Message from DG Ed Gibbons

Fellow Lions,

It is such a pleasure to meet so many Lions Club members as I visit your clubs. Thank you Knox County North, Clinton, Newport, Union County, Kingsport, Halls and South Knoxville for making me feel so welcome. As you can see from one of the enclosed pictures of me getting my tie cut off by a Tail-twister, this job has its fun moments. However, I do become serious when I talk about Membership, a new Service project and Club Excellence Process (CEP). Plus, I really enjoy hearing about what’s going on in your Club. I have had the honor of inducting new members into some of the Clubs I have visited.

It is my hope that every Club will have a positive membership growth by the time my term expires next year. All you have to do is JUST ASK ONE. Being in sales all my life I know firsthand how you feel when you ask someone to your Club and the response is a no. But you will be surprised how easy it becomes after the first or second no to just keep asking. You’ll get that good feeling when you finally get a yes. If you have sponsored a new member during October, you have earned a Silver pin from LCI. Don’t forget, if you sponsor another member in April 2015 you will get a Gold pin and your Club will receive a special Banner Patch to recognize its commitment to “Strengthening The Pride”.

The results are in. The Club Excellence Process (CEP) is a big hit with Lions Clubs. Over 5500 Clubs participated in workshops, and they are sharing success stories about the difference CEP has made in their Clubs. Clubs that complete CEP will be recognized on the Find A Club section of the LCI website with a Virtual Banner Patch. The CEP is one of my three goals for your club; so I am hoping you will start it for your Club very soon.

My second Cabinet meeting is November 15th at Volunteer Blind Industries beginning at 8:30 am. There will be coffee and doughnuts. Our GMT (PDG Dave Crawford) and GLT (PDG Wendy Cain) have some interesting things in store. I also have some new things to discuss that our District 12N can be involved in that will be of great interest to all clubs in 12N. I expect to see each club represented. All clubs and Zone Chairmen/ Chairwomen need to send their reports to our District Secretary for inclusion in our meeting as soon as possible. I will try my best to be finished by noon at the latest if not before.

I have added some more dates on my club visits (see page 3). Be sure and check these dates to see when you can expect me at your club. A big THANK YOU to VDG Paulette and PDG Chuck Bailey for updating the 12N directory. There are changes in the Directory every month to keep it updated and they are on top of it when they know about changes. You can check it out on the Multi- District website.

District Governor Ed Gibbons