I’m live-blogging this morning from Grand Prairie, where the Grand Prairie Host Lions are hosting the District 2X-1 Midwinter Conference. I am joined here by Lions Ken, Cyndie, Mike, Dee, and Don. Unfortunately, Lion Andrew wasn’t able to make it.

The conference started with a very moving presentation on the Snowball Express. I regret that I wasn’t able to be there, but Lion Ken and Lion Cyndie were, and they got their pictures prominently displayed in the presentation. I’m just going to have to arrange to take the time off to do this next December.

Next on the agenda was a presentation by International Director Beverly Stebbins (2E-2), also on the Snowball Express.

After the announcements, and distribution of awards by PDG Alic Conway, we had the student speakers contest. I won’t know the results until after lunch, but I felt like Sam Scott was a powerful contender. I’ll follow up on this entry this afternoon, after I learn who the winners are, and I will also add some photos of the participants.

UPDATE: Sam took first place again this year. Here are some photos of the event.

	Sam studying his speech before the contest.
	The Panel of Judges.
	Photo-op of the Student Speakers Contest Chairman and the 6 contestants at the end of the presentations. Photos were not permitted during the contest.
	After the awards presentation, Sam was invited to give his 1st-place-winning speech to the entire conference.

This year the 5 day experience was held in Dallas. That first day there were people from all different lions clubs, various other service organizations, and local military personnel all there for one purpose to make their trip a easy and painless as possible. We works to get the families settled into their hotels, to ensure that family’s had their luggage and any other belongings. The family’s were placed on buses that took them to three down-town hotels and the buses were escorted by the Patriot Guard Riders who are a group of motorcyclist enthusiasts who ride for any number of military events.

On Saturday after the Plano Parade, I worked with a number of other lions serving lunch to the families at the the new Cowboy’s Stadium. Here the kids got to interact and get autographs from a number of NFL players. The also got to play a number of games including throwing the football with former and current NFL players, various bounce houses, and just having a great deal of fun. There was also entertainment from a number of country singers as well as the Lt. Dan band which was formed by Gary Sinise who played Lt. Dan in the movie Forrest Gump and worked through the USO to put on shows for our troops.

But the thing that stuck with me the most was talking to a family who came in shirts with a picture of the father they lost in Iraq. The son told me how glad he was to attend Snowball Express because he got to meet people who understood his loss and find men who were willing to play catch with him. This really brought home to me the reason for Snowball Express and cemented my desire to assist again when Snowball Express is hosted in Ft. Worth next year.

Click here to see pictures

If you wish to volunteer, see the PELC Roar! newsletter for details.

Here is Sam presenting his winning speech, “Drug Abuse – Paradise Lost”, which he presented successfully at the Club, District, and State level competitions, earning scholarships totaling $4000.  And since he was only a junior, he gets to try again this year, hopefully to add to his scholarship winnings.

The club helped with volunteers at the ride, and we all had a good time. When I found out that they had enough volunteers, I just paid the entry fee and did the 5-mile ride (ok, I’m a wimp, but next year, I’ll go for the 10-mile ride). I did manage to finish fairly early, because I wanted to get back before it started raining. Lion Karen snapped this photo of me just after I got to the finish line. I took some pictures of her, but she didn’t send them to me (claimed they didn’t turn out or some other lame excuse — she’s just camera-shy). The weather held out for us, even long enough for me to run some errands for the ride organizers afterwards.

Lion Karen Marks is the member that got the club interested in helping with the Fun Ride.

Now that I’m no longer president of the club, I should have a little more time for other things — including being more active in some projects that I had to delegate to others last year.

One item I really look forward to is passing along the button that says “Everything’s my fault this year!” to Lion Gordon Settle when I see him on Friday. I’ve already reassigned the president@planolions.org email address to him. Lion Gordon is a real go-getter, and I will be working to make his presidential year better than mine was.

The next big thing coming up is the Independence Day Parade, which is hosted by the PELC each year. This will be the 3rd year since we took it on. Unfortunately, the economy has hit us hard, too — so the parade will be somewhat smaller this year.

