MINUTES
MISSOURI LIONS COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Solid Rock Church, Jefferson City, MO
The second meeting of the 2013-2014 Missouri Lions Council of Governors was called to order by Council Chairperson Gina Boettcher at 10:00 a.m.
DG Sandy McCann gave the Invocation.
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by DG Ellen Upchurch.
DG Nick Paulin led in the singing of the 1st verse of “America”.
OPENING ADDRESS AND REMARKS - CC Gina Boettcher asked for a moment of silence for our sick and departed members and the military.
PROTOCOL – PDG Ann Anderson and PCC John Anderson could not be with us, so CC Boettcher established protocol.
APPOINTMENT OF TAIL TWISTER – Motion by DG Hilke to appoint Lion George Winkeler, Jr., as Tail Twister. Seconded by DG McCann. Motion carried.
DESIGNATION OF TAIL TWISTER FUNDS – Motion by DG McCann to designate the funds for use on State Office Equipment/Furnishings. Seconded by DG Upchurch. Motion carried.
ATTENDANCE - Those in attendance were:
District Governor 1st Vice District Governors 2nd Vice District Governors
26-M1 Larry Kimbrow Donald Beckham Donald Shelhammer
26-M2 Sharyn Scheidt Missy Carr Joe Foster
26-M3 Sandy McCann John Clark John Deters
26-M4 Richard Warner Tharran Gaines
26-M5 Ellen Upchurch Gary Curtis Bruce Dugan
26-M6 Nick Paulin Peter Frantzen Craig Lehman
26-M7 Jeff Hilke Emery Smola
Council Chairperson IPDG Gina Boettcher, M2
Past International Director Leland Kolkmeyer, M5
Parliamentarian PDG Lyn Porterfield, M3
Council Secretary-Treasurer/State Office Administrator Lion Brenda Weider, M7
M1: PDG Chris Clinton, PDG Lisa Clinton
M2: PDG Debbie Blumenberg, PCC Terry Boettcher, PDG Ron Koppelmann,Jr., Lion Toni Mahoney,
PDG Roger Scheidt, PDG Eugene Taylor, PCC Kimberly Taylor, Lion George Winkeler, Jr.,
Lion Jennifer Wolfe, PCC John Yount
M3: IPDG Lisa Alexander, Lion Annie Kuhl, PDG Freda McKee, PCC Don Noland, PCC Pat Porterfield,
Lion Dr. Ron Walkenbach
M4:
M5: Lion Ken Bauer, PDG Jene Crook, Lion Julie Goetz, IPDG Kenny Goetz, Lion Bill Upchurch
M6: PDG Bill Botzow, PDG Zana Botzow, Lion Jennie Mosher, Lion Noma Paulin
M7: PDG Nan Blakemore, PCC Jesse Hathcock, Lion Lou Ann Hathcock, PDG Ron Jordan,
Lion Wayne Weider
ANNOUNCEMENT BY DG LARRY KIMBROW – DG Kimbrow reminded everyone of Lion Robert Hecht, who was in line to become Governor of District M1 until illness forced his resignation. He sadly reported that Lion Hecht had passed away a couple of weeks before and will be missed.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JULY 20, 2013 COUNCIL MEETING – DG McCann made a motion to approve the minutes as written. Seconded by DG Paulin. Motion carried.
FINANCIAL REPORT – DG McCann reported on the recent annual audit that everything was okay. One item that she questioned the auditor on was a statement that we were not in compliance on restricted and non-restricted funds, such as with the Band Fund, which gets a portion of the dues, as well as donations. The auditor explained that what we’re doing right now is fine with the state, that we do not need to do anything differently to comply with the state. She also mentioned the quarterly financial reports, which everyone had in their packet. Motion by DG Kimbrow, seconded by DG Upchurch, to accept the financial report. Motion carried.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATE – Written report.
USA/CANADA FORUM – PCC John Yount reported that a total of 2,002 Lions attended the Forum in Overland Park, Kansas, in September. The Lions of Missouri had a good showing with 74 attendees. These Lions took advantage of this great leadership training opportunity to fill their minds with new ideas and to reignite that fire that burns within us which drives us to serve. Next year’s Forum will be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, September 18-20, 2014.
LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION – Written report.
