TUESDAY, 17 MARCH 2015 Week 30
Well, it's been a very busy and interesting week
again. We first headed out to Southport but ended up at a caravan park in
Ainsdale (the other end of Southport). We had a lovely long walk towards the
sand dunes, which I hadn't seen since the Porthmadog and Formby beaches. We
walked past a very sad and dilapidated-looking Pontins camp.
I have to say, Pontins really have let themselves go!! I mean Butlins have dragged their camps
kicking and screaming into the 21st Century to compete with all the caravan
parks around like Haven and Center Parcs, but poor old Pontins.... Looking
through the concrete fences laced with barbed wire, it was like looking back to
my childhood holidays of the 70s when we used to go to the Prestatyn Camp.
Inside Port Hall Liverpool.
The weekend before at the Lions Convention 105
BN, we were invited to attend Liverpool’s Charter Dinner on a Friday night at
the Holiday Inn Central Liverpool. Very nice hotel and we got offered a free
upgrade to a suite because we were with one of the Lions organisers of the
charter when we checked in. Bonus!
Lion Eric Boyd and his lovely wife Jean then took us on a whistle-stop tour of
Liverpool City. Wow, what a day they managed to cram so much into a small
amount of time, my feet were singing and my back aching, but we had a great
day. We then had a smashing evening at Liverpool City's Lions Club Annual
Charter Dinner. Here with our hosts Lion Eric and his Wife Jean, who made sure
we had a great day and an entertaining evening.
The Ornate Concert Hall - And yes, this was all in one
building. There were prison cells too, but they gave me the heeby jeebies when
I went down there. Charles Dickens once stood on this stage and recited his
work. Ken Dodd and his Diddy Men at Lime Street Station. Some Bronze lady with
an Egg. She had a lot to do with something in Liverpool a long time ago!
Lions
Club International - District Convention 105 BN 2015
Derek and I headed to my home town of Bury to attend
The Lions Club District Convention of 105 BN. As we were travelling in the area
and we are Lions raising money for Gift for Living and Different Strokes whilst
on our travels around the UK, we thought it would be nice to drop in on our
fellow Lions and say hello. We are unable to attend our own District Convention
of 105 EA this year.
And what a fantastic weekend it turned out to be. We
couldn't attend the Friday Night District Governors Party as we are currently
house hunting and so we were pushed for time. However, on Saturday morning we
arrived at the Village Hotel in Bury bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Naturally, we
didn't know anyone at first, but we were greeted by several very friendly
Lions. The beginning of the conference began with the opening ceremony, local
military cadets marched in the various flags and we sang the US and UK national
anthems and the Lions Clubs Anthem. Most of the morning was taken up with the
business session.
We had an inspirational speaker, Past International
President Lion Jimmy Ross - A Texan ranger with big ideas, a big heart and a
big cowboy hat! His passion was to see Lions grow, but in a way that was fun
and full of purpose, not just because the numbers on a piece of paper made a
club look good. He talked about how to find someone's passion for doing
something so that working for the community was fun and exciting for that
individual. I liked this guy and for him to hold my attention throughout his
whole speech was an achievement in itself. I'm not saying some speakers are
boring, I just have the attention span of a flea!
We were then treated to another inspirational, very
funny and entertaining guest Tricia Stewart - The original Calendar Girl from
Knapely WI. She talked about how her little band of village wives got together, and bravely stripped off for the camera to raise millions of pounds for Leukaemia
and Lymphoma Research. She talked about the initial idea, the first photo
shoots and then the media juggernaut that thrust a group of Yorkshire ladies
into the world spotlight, appearing on every news channel in the Western world,
a film, a play and now a West end musical has been made about them. All
delivered with a chirpy Northern sense of humour and many innuendos.
Suffice to say Tricia had the room roaring with laughter throughout the entire
delivery of her presentation. It was a pleasure and joy to see and hear her
speak.
As Derek and I are members of the Helen Keller Internet
Club, we rarely meet our fellow club members face to face. So, for five members
to be attending the conference was amazing. Here's four of us (above). Lion
Beryl we met during the day, but unfortunately, she was unable to attend the
Gala Banquet. The Gala Banquet was a great evening, all the ladies dressed to impress, and
the men scrubbed up well too. (lol!). Dinner, dancing and great company for the
end of a fantastic day. We even got to hobnob with PIP Jimmy. Really nice man
- he even played air guitar for us on a Status Quo song "Rocking all over
the World" Very funny!
One of my absolute favourite moments of the weekend
though was meeting up with old friends from twenty-one years ago... Yes, I know
I don't look old enough! Back then I was a member of Bury Leo Club - The youth
version of Lions Clubs and I was very passionate and heavily involved with the
organisation even as a teenager. Well, I got to meet Lion Mike Davis who was my
Leo Advisor back then and now a fellow member of the Helen Keller Lions Club
and the District Governor at the time I was Bury's Club President, Lion James E
Woods. And the beautiful thing about it was James remembered me from all those
years ago. I was really chuffed and he told me us meeting had made his
conference this year. I felt very honoured. Now all I have to do is find the
photo of us I promised to send to him of that time.
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