Lion Carl Dumoulin, August Lion of the Month

The August Lion of the month has been selected by Web Master, Editor, Lion Bill Villont since none have been received from any clubs in the district. Nominated and accepted this month is Lion Carl Dumoulin from the Belvidere Lions Club. Lion Carl has been a Lions Club Member since October, 1987 and transferring to the Belvidere Lions Club in July of 1993. Lion Carl has been the treasurer of the Belvidere Club for the past 12 years and has served on many committees. Lion Carl is one of those quiet members who believes in what Lions stands for and serves his position and the club with a true Lions Passion. When the Belvidere Lion has a project to complete you will always find Lion Carl there to lend a hand without ever expecting anything in exchange for his efforts. Lion Carl is a Foundation Fellow, honored by his club several years ago, and this year was honored by his club as a Melvin Jones Fellow. Lion Carl is one of those Lions members you can always count on to be there and he certainly deserves being LION OF THE MONTH for August. Congratulations Lion Carl. (Picture will be included as soon as I get one)

Kirkland Lion, Denny Rehn, Lion of the Month for May, 2008 May, Lion of the Month Lion Denny Rehn has been a member of the Kirkland Lions for 35 Years.  He has served the club as Tail Twister many times over past years.  He has always been an active member and strong supporter of the club.  He is always at the clubs annual Rose Day.  Denny's biggest contribution is for the clubs main fundraiser, the 4th of July celebration.  Denny has served as parade chairman for over 20 years and is responsible for a parade that lasts over 1.5 hours and draws thousands to the community.  He also works during the 4th of July cooking pork chops.  It is these culinary talents that he puts to use for the entire community.  He has cooked “Rehn-Bo” Chops for more causes than be counted.  Many include the Hiawatha Sports boosters, the Kirkland Volunteer Fire Dept and many benefits for locals who need a hand out from a tragedy.  It must be said that whenever help is needed, and with flipping tongs, in hand he answers, “Yep I can do that.”    For these reasons and many others, we would like to nominate Lion Denny Rehn to be Lion of the Month of May 2008. Submitted By: Ronald Fruit – President Kirkland Lions Steve Boettger-Secretary Kirkland Lions

Lion Bill Burkman, LION OF THE MONTH, APRIL April 5th is Rose Day for Lions all around the Rockford area. Many Lions will gather to deliver roses that have been sold by Lions to raise funds for charitable causes. "One of the rose delivererers is Bill Burkman, who will drive his 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass to the Park Towers to hand out flowers, just like he's done for the past decade. But it's just the capstone on a long term of service with the Lions Club. Before that, Burkman had residential routes. "I was a founding member of the Lions Club, which started in 1950," Burkman said Friday as he relaxed in an overstuffed chair in his Wesley Willows apartment. "I haven't missed a Rose Day in 58 years." Three generations of service is impressive enough, but the kicker is Burkman was already 45 years old when the Lions Club started. "I'm 102 1/2 years old, and I still drive my own car." Burkman says with pride. "You should call all the Lions Clubs around here and see if they have 102 year-old members who still deliver roses in their own car." Burkman said he'll deliver 15-20 dozen roses today "of all different colors" but he acknowledges the job does tend to tire him out. "He's a pretty amazing guy," Loves Park Mayor Darryl Lindberg said. "When the date for the Lions Club Rose Day was announced, I got a call from Bill. He said, I want the Park Towers." It's really something." Burkman said he plans on hitting the road about 8:30 a.m. today after a good breakfast. He says the hardest part of the job is finding where all the people he needs to deliver to in the Park Towers are. (The above story was reprinted, in part, from the Rockford Register Star , Saturday April 5th edition) This is truely an amazing story and one that has earned Bill Burkman, LION OF THE MONTH for April, 2008.  This is the first we have heard of this amazing feat by a Lion in the Rockford area and is exactly why Bill was chosen for this month's Lion of the Month. CONGRATULATIONS LION BILL and your many years of service to Lionism and for delivering the thousands of roses over all those years! (Since there were not any nominations from any clubs or club members, Lion Villont, Web Master, made the choice of naming Lion Bill as Lion of the Month.)

March, Lion of the Month, Jeff Anderberg Lion Jeff Anderberg has been a member of the Kirkland Lions for 21 Years.  Jeff served the Kirkland Lions as president in 1994, and he has served as the clubs treasure for over 15 years now.  Jeff takes pride in the quality and accuracy of the club accounts.  He has always been an active member and strong supporter of the club.  He is always at the clubs annual Easter egg hunt for kids.  His biggest contribution is for the clubs main fundraiser, the 4th of July celebration.  For many years he has been responsible for ordering food and organizing the operation of our food stand for the celebration.  Any past chairman of this committee will tell you, without Jeff’s help, dedication and long hours of work the food stand would not be the success that it currently is.  In several cases he has gone out of his way to get equipment for use in the food stand.  Including spending money of his own to get what was needed for the stand.   Every year Jeff helps the bingo stand chairman file the paperwork for the Bingo license with the state. For the last 10+ years Jeff has served as either chairman or co-chairman for the Rose Day committee.  His work on this committee has helped the club to maintain strong sales and raise over $23.000 to send to the Center for Sight and Hearing.  He is also currently serving as president of the Hiawatha Education Foundation. Jeff was also instrumental in securing grants from the state of IL for the Kirkland Fire Department and the Franklin Township Park for over $50.000. For these reasons and many others, we would like to nominate Lion Jeff Anderberg to be Lion of the Month. Congratulations to Lion Jeff for his many accomplishments in the Kirkland Lions Club and to your community and Lions International. (Jeff will automatically be entered in the Lion of the year running, to be announced at the 2009 District Convention)  Submitted By: Ronald Fruit – President Kirkland Lions Steve Boettger-Secretary Kirkland Lions  Thank you to the Kirkland Lions Club for their nomination of Jeff for Lion of the Month.

Since the idea of a Lion of the Month first came up and it was sent to the 1-D Cabinet, there has been a very positive response. Several have asked how that person would be selected. Here are the rules for submitting a name for this honor: The Lion should be someone who has served Lions above and beyond what is expected of them. It should be a Jane or Joe Lion who applies the WE SERVE attitude. Their name will be submitted by the President of a Lions/Lioness Club to the Zone Chairpersons along with a bio of why they should be considered for Lion of the Month. The Zone Chair will select a candidate from their zone and submit it to the Lion of the Month Committee. The selection committee whall be made up of the four (4) most recent PDGs so that each region is represented. The current DG will vote in case of a tie. After 12 Lion of the Months have been selected, the Lion of the Month Committee will review all 12 past Lions of the Month and select one from the group to be named Lion of the Year. The "Official" Lion of the Month program will start in the month of March so that a Lion of the Year can be announced at the District Convention each year. No District Cabinet Members are eligible to be Lion of the Month.