April 2018 President’s Message
The first quarter of 2018 has flown by and it’s time to gear up for our one big fundraiser. Our annual Fathers’ Day Pancake breakfast will be here before you know it. Tickets to sell will be distributed soon. Get your lists of family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues together. It’s time to hit the pavement, literally. Lion Ken has kept a history of all the tickets sold on the neighborhood streets over the past several years. We’ve had great success selling tickets this way on Sunday mornings, and you’re all invited to join us. So get your walking shoes ready because the homeowners will be expecting a knock in their doors very soon. As the cost of everything rises, it is necessary for us to make a small increase in the cost of tickets, from $6.00 to $7.00. Still a bargain for the ono and filling breakfast that our fabulous members cook up for everyone.
March 1st along with our CIS and Manoa Lions, we enjoyed an exciting and entertaining University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine basketball game. Yes, once again Lion Peggy made it on to the Stan Sherriff Jumbotron!!. A fun time was had by all.
Our Zone Social on March 3rd was a great success. The food at Natsunoya Tea House was excellent, including the boiled peanuts provided by CIS Iris Iwana. Special thanks to Iris for the boiled peanuts as well as all the ono pupus she prepares for our zone meetings. The games were great fun too. We got to learn the truth about each other, finesse little peas into a plastic bag with plastic chopsticks, collect beans by sucking them up thru a straw, and a fun version of junk-n-po ! Zone Chair David donated small keychain flashlights for game prizes. Think almost everyone won one…Then four great door prizes were given away. A great time was had by all. Thank you to Zone Chair David Iwana for putting it all together.
Several more events kept some of our Lions busy throughout the month. March 9th, Lions assisted at the Miss Hawaii Golf Tournament, and on March 11th another group of Lions participated in the Honolulu Festival Parade thru Waikiki. A special appearance was made by our very own Lion Peggy, decked out as a “Lion!” Thank you to all who participated in these events.
On March 17th District 50 Lions held a fundraiser for the Hawaii Lions Foundation, “Walk for Vision and Hearing.” Our Lions helped raise money to support HLF and they also walked around Ala Moan Park displaying signs to let the public know how “We Serve.” Screenings for vision and color blindness were conducted as well as instructions on how to conduct CPR and use of AED’s. Hawaii Kai Lions led by Lion Eric Kvick and his committee members set up a Rescue Tube Booth to inform and educate the public on Rescue Tubes. The event was a big success, thanks to everyone who participated.
Lion Garrett Ogawa from Manoa Lions visited our March 15th meeting. He is a candidate for 2nd Vice District Governor and wanted us to get to know him. We learned that Lion Garrett is an expert in training CPR and the use of AED’s. Lion Garrett offered to train the Hawaii Kai Lions and CIS on how to properly administer CPR and how to use the AED’s. He will be joining our meeting on May 17th for this purpose. CIS are also invited to attend this valuable training. Hopefully you’ll all be able to attend.
March 31st was the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Koko Head District Park. It was a fun event for the community. Over 300 children showed up dressed in their Easter finest to play games, do arts and crafts, have their faces painted, take pictures with the Easter Bunny, and finally hunt down those Easter eggs. It took many volunteers to put this event together. Thank you to all the Lions and CIS who came out to join in the fun.
Coming up at our April 5th meeting will be a volunteer from AARP to speak about senior concerns. CIS are also invited to this meeting. Thank you to Lion Marlene for arranging this speaker.
Also, at the April 5th meeting, we will be voting on the board for the upcoming year 2018-2019. PDG Roy and incoming President Sandy have been working hard to put together a great board to lead us through the next year.
Looking forward to April 19th and 20th when we welcome to Hawaii, representatives from our sister club, The Nagoya Joto Lions. On the 19th we will meet at Hawaii Kai Library
for a presentation of gift and monetary donations. Our Charter Night Banquet will be held on the 20th at New Otani Hotel where our new board will be installed. It’s not too late to sign up on our website.
April 21st will be the annual Hawaii Food Bank Drive. Lion Eric has sign up sheets on the website for the two shifts. Feeding the hungry is one of the areas of focus for the Lions, so hoping everyone will sign up for a shift.
Hope you all had a Happy Easter and looking forward to seeing you all at the Charter Night Banquet.
Mahalo and Aloha,
Lion Jeanne