Resources Available for a Pro-active Pandemic Flu Plan
Lions are invited to distribute free pandemic influenza (flu) flyers throughout their communities. The flyers are available for downloading from the Lions Web site at: fs/iad913.pdf.
In July 2007, The International Association of Lions Clubs agreed to help the US Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) disseminate information about (large-scale) pandemic flu. Participation in this public health campaign is an honor for Lions.
Immediate Past International President Jimmy Ross led the way in this healthcare initiative by participating in HHS’ advertising campaign, Take the Lead: Pandemic Flu - Working Together to Prepare Now. His photo appears on US national pandemic flu advertisements.
Pandemic flu preparedness is important because the 20th century experienced three pandemic flu outbreaks. Millions of people died. Unlike seasonal flu, there is little, if any, immunity to a pandemic flu virus. Public health officials need several weeks or months to identify a pandemic flu strain and develop a vaccine.
Good personal hygiene is the best defense against the flu.
The Lions pandemic flu flyer encourages the public to wash their hands frequently and to cover their mouths whenever sneezing.
A pro-active pandemic flu plan coincides with the Lions ALERT emergency preparedness program. Lions ALERT encourages the development of a community plan in the event of a natural, man-made, or public health crisis such as a:
Level One emergency (affecting a few people)
Level Two emergency (affecting a community)
Level Three emergency (affecting hundreds or thousands of people in a region)
For more information about Lions ALERT, log onto the Lions Web site at:
https:www.lionsclubs.org/EN/content/alert_program.shtml or contact: .
Lions Share their Cultures During Performance Festival
Talented Lions, Lionesses, and Leos are invited to participate in the Eighth Annual Performance Festival to be held during the 91st Annual Lions International Convention, June 23 – 27, 2008, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Musicians, vocalists, dancers, and other performers are invited to present a 5-10 minute performance. Each year Lions enjoy attending the Performance Festival held during the Lions International Convention. The Lions Performance Festival represents entertainment from different cultures with two hours of vocal and dance performances. Thanks to the willingness of talented Lions sharing their culture, the Lions Performance Festival is a popular event at convention.
For full details, contact the Program Development Department at international headquarters at: 630-571-5466, extension 315 or .
49th Annual District 33Y
Mid-Winter Conference
Friday, Saturday & Sunday, January 25 - 27, 2008
Clarion Hotel
(formerly: Sovereign Best Western Hotel)
1080 Riverdale Street (Rte 5 & I-91)
West Springfield, Massachusetts, MA
Our guests for the weekend will be International Director Leland R. Kolkmeyer and his wife, Lion Marcia.
Leland R. Kolkmeyer from Wellington, Missouri, USA, was elected to serve a two-year term as a director of The International Association of Lions Clubs at the association’s 89th International Convention, held in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, June 30-July 4, 2006.
Director Kolkmeyer works in the funeral service and is retired from fire service.
A member of the Wellington Lions Club since 1993, Director Kolkmeyer has held many offices within the association, including club president, club Melvin Jones Fellowship chairperson, zone chairperson, region chairperson, district governor, council secretary/treasurer, council chairperson and multiple district extension chairperson. He serves as an eye tissue transporter and certified Guiding Lion program presenter, and has been chairperson for Leader Dogs, hearing and Melvin Jones Fellowship in his district.
In recognition of his service to the association, Director Kolkmeyer has received numerous awards, including the 100% Club President Award, four District Governor Appreciation Awards, an Extension Award, the Guiding Lion Award, two International President’s Certificates and an International President’s Award. He is also a Melvin Jones Fellow.
In addition to his Lions activities, Director Kolkmeyer is active in numerous professional and community organizations. He was a Cub and Boy Scout leader and volunteered for 11 years as a certified eye enucleator at Heartland Eye Banks. He currently serves on the board of the Wellington Napoleon Fire Protection District.
Director Kolkmeyer and his wife, Marcia, also a Lion, have two children.
January 2008
Printer Inkjet Cartridge and Cell Phone Collections - in concert with GREEN TEAM to save the environment
· East Longmeadow Lions Club - Contact James McCormack for info @ (413) 525-6880 or any other East Longmeadow Lions Club member.