Which may not be entirely a bad thing. Saturday is likely to be really warm, and it will be good to be done before the heat of the day gets really out of hand. If you are planning to come out to watch it, be sure to cover up with sunscreen, bring plenty of water, and wear a brimmed hat!

UPDATE: The parade was a great success! Here are some photos of the parade winners –

Best Musical Entry, Narrow Trail Cowboy Church

Best Use Of Theme, Democratic Party of Collin County

Best Float -- Conner Harrington Republican Women

Grand Marshal -- VFW Post 4380

Plano Senior High School student Samuel Scott has won top honors and a $3000 scholarship for his speech in the Drug Awareness Speech Contest during the Texas Lions Clubs State Convention in Lubbock on June 6, 2009. The Plano Early Lions Club sponsored him. Samuel will be entering his senior year at PSHS this fall. He was one of 7 contestants who were competing for the top prize. On January 10, 2009, Samuel won top honors, which included a $1000 scholarship at the Lion’s district speakers contest. In both competitions Samuel’s speech was titled “Drug Abuse – Paradise Lost”. To say that Samuel represented Plano well is an understatement. Al Brandel, President of International Association of Lions Clubs, presented the scholarship check to Samuel.

In the state contest, Samuel drew 7^th position to present his speech. This position, although it did not allow him to hear his competitors, meant he had more time to think about what might not go the way he wanted it to go. However, his performance was a winner. In fact, after the contest, he had several other Lions clubs from Texas asking for him to contact them.

There were 2 other contests at the Texas Lions Clubs State Convention. In addition to the Drug Awareness Speech Contest, there was an Outstanding Youth Contest and a Diabetic Awareness Essay Contest. Emily Pool from Ennis, Texas won the Outstanding Youth Contest, and Hanna Hoots from Morton, Texas won the Diabetic Awareness Essay Contest.

(L to R) Lions Competition Chair Danny Leake, Emily Pool, Samuel Scott, and Hanna Hoots

DeAnne Rogers, the Project Chair for Plano Early Lions Club’s Speaker Contest, had high praise for Samuel. She could see that the time and effort Samuel put into his presentation was very evident during the competition. DeAnne was able to attend the state convention and witness first hand Samuel’s presentation.

The Plano Early Lions Club has 42 members and meets on 1^st and 3^rd Saturday each month at 7:30AM at Southfork Hotel, Plano. Lions clubs are a group of men and women who identify needs within the community and work together to fulfill those needs. For more information or to get involved with the Plano Early Lions Club, please contact Jack Durnin at 972-596-5791 or email at jack.Durnin@planolions.org.

Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization with nearly 1.4 million members in approximately 46,000 clubs in 193 countries and geographical areas around the world. Since 1917, Lions clubs have aided the blind and visually impaired and made a strong commitment to community service and serving youth throughout the world. For more information about Lions Clubs International, visit the Web site at www.lionsclubs.org.

Christy is the vision coordinator for Region 10 Education Service Center. Students involved in all programs are Visually Impaired (VI). The 11^th Annual Sports Extravaganza will be October 23-24, 2009. Some of the planned events are:

• 25, 50, and 100 Meter dashes
• 200 and 400 Meter run
• Long jump
• Shot put
• Softball and tennis ball throw
• Archery and beep baseball

Plano Early Lions Club 1^st Vice President, Gordon Settle, has participated in many of the Sports Extravaganzas and described events such as the 50-yard dash. He stressed how these visually impaired students are eager to compete in various events and thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to compete.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Region 10 activities is educating VI students in things sighted students take for granted. Some of these things are independent living, recreation skills, and career education. Students learn that VI individuals are employed in various careers, even jobs in science and engineering. Students are made aware of the possibilities they have for employment. The Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students (SCI-VIS) is a good example of exposing VI students to job opportunities. This program stresses math and science. It also exposes students to space science, aviation, and related scientific subjects.

Ms Householter listed several upcoming events for VI students from Region 10. Included in the list is a field trip to Dallas Museum of Art, Goalball Tournament, and Discovery Day in Dallas Heritage Village. Lions clubs are being asked to help make these events possible by providing volunteers and or funds. Two local Lions Club Districts have been involved with these programs for several years.