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District 1H Orientation
Lions Pre Induction Orientation
Another request by RP Phil….History of District 1
Illinois did not always constitute the first District of
Lionism. It was grouped together with six other states in
one large thinly organized territory known as the Ninth
District. The original numbering was begun at the Pacific
coast and carried easterly. In this original grouping, the
first District comprised California, Oregon, Washington, and
Nevada. The second district was Minnesota, the Dakotas, and
a strip of western Wisconsin. The third District was
Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. The fourth District was
Western Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The fifth District
was Eastern Texas, and Louisiana. The sixth District was
Oklahoma and Kansas. The seventh Arkansas and Missouri. The
eighth Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. The ninth
Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and the
rest of Wisconsin. The tenth was, roughly speaking, the rest
of the country for no effort had been made to organize the
Atlan-tic Coast and the Southeastern states. All seven
states of the old ninth District had fewer Lions clubs than
many coun-tries now have.
The first District Governor of this vast territory,
extending from the Wyoming line on the west to the
Pennsylvania state line on the east and from Lake Superior
to the Ohio river was George W. Milligan of Chicago who was
appointed at the International convention in St. Louis in
1918. The old ninth district, with its seven states remained
intact until after the Convention in Oakland in 1921, at
which time the newly elected International President Ewen W.
Cameron of Minneapolis recognized many requests for
redistricting, and in early 1922 the entire country was
regrouped and the number of districts changed.
At this point Illinois, as the birthplace of Lionism and its
permanent headquarters, became District 1, but not
independently so, since Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin were
part of it too. In May 1922 at a convention in Decatur it
was decided to divide the four states, making independent
districts of each of them. Illinois became district
1...which it re-mains today...Indiana then became the 25th,
Missouri the 26th, and Wisconsin the 27th. Illinois had
thirty clubs with a total membership of 1674. In 1927 the
first Council was formed consisting of 1 District Governor
and 7 Deputy District Governors.
n June of 1930, at a convention in Joliet District 1 was
divided into 3 sections, because of the growth in clubs and
membership, each to have its own District Governor and a
Board of Directors.
The districts were...1A-1B-and 1C. At that time there were
4200 members and 107 clubs.
1D was added in 1938 membership in the state was 6000 in 162
clubs;
1E was formed in 1940 with 8924 members in 260 clubs;
1F was formed in 1941 with 289 clubs and 9700 members
1G was formed in 1942 with 9500 members in 271 clubs.
1H was formed in 1947 with 15400 members in 283 clubs;
1J was formed in 1951 with 19600 members in 372 clubs;
1K was formed in 1970 with 27506 in 605 clubs;
In 1976 District 1CN and 1CS split and District 1L was
formed from 1E and 1G with a membership of 30100 in 652
clubs.
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District 1H Orientation
Lions Pre Induction Orientation
WHAT ARE
THE LIONS?
The
Lions are
members of a service-oriented group
of clubs. Part
of an international
organization,
where each member enjoys fellowship,
develops leadership capacity, and dedicates part of their
free time to help those in need, not only in their community, but also
in the rest of the world.
Membership in a Lions club means the
member has the opportunity to meet and work with people in a spirit
of fellowship, with everyone working toward a common goal. Through
their concern for others the individual has the opportunity to make
suggestions, give opinions, and often take the initiative and show
their capacity of leadership.
THE
NAME OF THE ORGANIZATION
The
official name of our organization is, the International Association
of Lions Clubs, which has been shortened to Lions Clubs
International.
LIONS COLORS
Purple and gold were selected
as the association’s official
colors. Purple because it
represents loyalty to country, friends, one’s self, and integrity of
mind and heart. It’s the color of strength, courage, and dedication
to a cause. Gold symbolizes sincerity of purpose, being liberal with
your judgment, purity in life, and generosity in mind, heart, and
purse toward mankind.
LIONS MOTTO
The Lions motto
is WE SERVE
LIONS
SLOGAN
The
Lions slogan is LIBERTY, INTELLIGENCE, OUR NATIONS SAFETY.
THE
GOALS OF LIONISM
The primary
goal of Lionism is service to the community. We must remember,
though, that com- munity in the Lions interpretation of the word
includes worldwide projects as put forth by the international board,
not just local projects.
Each year Lions perform services and
provide goods to thousands of people throughout the world. We can
proudly say lions perform more activities and help more people than
any other service organization in the world.
