Building On Our Success
27-D1 District Cabinet Meeting - October 14, 2018
Edelweiss Chalet Country Club, New Glarus, WI
Cabinet Meeting Minutes
Call to Order at 11:55 by DG John Elverkrog
Pledge led by 1st VDG Conrad Dreyer
Words of Wisdom from Gandhi, given by 2nd VDG Tammy Rockenbach: “You must be the change you want to see in the world”.
DC John Elverkrog's Welcome and Remarks: John introduced Lion Bill Hustad, President of the New Glarus Lions. DG John commended the New Glarus Lions for the difference they make in their community. He also thanked the staff of the Edelweiss Country Club for their hospitality and wonderful Swiss meal.
GMT Coordinator Lion Tara Vraniak introduced IPDG Jodi Burmester and Lion Dale Burmester. IPDG Jodi has officially declared that she is a candidate for International Director. Lion Tara hi-lighted Lion Jodi's many accomplishments during Jodi's 25 years of service as a Madison Central Lion, District Governor, Lions University Faculty, chair of many programs and presenter at many training sessions. Ever since she joined the Lions she has had a dream of becoming an International Director. Lion Dale announced that a Facebook page: Jodi4ID and a website: Jodi4ID.com are up and running. Lion Tara made a motion with a second from Lion Al Johnson that the District Cabinet endorses Lion Jodi for International Director. Motion passed on a voice vote. Voting for ID will take place at the Wisconsin State Convention in May 2019.
Approval of Minutes of the August 5, 2018 Cabinet Meeting: CS Lion Jim Fletcher reported the minutes are on the District website. There were no questions or discussion about the minutes. Motion was made to approve by PID Phil Ingwell, seconded PDG Bob Faliveno. Motion carried.
Treasurer report: CT Bill reported that the Activity and Administrative Accounts are in good shape. Donations to the Disaster Flooding Account amounted to over $3,600. These donations have fewer restrictions than the LCIF grant monies and can be used for a wider purpose to help those affected in the communities in the District. All expenditures will be documented for Cabinet review. Lion Bill started emailing dues statements during the past year. He discovered that some club email addresses were not current or rarely checked, so he asked District clubs to have an active email address on file. Motion to approve was made by PDG Arlen Milestone, seconded by PDG Walt Althaus. Motion carried.
DG John reported that the Executive Team recommended combining the Children's Vision Screening and Adult Vision Screening Accounts into one Vision Screening Account, but needed Cabinet approval to combine the accounts. A motion was made by PDG Arlen Milestone with a second by Lioness Affiliate Liaison Greg Clark to combine the two vision accounts into one account. Motion carried on a voice vote.
Emergency Grant Fund Report: The District received an LCIF emergency grant to help the families of the 110 houses affected by the August 2018 flooding in Middleton, Cross Plains, Black Earth and Mazomanie. On September 15th members of the Cross Plains and Mazomanie Lions Clubs assembled boxes of cleaning supplies for people in those communities. DG John reported that the $10,000 LCIF Emergency Grant monies have been spent with $8,589.71 used to purchase cleaning supplies and $1,410.29 to purchase food for those living in the communities affected by the August 2018 flooding. The District Cabinet gave its approval for how the grant monies were spent.
The Wolf Run Trail from Mazomanie to the Wisconsin Heights high school sustained heavy damage during the flooding. A motion was made by WLF Director Lion John Dickson with a second by ZC Lion Adam Crowson to donate $1,000 from the District Disaster Fund (Separate from the LCIF grant) for restoring the trail. Motion Carried.
DG John reported that Lion Erling Isely, District Chair of the Wisconsin Lions Mission has recommended transferring $3,000 for their funds to the District Disaster Fund, since this would still fit in the scope of their mission. A motion was made by PDG Bob Faliveno with a second by PDG Eric Holthaus to make the transfer of funds. Motion carried. A motion was made by Lion Julie Nygaard with a second by PDG Walt Althaus to give the Executive Committee the authority to make disbursements up to $1,000 without Cabinet approval from the District Disaster Fund and that documentation of the disbursements is needed for the Cabinet. Motion carried on a voice vote.
PID Peter Cerniglia asked about the status of the ALERT program. The McFarland Lions have been handling traffic control at local events, but no other clubs have done much with ALERT. Lion Erling said the Wisconsin Lions Mission has a trailer equipped with tools to be used in emergencies. He will find out more information about that trailer being used around the state for emergencies.