· Springfield 16 Acres Lions Club - Contact Tom Cocchi for info @ 413-783-1775 or any other Springfield 16 Acres Lions Club member.
· Northampton Lions Club - Contact Stan Zewski for info @ 413-783-1775, email at or any other Northampton Lions Club member.
Texas Hold-em - Granby Lions Club - Polish American Citizen Club on 515 Granby Rd. (Rt 202), South Hadley, MA . EVERY Wednesday, 6:30 PM sign up, 7PM games start - $25.00 entry.
1 / New Year's Day
9 / District Governor Visitation - Ludlow and East Longmeadow Lions Clubs
11 - 13 / District 33S Midwinter Conference
15 / District Governor Visitation - Williamsburg Lions Club
18 - 20 / District 33N Midwinter Conference
21 / Martin Luther King Day
23 / District Governor Visitation - Cummington Lions Club
24 / Mass Lions Eye Research Fund (MLERF) Meeting
25 - 27 / District 33Y Midwinter Conference - Clarion Hotel, West Springfield - Theme: Carnival
February 2008
Printer Inkjet Cartridge and Cell Phone Collections - in concert with GREEN TEAM to save the environment
· East Longmeadow Lions Club - Contact James McCormack for info @ (413) 525-6880 or any other East Longmeadow Lions Club member.
· Springfield 16 Acres Lions Club - Contact Tom Cocchi for info @ 413-783-1775 or any other Springfield 16 Acres Lions Club member.
· Northampton Lions Club - Contact Stan Zewski for info @ 413-783-1775, email at or any other Northampton Lions Club member.
Texas Hold-em - Granby Lions Club - Polish American Citizen Club on 515 Granby Rd. (Rt 202), South Hadley, MA . EVERY Wednesday, 6:30 PM sign up, 7PM games start - $25.00 entry.
2 / Groundhog Day
4 / 3rd Cabinet Meeting
5 / Mardi Gras - Easthampton Lions Club
6 / Ash Wednesday
7 / Mass Lions Eye Research Fund (MLERF) Joslin Clinic visit
8 - 10 / District 33A Midwinter Conference
13 / Blood Drive - Ludlow Lions and Mercy Hospital's Bloodmobile - Tony & Penny's (24 Canterbury St., Ludlow ( map to Tony & Penney's ) from 2:00 to 6:00 PM. Please note these dates and try to schedule a visit into your calendar if possible. Also on 11/14/07, 5/14/08, 8/13/08, and 11/12/08. You can give blood every 8 weeks: wouldn't it be great to do them all!!!! Need an excuse not to give? Here are some ready for you to use: Ten Reasons People Don't Give Blood
14 / Valentine's Day
15 - 17 / District 33K Midwinter Conference
18 / President's Day
21 / Massachusetts Lions Eye Research Fund, Inc. Meeting
28 / Mass Lions Eye Research Fund (MLERF) Tufts visit.
The Wired Lion recently sent out an alert about the “Postcard for you from” virus email that infects your pc with a Trojan-type beast which destroys track zero on your hard drive, corrupts your files, wipes your memory, and causes cold sores, locust invasions, menstrual cramps, uni-brows, bovine aviation, and Jean Martin to consider being District Governor for a THIRD time!
Well, maybe not that last one.
Okay, deep breath people. Actually, I run into attempts to send me a Trojan virus quite often in my WL investigations and have little to no problems. When I say that, friends usually respond that I have some sort of special pc voodoo knowledge that is quite beyond them to emulate.
Baloney!
I have a very basic BUT ACTIVE “anti –arsenal” protocol. And most of it is FREE (Every Lion in the area just burst into song!). I spend about 20 minutes a week updating the arsenal and I’m pretty well set.
Make sure you have an INTER-ACTIVE anti-arsenal agenda. In most cases that means you have to go into the program and get updates and do scans. If you have updates and scans set up for automatic delivery, make sure you SEE them working from time to time. You might also see it checking emails and web sites and occasionally coming up with an ALERT! box saying they have caught a beastie! If you don’t see these indicators while you are using your pc, suspect trouble!