GREAT PLAINS LIONS LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE – PID Leland Kolkmeyer gave the tentative dates of next year’s Institute – July 25-27, again at NWMO State University in Maryville. He thanked PCC Kimberly Taylor and PDG Tom Rayfield for their attendance and support.
LIONS EYE MISSION – IPDG Lisa Alexander reported on the recent Eye Mission August 8-11 to Papantla, Mexico. The state of Missouri has one mission trip per year. This trip included Lions from Districts M2, M3, and M6. Their cost was for their plane fare only - $900. It was very rewarding, and she would definitely do it again.
ATHLETIC COMMITTEE REPORT – Written report, including budget proposal.
BAND COMMITTEE REPORT – PDG Ron Koppelmann, Jr., reported that Band Camp will begin June 26 at Ft. Leonard Wood for the Drum and Guard, with the full band arriving on June 27. They will leave Ft. Leonard Wood on July 2 for Toronto and will return on July 9. They have sent applications to the band directors, to Lions Clubs, and to the students who participated the past two years. The students will need passports this year and would need to apply for them soon before January or February, with the possibility of another government shutdown. To promote our band program, the band chairs have attended band festivals throughout the state. They will again have a booth at the Missouri Music Educators Association conference. He mentioned that their budget proposal is based on 65 students, but if we can get more students he can get more buses.
HEARING COMMITTEE REPORT – Written report.
MISSOURI LIONS EYE RESEARCH FOUNDATION REPORT – Lion Annie Kuhl showed a brief video and Lion Dr. Ron Walkenbach distributed a handout regarding the new name of “Saving Sight” effective December 1, to replace Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation and Heartland Lions Eye Banks. The website will change to saving-sight.org and all company email addresses will change to first initial followed by last . The office locations and phone numbers will remain the same. Lion Dr. Walkenbach added that he wholeheartedly endorsed this name change. The call center staff has said for quite awhile that it is a lot to say when answering a call from a donor family who has just lost a loved one. In addition, in today’s world, when people hear “Eye Bank” it could be confused with “I Bank”, which has to do with an internet financial institution. There were many questions. Lion Annie explained that the corporate name will remain as Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation, but doing business as Saving Sight. MLERF will only be used for contractual agreements. The name Heartland Lions Eye Bank becomes Saving Sight as well. All employees will work for Saving Sight. Someone was concerned about fundraising efforts, and recommended that during the transition period the printed material should list Saving Sight (formerly Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation), referencing the former name so people realize it is the same organization and not something entirely new. DG McCann asked if the Lions logo will be included in printed material, and Lion Annie said it would. PDG Zana Botzow asked if our Constitution and By-Laws will need to be changed. PCC Kimberly Taylor responded that since MLERF is not changing their by-laws, ours won’t/cannot change either. We’ll change the name in our Constitution & By-Laws, but it’s housekeeping only. When asked, Lion Annie explained that since they are a 501(c)3, they are not owned by anyone, but are governed by a board of directors. Lion Dr. Walkenbach added that there is no change to the Board of Directors, that nine of the thirteen Directors are Lions and are elected the same way they always were.
LBOMB REPORT – Lion George Winkeler reported that the blind vendors, along with the LBOMB Board, have been working hard and LBOMB is once again in the process of making a positive money increase for the LBOMB Corporation. As they’re learning more about it, they are trying to straighten out the problems from the past. He encouraged the Governors to get their LBOMB representatives involved, not only in their districts, but in their clubs, so they can get the word out that LBOMB is doing well and would like their support again.
WORLD SERVICES FOR THE BLIND REPORT– Lions Visitation was August 23-24, 2013, and it was well represented by Lions all over. They had a training session for the Missouri Lions Speakers Bureau on September 22 right after the USA/Canada Forum, and they are looking for people to participate as substitutes to speak when an unforeseen circumstance occurs. WSB is in the process of renovating their dorms and is asking for donations for this endeavor.
LEADER DOG REPORT– No report
MID SOUTH REPORT – CC Boettcher thanked each individual, clubs and districts for your service and donations to Mid South. She is still looking for individuals to serve on two committees: Governance and Meetings. Regarding their summer fundraising campaign “Freedom from Blindness”, she was happy to report that they have raised the $25,000 for a matching LCIF grant. Second quarterly meeting will be held November 8-9 in Branson. First quarterly meeting was held in August with their annual “Give the Gifts” Auction, which raised more than $12,000. Mark your calendars for Lions Leaders Weekend, to be held April 11-12, 2014, in Memphis. All VDGs should attend before becoming Governors.
