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!

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 Householter from Region 10 Education Service Center

Christy Householter addressed the Plano Early Lions Club describing some of the programs offered by Region 10 Education Service Center. Christy has worked with visually impaired students for over 20 years. She described the annual Sports Extravaganza that is held at Nimitz High School in Irving and how the local Lions Clubs have helped make this event a success. 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.

New Member Sponsored by Recent Member

The Plano Early Lions Club inducted a new member at their last meeting. Lion Arthur Young swore in new member, Dora Harrington. He encouraged her to put family, and church first, then Lions Club. This is the standard request for all new members even though working for Lions Club projects is very important, family and church comes first. Lion Dora’s sponsor is Dan Willeford, who himself, was sworn in as a new member two weeks ago. This is an unusual occurrence because typically it is the long time members who are recruiting and sponsoring members. So, hats off to Lion Don for sponsoring his first member.

As part of her visit, Governor Conway reviewed some of the causes Lions support. These included their help at Special Olympics, Leader Dog for the Blind which supplies guide dogs for the blind, Lions Sight and Tissue Foundation which provides eyeglasses for needy students, and the International Lions Club’s efforts to eliminate River Blindness which costs $6.00 a person to prevent. In summary, she pointed out Lions strive to give back to their community in many ways.

The Plano Early Lions Club gives back to Plano in ways such as scholarships for high school students and providing funds for: Habitat for Humanity, Plano Children’s Medical Clinic, Meals on Wheels, The Samaritan Inn, and several other organizations. Since 2001, contributions from Plano Early Lions Club to local organizations have exceeded $100,000.

The Plano Early Lions Club hosted parade award recipients at their meeting on January 3, 2009. This year marked the third year that Plano Early Lions Club members ran the Plano Children’s Christmas Parade. According to Parade Chairman, Ken Gleason, this year’s parade had over 2000 people marching, plus those in the bands, drill teams, cheerleaders and ROTC units. Truly this was a “Children’s” parade! Ken thanked the Methodists Men’s Club for the help they provided, as well as the Plano Amateur Radio Klub (PARK) for their assistance during the parade.

Awards went to the following organizations:

· Lil’ Ocelets YMCA Adventure Princesses for “Plano Santa Award” Image 1. Accepting the award was Don and Lindsey Bouvier and Jeremy and Riley Thompson.

· Prestonwood G.P.S. Girls for “Best use of Theme” Image 2. Accepting the award was Doug Goodrich and Brandon Carmichael.

· Plano West “Mighty Wolf” Band for “Best Walking Unit” Image 3. Accepting the award was Shiv Venhatasetty.

· YMCA Trailblazers and YMCA for “Best Overall Float” Image 4. Accepting the award was Mike Krieger.

· Parkway Hills Baptist Church for “Grand Marshall Award” Image 5. Accepting the award was Beth Simmons.

· YMCA adventure Guides & Princesses (3^rd Grade Ladybugs, 2^nd Grade Rainbow Flowers, and Kindergarten Superheroes) for “Chairman’s Award” Image 6. Accepting the award was Dan Utley.

· Plano Senior High School Band Boosters for “Most Decorated Bus” Image 7. Accepting the award were Kim Rhea, Elise Castellanos, Terry Castellanos, and Mike Barishman.

Saturday’s competition was held during the Lion’s mid-winter convention. Here both Samuel and Ali did a great job of representing Plano. Samuel Scott won first place and a $1000 scholarship, plus the opportunity to compete at the State Convention later this year. Samuel is a junior at Plano Senior High School who would like to attend the University of Texas.

Second place went to Ali Mavrakis, also representing the Plano Early Lions Club. For his efforts, Ali was awarded a $750 scholarship. Ali is a student at Plano West High School who also wants to attend the University of Texas.

Lion Tom Richardson

(note: This was actually entered last year, and I just now noticed that there was an unpublished entry! — Lion Howard/Webmaster)

DeAnne Rogers, the Project Chair for PELC’s Speaker Contest, had high praise for both students. She could see that the time and effort both Ali and Samuel put into their presentations was very evident during the competition. DeAnne has invited all PELC members to come to the Finals Competition next week to cheer on their entries.

Sam Scott, District Speaker's Contest Semifinalist

(Left) Samuel Scott’s speech coach is Cheryl Potts. Scott would like to attend The University of Texas. He is a member of the National Honor Society, runs cross country for Plano Senior HS and is a Plano Teen Court Attorney.

Ali Mavakis, District Speaker's Contest Semifinalist

(Right) Ali Mavrakis would also like to attend The University of Texas upon graduation. He was a Speech and Debate Quarter Finalists in Foreign Speaking at State. In addition to speech and debate activity, Ali is a member of the National Honor Society, Student Congress and Model UN Junior Vice President. While at Jasper HS he was President of STAND (Students Taking Action Not Drugs). Nancy Lewis is Ali’s speech coach.

Congratulations to both of our semifinalists, and good luck at the Mid-Winter Conference!

I’ve talked to several of my violin students, and we are planning to show up and do Christmas carols for the December service project. Any other interested Lions are invited to show up — especially if you can play an instrument, or even just sing. The festivities start at about 6pm on the 3rd Tuesday.