The Sun Prairie Lions Club raised over $35,000 after the explosion in downtown Sun Prairie, $15,000 came directly from the Sun Prairie Lions. District LCIF Coordinator Lion Bill Clausius reported that 78 Sun Prairie residents displaced by the explosion each received $500 to help pay for housing. Because this event was not the result of a natural disaster it was not eligible for LCIF emergency grant funds.
Childhood Cancer Project: DG John reported that donations are coming in for the Flow Cytometer machine. Statewide donations have reached over $90,000 with over $25,000 coming from our District. Donations received beyond the $100,000 needed for the machine will be applied towards a second machine in another area of the state, Marshfield Clinic is a possibility. Doctor Lion Sri will write another LCIF grant for 2021.
DG John asked the Cabinet for a motion to transfer $3,000 from the Adult Vision Screening Account to the Childhood Cancer Account. He had previously discussed this transfer with PDG Bob Faliveno, Chair of the Adult Vision Screening and with the Executive Team. A Motion was made by PDG Eric Holthaus with a second by PDG Arlen Milestone to approve the transfer of $3,000 from the Adult Vision Screening Account to the newly created Cancer Fund. Motion carried on a voice vote.
Verbal Committee Reports:
District Diabetes Committee: A written report had been posted to the District website prior to the Cabinet meeting. PDG Bob introduced the Diabetes Destroyer (AKA Lion Jill Kietzke). In true roller derby style Lion Jill challenged the clubs in the District to increase awareness of diabetes through news releases, website, and Facebook posts. There will be a statewide contest to see which club can do the most Diabetes related service projects during the year. Lion Jill has been invited by the American Diabetes Association to Washington D.C. as part of an advocacy group for diabetes related legislation. PDG Bob reported about a new business card with a barcode linked to a video. There are 5 different cards that have diabetes related videos, including the DVDs that were produced 15 years ago. There is also an APP that can be downloaded to a phone.
GMT: Lion Tara Vraniak reported that YTD the District added 41 new members, but we lost 53 members. She stressed retention of members. The exit evaluations she received from members showed that 64% of the members dropped had been Lions for 3 years or less. There is a goal to have 30% of the District's members be women by the end of the year, women members account for 26.8% of the total membership.
GLT: Lion Mike Keller submitted a written report prior to the Cabinet meeting. He hi-lighted the spring officer training sessions, which represented 85% of the clubs in the District and Zone Chair training with 100% of the Zone Chairs attending. Lion Mike recently attended the Global Action Team meeting in Plover and shared ideas with other attendees.
GST: Lion Bruce Voight submitted a written report prior to the Cabinet meeting. In his report he hi-lighted that November is Diabetes Awareness Month and clubs should consider a diabetes awareness project. Of the 34 diabetes projects reported by M27 clubs, 17 have come from our District.
District Pin Design: Lion Brian McKay, District Pin Chair reported that the 2nd pin in the Railroad Depot series will feature the Stoughton Depot. He reported the pin will be available by the District convention in March 2019. He asked for Cabinet approval to go ahead and have the pin created and ordered. A motion was made by PID Peter with a 2nd by PID Arlen to have the pin designed and ordered. Motion carried.
Convention Committee Report: A written report was submitted prior to the Cabinet meeting by PDG Rick Deluge. Second VDG Lion Tammy reported that tours of the new Lions Eyebank facility will be given on Friday night of the District convention. Speakers are being firmed up and 8 breakout sessions are being planned, similar to last year's convention.
Environmental Report: Lion Al Johnson, Environmental Chair thanked the District clubs for all their environmental projects, especially the road cleanups. He would like clubs to share photos of their projects on a display table at the District convention.
WLF: Past WLF President John Dickson thanked the District clubs for the many things they do for WLF. He has been proud to serve as the WLF Director from our District and how the clubs have embraced the project challenges like the Eyeglass Collection Challenge. Lion John distributed envelopes to the Zone Chairs containing WLF material and pins to be given to the clubs in their zones.
LCIF: Lion Bill Clausius submitted a written report prior to the Cabinet meeting. He verbally reported that part of the LCIF 50 year celebration will be a donation challenge to raise $300 million dollars worldwide in the next three years. The dollar amount challenge for M27 is $130,000 and for our District the amount is $51,000. New club donation materials will be out soon.