CONSTITUTION & BY-LAWS COMMITTEE REPORT - PCC Kimberly Taylor reported that the Constitution & By-Laws Committee has been gathering information from the Governors and some of the committees and will be starting electronic meetings in the next couple of weeks. To further clarify the MLERF issue, she explained that our Constitution does say that it is an activity of the Lions of Missouri and changes in their by-laws would have to be approved by the Lions of Missouri. Since they are only looking at this as a “Doing Business As” and they are not changing their by-laws or their articles of incorporation, from our standpoint, as a constitutional change we will update it to say something like “MLERF, dba as Saving Sight, is an activity of Missouri Lions MD 26”, and just replace all the words that say MLERF to Saving Sight.
STATE & INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION COMMITTEE REPORT – PCC Don Noland reported that he is now the State Chairperson of the State & International Convention Committee. He reported on the committee’s recent meeting held at the site of the 2014 State Convention, with 100% of the committee in attendance. Twelve guests also attended, including ID Donal Knipp and representatives of the Sedalia State Fair Best Western. The purpose of having this meeting in Sedalia was to see if the facilities would live up to our expectations. It was the consensus of the committee, with a few tweaks because of the smaller venue, that it would be suitable. He gave a summary of the 2013 convention survey. They approved the report from Lion Donald Beckham for 2015. PDGs Bill Botzow and Dave Harris presented a bid request for the 2016 State Convention at the Ramada Inn in Springfield. They reviewed the inventory of pins, hats, etc. at the State Office and donated the remaining 2011 pins to the Band. They are looking at a possible new shirt design. They reviewed the budgets for 2013-14 and submitted them for approval. PCC Jesse Hathcock served as Parade Marshal this year, and he will work up some guidelines for future parade marshals. There was discussion regarding a way to increase attendance at State Conventions by moving the Mid Winter Forum earlier. With the Forum, District Conventions and State Convention so close together, it may make it difficult for Lions to attend all of them. Their next meeting will be January 12, 2014, at the State Office. DG Paulin asked about the possibility of taking a bus, along with the band, for Lions to go to Toronto. PCC Noland indicated they would check into that.
2014 STATE CONVENTION HOST COMMITTEE REPORT – IPDG Kenny Goetz assured everyone that the Host Committee is working hard to provide a venue where the Council and Council Chair can host a very successful convention. They have a lot of good things lined up. It will not be as easy as when the convention is held at the hotel, but the facilities at the State Fairgrounds are very updated. They are open to any questions and suggestions. PDG Jene Crook added that they would meet with the Governors after the meeting to give them the tentative agenda. She also reminded the Vice District Governors that they need to bring a check for $150 to the January Council Meeting to pay for their hospitality room, and they will look at the facilities at that time.
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP TEAM – PDG Eugene Taylor reported that they have been working primarily on the Mid-Winter Forum this quarter, and registration forms were distributed. It will be at the Chateau on the Lake Resort in Branson. They are focusing on reaching ALL Lions to attend this Forum, not just leadership. Rather than have the same Lions attend all events (i.e., State Convention, District Convention, Mid-Winter Forum), we need to have all clubs represented at the various events by different Lions. The format of the Forum will be different this year. Two professional instructors will use a roundtable methodology to create a fun environment and allow for stimulating discussions, creating an atmosphere for personal growth and development to be used in Lions activities, as well as in your personal and professional life. PDG Taylor stressed that there is a deadline for registration that MUST be adhered to. The hotel we previously used (which many people did not like) was willing to deal with us at any level to get our business that time of year. The Chateau on the Lake will not tolerate additions after the deadline. We cannot accept any registrations postmarked after January 27, 2014, period. To give you an idea of what happened last year, if we had imposed that cutoff date, 59% of the attendees would have been turned down! Again, any registrations postmarked after January 27 will be returned. The Dinner Show will be held at the Chateau on the Lake and will include a magician. If the weather is bad, you will not have to leave the hotel for the duration. There may be additional charges for special meal requirements; he will find out about that. He is also working with the hotel to make sure we can bring in food and beverages for the hospitality room. He is hopeful that this will prove to be a good move and we can continue there in the future, with a room rate that is comparable to what we’ve had, but in one of the nicest hotels in Branson.