HOW
IT STARTED
Lionism began in
1917,
when a young insurance agent
named Melvin Jones, consolidated a
group of separate business clubs into one strong, influential club
with the goal of helping the community and serving humanity.
The first convention was held in
Dallas Texas at the Adolphus hotel, with
twenty-three clubs at
tending. Now there are over 1,450,000
service minded men and
women belong to about 44,000 clubs in
800 districts in 200 countries
or geographic areas of the
world.
International headquarters is in
Oak Brook,
Illinois. The address is 300 22”
street Oak Brook Illi nois 60521.
The international president is John
Kusiak from Linthicum Maryland. Other than the international
president, a first and second vice president and 28
directors
representing various areas of the
world govern us. Sixteen of the 28
are
from the United States, to maintain
the majority, with eight being elected every year.
We are governed by two documents,
THE LIONS CODE OF ETHICS
and THE LIONS CLUBS OBJECTS.
THE
LION CODE OF ETHICS is a
guideline for the personal values that each lion should ex emplify.
They read as follows:
1. To show my faith in the
worthiness of my vocation by industrious application to the end
that
I may merit a reputation for quality
of service.
2.
To seek success and
to demand all fair remuneration or
profit as my just due, but to accept no profit or success at the
price of my own
self
respect,
lost because of unfair advantage
taken or because of questionable acts on my part.
3. To remember that in building
up my business it is not necessary to tear down another; to be loyal
to my clients and customers and true to myself.
4. Whenever a doubt arises as to
the rights or ethics of my position and actions towards my fellow
men, to resolve such doubt against myself.
5.
To hold friendship as an
end and not a means. To hold
that true
friendship exists not on account of
service performed by one to another, but that true friendship
demands nothing but accepts service in the spirit in, which it is
given.
6. Always bear in mind my
obligations as a citizen to my nation, my state, and my community,
and to give them my unswerving loyalty in word, act, and deed. To
give them freely of my time, labor, and means.
7. To aid my fellow man by
giving my sympathy to those in distress, my aid to the
weak,
and my substance to the needy.
8. To be careful with my
criticism and liberal with my praise, to build up and not destroy.
THE
LIONS CLUBS OBJECTS
outline the aims and goals of Lionism. It is up to the clubs to use
general objects for specific purposes. They read as follows:
· *
To create and foster a spirit of
understanding among the peoples of the world.
·
To promote the
principles of good government and good citizenship.
·
To take an active
interest in the civic, cultural, social, and moral welfare of the
community.
·
To unite the clubs in a
bond of friendship, good fellowship, and mutual under standing.
·
To provide a forum for
the open discussion of all matters of public interest pro vided,
however, that club members will not debate partisan politics and
sectarian religion.
DISTRICT
1H
Illinois
is known as Multiple District I or MD I and is the birthplace of
Lionism and home of founder
Melvin Jones. There are twelve
sub districts in the state. They are IA, I B, ICN, I CS,
ID, IE, IF, IG, IH, lJ, 1K, and 1L.
Until 1947 we were District lB
There are currently fifty Lions and
four-Lioness clubs in District I H.
Lions International dropped the
Lioness program in 1991. They wanted the Lioness to become Lions.
The state decided this was a bad idea and
kept the Lioness program active.
The
Leo program is for young people from 12 to 28 on the international
level. In District I H the age is from 12 to 18. The reason for the
discrepancy is it cost a lot of money to join a lions club overseas,
and a lot of young people can’t afford to join, but in the united
states we keep the dues low enough so when the Leo becomes 18, the
legal age for belonging to the lions organization, they can become a
member of a lions club.
The geographical make up of district
I H is Rock Island, Mercer,
Henry, Tazewell, Peoria, Fulton,
Knox, Stark, Warren, Henderson, Mc
Donough, and part of Hancock counties. We started as part of
District I B; the state was
redistricted in 1947 and
that’s when we became
District I H.
DISTRICT LEADERS
Each
District has its own executive
officer, the District Governor. They’re elected, annually, at the
district convention, and take
office at the close of the
International Convention. Our district governor for 2004
— 2005 is Jane Martin from the
Princeville Lions club in Princeville, Illinois.
