Past Events 2017-2018

 

Celebration of the Century

On Saturday, May 5, 2018 members of the Middletown Lions Club participated in the District 23C Centennial held at the Red Lion Inn in Cromwell, Connecticut. This was actually three events in one.

The first, the District Leadership Institute. This was from 9:30am until 11:30am. The D.L.I. was a group of training seminars for incoming Presidents, Secretaries, Treasurers, and Membership Chairs for the next lions year.

Secretary/President-Elect, Howard Geltman, President, Martin Knight, and Secretary-Elect Terri Geltman attended the Presidents Training. Treasurer, Richard Pelletier attended the Treasurers Training, and Membership Chair-Elect, Ellie Paules attended the Membership Chair Traininsg.

The second event of the day was the District Governor's Awards Banquet at noon. At this even officers and members of many clubs received Certificates of Appreciation for their leadership in this lions year.

The photo above shows (from left to right): District Governor Hilary Kumnick, President Martin Knight, 1st Vice President Ellie Paules, Secretary Howard Geltman, Treasurer Richard Pelletier, and Zone Chair Allen Guiot. Our club officers were proudly holding their Certificated of Appreciation. Our 1st Vice President received a special Member Service Award for all of her work on collecting eyeglasses for the Eyeglass Extravaganza which was held in April.

That final event of the day was held that evening. This was the Governor's Gala which included a wonderful dinner and dancing. President Martin Knight and Treasurer Richard Pelletier attended this event.

 

Eyeglass Extravaganza

On Saturday, April 21, 2018 the District 23C Eyeglass Extravaganza was held in Willimantic, Connecticut.

Many lions clubs within the district had collected eyeglasses to be recycled. The Middletown Lions Club was a proud participant.

The photo above shows lion Terri Geltman andanother lion helping to sort pairs of eyeglasses.

The sorted eyeglasses will then be packaged and sent to the Lions Eyeglasses Recycling Center in New Jersey. From there they will be cleaned and sent to countries that are in need of them.

The photo below shows Treasurer Richard Pelletier, Secretary Howard Geltman, and President Martin Knight ready to sell candy to assist in our clubs fundraiser.

Approximately 27,000 pairs of eyeglasses were recycled. Contratulations to all clubs for their wonderful work!

 

We're Growing Once Again

Tuesday, April 17, 2018 was a special evening for members of the Middletown Lions Club. We welcomed in our newest member James Beyer.

President Marty Knight did the honors of inducting Jim into our special community of Lions. Marty talked to Jim about the history of Lions Clubs International, the history of the Middletown Lions Club, and told Jim what was expected of a Lion.

Once Jim reseived his Lions pin and membership card from Marty, he was given a few minutes to tell the club about himself.

Welcome abord Jim... enjoy the ride!

 

Is a Leo Club in the Cards?

On Tuesday evening, March 20, 2018 the MiddletownLions Club held its monthly dinner meeting. That evening we were honored to have as our special guest 2nd Vice District 23C Governor Diana Grise.

After we had gotten the numerous meeting elements out of the way it was time for our special guest to speak to us. President Martin Knight introduced 2nd VDG Diana to the club and she spoke to us about Leo Clubs.

2nd VDG Diana told us about two types of Leo Clubs. The Alpha Club had student members with ages from 12 to 18, and the Omega Club which had members up in to their late 20's. She explained in many poorer countries members cannot afford to join a Lions Club until later on in life so they remain a Leo.

We were told about two types of local Leo Clubs. The first was a school-based club that was normally conducted during school hours and administered by school administrators or teachers. All funding for any event in that type of club needed to be approved by the school. In that type of club, members didn't have that much contact with Lions unless they were visited and told about what Lions are and what they do.

The second type of local Leo Club was a community-based club. It would be administered by a local Lions Club such as the Middletown Lions Club, and would have a number of mentors and liaisons from a club to assist them. Many Leos in this type of club grow up to join the Lions Club once they are of age.

At this time our club is in the process of deciding whether to sponsor a Leo Club in Middletown. Stay tuned..."

 

Dining for a Cause

On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 Members of the Middletown Lions Club hosted a fundraiser at the Ninety-Nine Restaurant in Cromwell, CTonnectucut. The event was from 11am until 9pm.

We had placed numerous radio and television announcements in the Public Service areas of their respective websites and on the air. Our club was lucky enough to be posted on television stations which included: WFSB - Channel 3 (CBS), WVIT - channel 30 (NBC), WTNH - channel 8 (ABC), and FOX61 (FOX). We were also able to advertize our event on the following radio stations: WWYZ - 92.5FM, WZMX - 93.7FM, WKSS - 95.7FM, WTIC - 96.5FM, WTIC - 1080AM, WRCH - 100.5FM, and WDRC - 102.9FM. These stations were all so wonderful to us and we thank them very much for advertizing our event.

The Ninety-Nine Restaurant produced a special voucher for this event. We were responsivle for getting these vouchers out to people who wished to "Dine for a Cause". The restaurant donated 15 percent of each guest check (provided the guest presented their server with the voucher).

We were so happy to see everyone come out to support our club.

 

New Member Inducted

At our February 20, 2018 Monthly Dinner Meeting prospective member Tammy Hackstall became a Middletown Lion. President Martin Knight did the honors of inducting Tammy into the club as her proud sponsor 1st Vice President Ellie Paules stood by her side.

Tammy had come to a meeting a few months back when she was presented with a CCTV so she could read her written materials magnified. She also assisted with a number of events until the time she was inducted.

