the money from the public in double quick time! Wally had read the situation, realised that the club needed encouragement and gave it! He succeeded so well that in the following year the club built the sun lounge extension to Flint Cottage Hospital that is still enjoyed by patients today.
The early Lions went to Charter nights by the coachful! On one night, returning from Liverpool Charter Night, the coach was delayed in the Mersey Tunnel whilst workmen were putting a special surface on the tunnel preparatory to its being painted. Wally pointed it out to all on the coach including my mother. Some months later, it was time for Flint’s own Charter night. Deputy District Governor Bill Gerrard of Liverpool club had phoned Wally to ask him who would be at the event who would not mind being teased. That night, Bill referred to mum as having enjoyed the Liverpool Charter so much that she was convinced the Mersey tunnel was being wallpapered! Many Governors took up that story at her expense thanks to Wally.
During my earlier Presidency, I had the honour of visiting Wally and his wife, Marion, to present them with a bouquet of flowers on their Golden Wedding Anniversary. It was a small token of the great esteem in which I held Wally.
It may be that fate has dictated that Wally will not be a club member in my year as President, but I have no doubt that he will be with us in spirit! I will do all I can to see his legacy lives on.
God bless you Wally!
Thanks for everything.
David Gregory
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Welcome to our website, and a warm welcome to the President's Blog. I'm hoping to share my exciting experiences of this special office with you over the next 12 months, with updates at least once a month or after each event. I feel both lucky and proud being president of Flint & District Lions Club as it is a well respected club and its members are very supportive to each other. My first duty as President is to thank the Immediate Past President Peter McCracken for a great job these last 12 months. I hope to meet many of you over the next 12 months at our various events and functions, but in the meantime, if you have any queries or comments, please do not hesitate to use the GuestBook on this website or use the email link at the top of this page.
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