The District Governor is under the
supervision of the International President and the International
Board of Directors. The District Governor has direct supervision
over the four Region Chairmen,
the eight Zone Chairmen, the Cabinet
Secretary
Treasurer, and 39 District Chairmen.
This
group of Lions makes up what is known as the
District cabinet, they represent Lions international or lions of
Illinois foundation activities.
Each District has a Vice District
Governor, who is under the
supervision and direction of the
District Governor. The Vice District
Governor is the chief administrative assistant to the district
governor. Our Vice District Governor for 2004
—
2005 is Judy Tapper from the
Galesburg Evening Lions club in Galesburg, Illinois.
The Vice District Governor furthers
the purposes and objects of the association. They preside at cabinet
meetings if the District Governor can’t be there. They familiarize
themselves with the duties of District Governor so they’ll know what
to do and how to do it when it becomes their turn at the wheel.
The Region Chairman, under the
supervision of the District Governor, is the chief administrator of
their region. Their responsibility is the weak clubs in our
district. They are troubleshooters for the District Governor. There
are four Regions and 8 Zones in District I H.
The Zone Chairman, under the
supervision of the District Governor and the Region Chairman, is the
chief administrative officer of the Zone. There are two Zones in
each Region, Zones A and B. The Zone Chairman has to visit each club
in their Zone at least twice a year, and if they see a club is
having problems they are to make sure the Region Chairman and the
District Governor knows what
the problems are.
STATE LEADERS
The Lions of Illinois are run twelve
District Governors, One from each District) IA thru IL with 2 C’s (CN
& CS) and no I, and they make up the Council of Governors. From
these twelve a Council Chairman is elected. The Council Chairman
presides over the Council meetings, deter mines the dress code of
the day for the other eleven. Of the remaining eleven three are
elected to
the state executive committee and
they are the vice council
chairman, secretary, and
treasurer. They work with the staff of the state office. Three are
elected to the Lions of Illinois Foundation executive committee, and
work with the staff of the foundation.
The Lions of Illinois State Office is
in Petersburg Illinois. The State Secretary is Betsy Miller and is
responsible to the Council of Governors, as well as the Lions of
Illinois. They coordinate council meetings and implement the
programs of the state of Illinois.
LIONS
OF ILLINOIS FOUNDATION
The Lions of
Illinois Foundation’s home office is 2814 De Kalb Avenue in Sycamore
Illinois.
The Foundation operates, exclusively,
for charitable, educational,
literary, and scientific purposes.
The Foundation makes grants to tax
exempt organizations. An executive administrator and a
minimal office staff run the
Foundation. The executive administrator of the foundation is Van
Stone.
Twelve
trustees, one from each district along with the District Governor
make up the Foundation board.
A trustee is elected for a
two-year term at every other
District Convention, with a maxi mum term of four years. Four of the
trustees are elected, annually, to be president, vice president,
secretary, and treasurer. PDG Mush Kojima from the Rock Island Noon
Lions club in Rock Is land Illinois is the current I H trustee.
Of
the 39 cabinet positions II of them are Foundation coordinators.
Some of the grants made by the Foundation have been to the
University Of Illinois Department Of Ophthalmology, Hadley School
for the Blind and the Light House for the Blind, Illinois College of
Optometry, the University of Illinois (Chicago), leader dog, and the
University Of Illinois College Of Medicine.
In 1980 the Lions of Illinois,
through the Foundation, started a united drive to build the Lions of
Illinois research institute on the university of Illinois campus in
Chicago. $5,000,000 was raised in three years resulting in one of
the finest research centers in the world. Over 30,000 Illinois
Lions, Lioness, Leos, and other individuals made this facility
possible.
Some of the many services the
foundation provides are:
1. Camp Lions
—
one of four camps
—
for visually and hearing impaired
children and adults;
2. Lions low vision clinic in
Jacksonville;
3. State wide lions comprehensive
low vision evaluation clinics;
4. A mobile diabetic eye clinic;
5. A mobile
hearing services unit;
6. Infant hearing screenings;
7. Cochlear implant program;
8. Used hearing aid bank;
9. Used eyeglass/hearing aid
collection;
10. Social services and referral;
11. Lions of Illinois Funds for
Emergency.
The
Foundation is
funded mainly by
club contributions from Candy Day,
Sight and Sound Sweepstakes, Caramel Pop Day, and by
personal and corporate contributions. |
