WHAT'S THE NEWS IN DISTRICT 9NE?

December & January News
This issue will mark the half way mark for our Lions year. It is a good time to review what our expectations may have been, what are accomplishments to date have been, and what we can hope to accomplish for the good of our clubs and Lionism in the next six months.

Club presidents -- you are the administrator and set the tone for what your club accomplishes during the year. Please review what your club is doing in these important areas:
1) Membership -- Does your club have an organized program or committee to encourage new members We as Lions belong to the greatest service club in the world -- the only one in China -- and we don't sell it to our friends as well as we should.
2) Communication -- Does your club have someone with a contact with the local newspaper who can see that information about what your club does is made known to the community?
3) Retaining members -- Does you club make an effort to be a family? Do you seek to involve all members in a meaningful way? Does your club have interesting programs? Do you have fun?
4) Attend zone meetings. You are the link for your club with Lions International.

Secretaries
1) Do you report your membership status faithfully every month?
2) Do you report your activities?
3) Have you considered using the computer to do these things? I would wager that you have children or grandchildren who would be glad to help you with the basics.
4) March is the month to fill our the PU101 -- which will let the greater Lions organizations know who your officers are for next year. Remember that all presidents and vice presidents are invited to have coffee with our International Director guest at Manchester on April 21. We will be doing this as a part of our district convention, but presidents and future presidents can come for just the coffee if they wish. We look forward to getting the next year off with a great start, and we will have some basic training available for presidents and secretaries along with the coffee.
5) Attend Zone meetings with the president

Treasurer
1) Do you maintain a system of getting dues from members promptly so that you can forward association dues promptly?

Tail Twister
1) Are you being a wonderful nuisance, calling attention to birthdays and special occasions and fining other members for any number of inane reasons? I recently attended the meeting of a club and they did not have a tail twister. It is my hope that I convinced someone to step up and contribute to the fun that Lionism should be.

And for all of the other members of your club
1) Are you attending your meetings and working on service projects and fund raisers faithfully?
2) Are you contributing to having good meetings which are interesting and fun by offering suggestions and perhaps assuming the responsibility of lining up a meeting that you know the other members will enjoy and profit from?
3) Are you making a conscious effort to greet other members at each meeting? At our state convention last year we had a great presentation on how important a hand shake can be. A firm grip accompanied by a look into the eyes can be a meaningful gesture.

Our year is approaching the half way mark, but we still have time to make this year a memorable one and have district 9NE be a better one than when we started the year. Remember -- WE SERVE.

TREES -- To date I have only informal reporting of the fact that some of our clubs are planting trees. I would appreciate a written notice of the number of trees your club has planted.

PEACE POSTERS -- My mail has quite a number of boxes and mailing tubes containing copies of the paintings for the competition this year. Since relationships with youth is an important part of our Lions mission it is gratifying to see the number of clubs which have taken the time to see that some of the youth in their area get an opportunity to create a work emphasizing the concept of a peaceful world. Our thanks to those Lion members who took on and carried out the program. A committee will be reviewing the entries and select a winner to forward to the council chair by the end of November.

NEW MEMBERS -- It was my privilege to induct two new members of the Cedar Falls club at a recent visit. It is great to review the rich tradition which started in Chicago in 1917, and be able to point out that there are several hundred thousand over a million members who call themselves Lions and support their clubs with service to their communities and the world.

ZONE MEETINGS -- It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of these. It was my privilege recently to attend a zone meeting held in Blairstown through the efforts of Zone Chair Pam Casland and Global Leadership Chair Jim Arndt.
Thirty seven Lions from seven of the eight clubs attended and were treated to a fine meal and a great presentation on the Leader Dog program by Don King who travelled from Decorah to make the presentation. These people really understand the motto of Lionism -- WE SERVE.

DISTRICT CONVENTION -- This is scheduled for April 21 in Manchester at the new Pin Oak Country Club, which is proud to support our Lions club as a service non-profit organization. This convention will be special this year because all presidents, vice presidents and secretaries are invited to come and have coffee with the International Director. International Lion President Tam wants the director to meet all of the presidents in the district, and training for the new officers will be offered. Presidents, vice presidents and secretaries may come for coffee at 9 AM followed by training, and they are welcome to register and continue with the rest of the convention but they do not need to do so. There will be no charge for presidents, vice presidents and secretaries for the coffee and training. This is a new program this year and is keeping with our district convention motto: We tip our hats to the past and we salute the future.

MEMBERSHIP REPORT
So far this year (July 1 to date) District 9NE has recruited 30 new members. If we continue at this rate we will have 90 new members, well short of the 135 I projected. Has your club recruited one as yet?
The leader in the new member category is Cedar Falls with eight. I had the pleasure of inducted a couple more at their November meeting.

NEW MEMBERS FOR OCTOBER ARE:
CLUB	NEW MEMBER	SPONSOR
Denver	Roger Thurm	Bruce Thurm
Vinton	Eric Coulter	David Coulter
West Union	Lori Daniels	Richard Woodward
	Judd Swenson	James Boelman
	Tracy Weidemann	Carolyn Breuer

No deceased members.

Activity reports from the web site (submitted by computer)

Balltown
- Donated $1000.00 to the Holy Cross Fire Department
- Donated $48 military popcorn package to be sent to service members overseas
- Donated $75 load of wood to Sherill Parish Auction

Cedar Valley Evening
- Screened 70 children under the Kis Sight program

Hopkinton
- Monthly bingo on October 22
- Annual Rib Eye Steak dinner October 29

Independence
- 4 Lions flipped pancakes for the Hope Wesleyan church on 10/9
- Manned a concessions stand at 9 volleyball meets

Other club reports for October

Lawler
Made plans for a cookbook fund raiser
Plan on selling Christmas wreaths
Planning a scrap metal drive
Conducted a Halloween party on October 30
Waterloo Lions
Conducted a book sale on October 20, 21
Waverly
Did KidSight screening
Had a pancake breakfast
Did a roadside cleanup
Did Hearing Aid assistance
Contibuted $1000 to LCIF, $1000 to ILF and $500 to Leader Dog
Belle Plaine
Donated $1000 to the Belle Plaine Partners for Beautification for the establishment of a Prairie Park on the south edge of town.

Reminder -- Items for the Iowa Lion need to be placed on the Activity section of the Lions web site reporting area or sent to me before the fifteenth of the month preceding the issue of the Iowa Lion. Items used were from the month of October.

Have a wonderful holiday season as we look forward to the next six months and the great things we can accomplish for Lionism.