Horay for Tammy!

 

Calling All Delegates!

Members of the Middletown Lions Club hosted a Wwelcoming Table at the District 23 Special Convention at the Woodrow Wilson Middle School on Saturday, November 4, 2017. President Marty Knight and Treasurer Richard Pelletier were delegate and alternate delegate respectively.

The convention was called to order by PCC Ken Tucker from the Montville Mohegan-Pequot Lions Club. It was to select the nominee for International Director for the New England area who will then go to the 101st International Convention in Las Vegas from June 29 through July 3rd. The two candidates running for this position were: PCC Mark Lyons from the Brookfield Lions Club in District 23A, and PCC Sia Dowlatshahi from the South Windsor Lions Club, District 23B.

The photo above is of International Director candidates for New England PCC Mark Lyons and PCC Sia Dowlatshahi.

The photo above shows delegates from all over District 23 casting their ballots for nominee as International Director to represent New England.

 

 

 

 

 

Training for Leaders

A Multiple District 23 Regional Lions Leadership Training Institute was held at the St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield, Connecticut. The RLLTI was held from Friday, October, 20 through Sunday the 22nd. Members from the following Lions Clubs were present: Bloomfield, Bristol, Canton, East Hampton, Greenwich, Ledyard, Milford, Middletown, New Fairfield, Seymour, Terryville, Watertown, and Windsor.

Lions Terri Geltman, and her husband club Secretary Howard Geltman both attended, representing the Middletown Lions Club.

Right from the get-go, instructors from the RLLTI opening session's objectives covered: Identifying significant events in LCI History, Applying the Lions Mission Statement, Code of Ethics and purposes, recognizing the structure of the association, and the benefits of Lions membership.

That first evening, many of the attendees started to share stories about themselves and their clubs, talk and work together (network), and most importantly make new friends.

Saturday brought everyone together once again to learn about: Public Speaking, having Effective Meetings, Goal Setting, Member Motivation, Diversity, and preparing for our Individual Speeches.

Our Saturday evening session culminated with each of us picking an unknown topic from a container. Once we all picked our papers we each discovered our topic for the individual speeches for Sunday. I selected, Why should we continue to support the Lions Club International Foundation, Howard said. Terri had to speak on why women should become Lions.

The Seminary provided us with internet access so each of us could prepare for our five-minute speeches to be presented on Sunday afternoon. Many of us worked into the late evening looking up information, outlining our thoughts, and writing and re-writing our speeches to make them as informative and interesting as possible.

On Sunday, we learned about Time Management and Working in Teams. Sunday afternoon we were broken into three groups in different rooms for our individual speeches. In our room we had three special guests: 1st Vice District 23C Governor Laura Rowe, 2nd Vice District 23C Governor Diana Grise, and PDG Collette Anderson from District 23A.

Before the Regional Lions Leadership Training Institute was concluded, we all were presented with our Certificates of Completion.

Many of us had knowledge on most of these topics of discussion, but by the end of this weekend we all left knowing much more. “I came to the RLLTI knowing something, but left knowing so much more. I loved it.”, Howard said.

 

 

Goodies for Kiddies

The annual Halloween on Main Street was held at the green in Middletown on Saturday, October 14, 2017 from 11am until 3pm. Children of all ages donned their costumes. Dressed as ghouls, goblins, everything and anything, children of all ages enjoyed activities and events ??and most importantly the candy!

Once again the Middletown Lions Club was there to hand out candy and join in the fun. Members of the club gave out more than 400 pieces of candy to trick or treaters of all ages.

The photo below shows members of the Middletown Lions Club: Treasurer Richard Pelletier, Membership Chair Sandra Reynolds, and 1st Vice President Elderrean Paules set up and ready to go.

 

Dressed in her pumpkin costume, our 1st Vice President Elderrean Paules is all set for the spirit of Halloween, and maybe a nice piece of candy or two.

 

Screening for Vision

The Middletown Lions Club participated once again at an Open House at the South District Fire Station in Middletown on Saturday, October 7, 2017. 1st Vice President Elderrean Ellie Paules, Treasurer, Richard Pelletier, and Membership Chair Sandra Reynolds were there to hand out club flyers, membership applications, answer questions, and most importantly perform eye screenings of adults.

The photo above is of an adult receiving a computerized eye screening.

 

Officer Installation

On Tuesday, June 20th, the Middletown Lions Club held its Installation of Officers which was conducted by District 23C Governor, George Salpiatro. What made this installation ceremony very special was that we now have a Tail Twister, and Lion Tamer. These two positions hadn't been filled for a number of years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the ceremony was completed District Governor, George Salpiatro told us about his exciting year as a District Governor. He had one last visitation to another club the next week to finish out his one-year term.

District Governor, George then talked to us about how special it was to be a Lion, and how wonderful it was for him to visit a club like ours, who just a year ago was down to four members. He then told us how our club had grown to eleven members; two members returning after a nine-month absense, and five new members joining the Middletown Lions Club during our previous year.

District Governor George told us that our club had that special drive within each of us. More than half of our members have visual and/or physical impairments that would stop some people in their tracks - but not us. He told us that our club was different because each of us had a motivation and willingness to serve others in our community. That is what made each of us a special Lion. "Each of you have that very special something within you to be a true Lion", he said.

When our meeting was adjourned many of us left with such a wonderful feeling inside. It was as if we were given a pep-talk like no other by a great coach - our outgoing District Governor.

DG George, we'll miss you. Now you can go home and have a year of home cooked meals.

 

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