Currently, there are three free anti-virus programs that are “top of the class” with the computer gurus. They are the free AV versions put out by AIG, AVAST and AntiVir. Norton (Symantec) and McAfee are the most popular and highly regarded of the fee-paid AV products. Discussing which is best is a bit like getting into a discussion about religion. I always have one answer;
If it works when you meet a beastie, you’re good.
My kid brother went into fits of rapture about his free AV program and how it was better than sex………until I had to go over and reformat his hard drive.
The most highly regarded anti-spy-ware (also called mal-ware) arsenal, currently, is also FREE (there’s that singing again). Spybot Search & Destroy and Lavasoft’s Adaware SE Personal (the free version) used together with a good web browser has served me VERY well! If you are interested in more options, SpySweeper is consistently at the top of the class for fee-paid programs. I bench-tested the “free” against the “fee” and found no protection advantages, just more options.
I mentioned web browsers. If you have not done so, update to Internet Explorer version 7 right away. It’s free and has become a great deal more secure in an attempt to catch up with innovative competitors, namely Mozilla’s Firefox and Opera. All of these 3 will help you ward off Phishing scams and “mal-ware”.
So how about a quick-and-easy-check list?
· Pick and download an anti-virus program, an anti-spyware program (or 2 in my case) and either update your Internet Explorer or switch to another safe browser.
· Make sure to get Windows updates from Microsoft. You can set that up to be sent to you automatically and their security patches are a “must have”!
· Go into the AV and AS programs once a week and get updates and run scans as necessary. That should only take minutes to download updates and you can usually do other things on your pc while the scans are running (like writing this article).
· Watch out for indicators that your “anti-arsenal” is doing the job. You’ll feel good the first time one of them catches a beastie!
Having trouble finding a program or understanding it? Email me at .
I want to thank all of the Lions (and their friends) for taking an active part in The Wired Lion Scam Alert program. I am often teased about being buried by the emails reporting scams and alerts. The way I see it, that is a nice complaint to have! Email me if you would like to join us!
Jay Oelrich, PZC
The Wired Lion
EyeMobile Update, December 2007
Wow, what a year this has been. The hopes and dreams of many Lions were fulfilled this year. It was more than 10 years ago when the concept of an EyeMobile for District 33Y was first envisioned. Now after the hard work of many, many Lions we have made it happen. Since we first started fundraising, more than 33 Lions, Lioness, and Leo Clubs have contributed to our goal of raising more than $200,000 to fund the first District 33Y EyeMobile. Our efforts were significantly aided by a matching LCIF Grant for $75,000, an Orthoptic Clinic grant for $50,000 and more than $39,000 of grants and public support. All together we raised more than $246,000. A well deserved THANK YOU to all who helped make this possible.
This year marked our first year of operations. Through the efforts and cooperation of 21Clubs, we have screened 875 people, conducted 16 public exhibits and parades in 31 cities and towns and driven 2,500 miles in 33Y. We are only starting to spread the word! 2008 looks to be a year of major growth with more than a dozen events already scheduled.
What can you do? Urge your Club to schedule a screening in your Towns. Aside from serving your Community, this event can be an awesome Public Relations tool for your Club. Urge your Club to financially support the EyeMobile. Volunteer! As an EyeMobile driver and/or screener, you will be doing your part to enhance our motto of “We Serve”. Volunteer to be a Committee or Board Member.
Once again, thank you to all who made this dream possible. Your support and generosity in making this possible is greatly appreciated.
Yours in Lionism,
Bill Rathbun
EyeMobile President
Please be sure to check out the new Cyber Website at www.massachusettslionscybernetwork.com
It is undeniable that women have empowered themselves and have become important participants in business, civic and cultural
affairs. Their ever-growing numbers in Lions Clubs International has enriched our association and I am proud to say that women now
make up 18.4 percent of our membership, up from 13.5 percent just four years ago.
View LQ--Lions Quarterly Video Magazine
The October edition of LQ looks at diabetes, a health issue on the rise in every corner of the world; plus how Lions are helping