Youth Exchange: Lion Ben August, Youth Exchange Committee Chair submitted a written report prior to the Cabinet meeting. Lion Ben verbally asked clubs to submit their donations by December 15th so the committee will know how much funding they have for the program in 2019. The committee asked the 8 out bound students to write a short essay of their experiences abroad. Costs at the camp in Wisconsin have been contained with no fee increase for using the camp and all food is purchased by the Youth Exchange Board at local stores.
Restoring Hope Transplant House: PDG Bob Faliveno reported that the statewide Capitol Champaign is still $30,000 short of the $300,000 goal, so clubs should consider that when making their donations. Donations for the day-to-day operations of the house are appreciated. He asked if a table for RHTH could be displayed at the District convention.
PDG Bob Faliveno requested a vote of the District Cabinet to keep the unspent portion of the LCIF $75,000 grant which is $59,000 for its original purpose for the expansion of Restoring Hope Transplant House. The expected groundbreaking is next spring. There was a motion made by PID Peter Cerniglia and a second by PID Phil Ingwell with a unanimous voice vote to keep it for its intended purpose and not return it to LCIF. The Cabinet vote is an annual requirement of LCIF for the unspent portion of the grant.
Peace Poster: PID Walt Althaus gave a verbal report of the poster contest. The motto this year is “Kindness Matters”. The clubs participating this year must have their entries to the District Governor by November 15th. The poster kits are available in the spring so that clubs can contact schools before the fall start of the school year.
Wisconsin Lions Editor: Lion Justin Wilson will be stepping down at the end of June 2019. He will be the 3rd VP for the Sun Prairie Lions and needs to devote more time to those duties. Being a new Lion and editor he has learned a lot about the other clubs in the District from the news articles.
Wisconsin Lions Missions: Lion Erling Isely, District Chair submitted a written report prior to the Cabinet meeting. He wanted to emphasis the mission to the Pine Ridge Reservation in November and the one in the spring of 2019. There is a high rate of poverty on the reservation. Diabetes is very high along with many other health issues. The Wisconsin Lions Missions will be working with other agencies and Lions in South Dakota.
Leader Dog: PDG Eric Holthaus, District Chair submitted a written report prior to the Cabinet meeting. He verbally reported that there are 89 Leader Dogs for the blind in Wisconsin. He also said that dogs that don't work out in the training program are offered to police departments for K9 units. Donations from Wisconsin Lions rank as the 4th largest givers to Leader Dog for the Blind.
USA/Canada Forum: 2nd VDG Tammy Rockenbach submitted a written report prior to the Cabinet meeting. She verbally reported that 1,900 Lions from Canada and the United States attended the forum including 15 from our District. When a presenter didn't show up IPDG Jodi stepped in and gave the presentation that ended with a standing ovation.
MyLCI Update: PDG Dick Schwedrsky reported on a requirement by LCI to have the complete date of birth on member records. It is anticipated that the new MyLion system will need that information. Club secretaries will need to enter the DOB in the current system. The default date will show as January 1, XXXX if the correct date is not entered.
Announcements:
Lion Bill Clausius announced that he will be a candidate for the District's 2nd VDG for 2019-2020.
The State Directory will be available in early November. A PDF of the Directory can be download from the Wisconsin Lions webpage when it is available, keep checking that webpage.
Monroe Lions will host the 2nd annual casino night on October 27th.
Mazomanie Lions will have their annual Fall Harvest Dinner on October 27th.
Mt. Horeb Lions will celebrate their 61st annual Charter Night on October 16th at the Hi-Point Steak House.
Beloit Lioness will celebrate their 40th anniversary.
DeForest Lions are holding a Sportsmen's Raffle with many prizes available.
Tail Twister: Lion Dennis Gullickson conducted a 50/50 raffle during the Cabinet meeting and collected $184. Half of the money went to the District Activity Fund and three winners shared the remaining half.
Adjourned at 2:30pm.
Reports:
Agenda
Minutes from August Cabinet Meeting
District Governor Report
1st Vice District Governor Report
2nd Vice District Governor Report
Children's Vision Screening Report
Children's Vision Screening Reporting Form (Excel)
Diabetes Committee Report
District Convention Report
Global Leadership Team Report
Global Membership Team Report
Global Service Team Report
Hearing Preservation Report
LCIF Report
Leader Dog Report
Leo Report
Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin Report (pdf)
MyLCI Report (pdf)
Region 1 Zone 1 Report (pdf)
Stuff the Bus Report
USA/Canada Lions Leadership Forum Report
Wisconsin Lions Mission Report
Youth Exchange Report (pdf)
Note: some reports are PDF format. You may download the most recent free Adobe PDF reader at Adobe.