San Pedro Lions Club Holds Retreat

On Sunday, November 7th the San Pedro Lions Club International held their first ever retreat.

The all day workshop was held at the Lions Mosquito Coast Park and was facilitated by Past Zone Chairman Carlos Santos. With more than twenty Lions members present, topics discussed included membership participation, communication within the Club and the community, leadership and youth programs. Break out groups discussed the issues in length, identifying specific problems within the issues while exploring solutions. The individual groups then presented their findings and suggestions.

After a delicious beachside lunch guest speaker, Love FM founder Rene Villanueva, addressed the crowd and drew parallels between the Rotary International and the Lions International service organizations. In closing it was agreed that a group effort between both clubs could be a very productive one. In appreciation, San Pedro Lions Club President Melanie Paz then presented Mr. Villanueva with a San Pedro Lions Club pin. In turn, SP Club members presented Paz with a special key pin in appreciation of her exceptional leadership with Zone 59 Chairman Baldemar Graniel doing the honors.

The day was a very productive one and members left feeling energized and inspired to live up to the Lions motto, “We Serve.”

Facilitator Carlos Santos.

Break-out groups addressed a varity of topics.

SP Lions Club President Melanie Paz presents Mr. Villanueva with a pin.

Zone 59 Chairman Baldemar Graniel presents President Paz with a pin.

San Pedro Lions Celebrate World Service Day

Worldwide, Lions Clubs celebrated World Service Day by conducting a variety of activities. The San Pedro Lions were no exception as they helped spiff up the Lions Mosquito Coast Park. October 8th is the official date of World Service Day, when community work is done by club members in their society.
Using materials kindly donated by (Lion) Vernon Wilson to the Lions, a play area will be put together so that children visiting the park may have even more recreational activities to enjoy. When we caught up with the Lions on Monday, October 11th, they were hard at work piecing together the playground set.

The club will install slides and swings, plant coconut palms and upgrade the facilities at the park. The International Lions Organization was founded on 1917 by Chicago businessman Melvin Jones. Currently the Lions Organization is 1.3 members strong worldwide and has clubs in 205 countries, four of which are in Belize.

Lions Board Of Directors 2010-2011 Installed.

On Saturday night, August 21st, 2010, the San Pedro Lions Club held their installation ceremonies for the upcoming Board of Directors for the fiscal year of 2010-2011. Friends and Lion members, including a few from the Louisiana Chapter, joined at the Lions’ Den to celebrate the special occasion. The new board for the Lion Year 2010-2011 is as follows: President: Melanie Paz, Vice President: Marina Kay, Treasurer: Abel Guerrero, Board Secretary: Jorge Aldana, Membership Chair: Enes Anderson, Tail Twister: Rigoberto Kumul and Lion Tamer: Jan Brown. The club also elected four directors that will serve as advisors to the board. They are Francisco Verde, Tamara Sniffin, Francisco Palma and Zone Chair of the Belize Lions Zone 59 Chairman: Baldemar Graniel.

Lions Cancel Annual National Convention

At the bi-weekly San Pedro Lion’s Club meeting held last Thursday, May 27th Belize Lions Zone 59 Chairman Baldemar Graniel announced that there would be no National Lions Convention held this year.

This will be the first time in 32 years that Zone 59, which represents all Lions Clubs country wide will not be holding a convention. Typically the National Lions convention includes Lion members from other clubs country-wide and is usually held over a weekend. With opening ceremonies, hospitality booths hosted by visiting clubs, organizational workshops, regional tours, receptions, dances and cultural presentations the event usually ends with a parade celebrating Lionsim in Belize.

According to Graniel, the Zone 59 Cabinet recently decided against holding the annual convention based on the fact that the Zone does not have the funding to host the event. Months ago Zone 59 had over $10,000 in their bank account but learned in March that the monies had been embezzled by Zone 59 Secretary/Treasurer Kainie Manuel.

The story, first ran in The San Pedro Sun on April 29th, Vol.20 - #17, (http://sanpedrosun.net/old/10-172.html) reported that Ms. Manuel confessed to a Zone investigation team that she had exhausted the Zone’s funds. On April 27th, Manuel appeared in San Pedro Magistrate’s Court where she was charged with 15 counts of theft. Although a court date on May 26th was scheduled, the hearing was adjourned to a later date.

Although the Zone is struggling to replenish their hard earned funding they maintain their commitment to the community. According to Chairman Graniel, there is now talk about organizing an informal retreat sometime later this summer where all regional clubs can participate at a minimal expense.

Lions Club installs 2009-10 BOD

A night of fun was had by all as the San Pedro Lions Club installed their incoming 2009-2010 Board of Directors. President for the upcoming fiscal year is Lion Melanie Paz who takes over the reigns from outgoing President Lion Eiden Salazar. During the brief ceremonies, awards were distributed to active members who assisted in the last fiscal year. Through their unswerving dedication, Lion Salazar stated, "the last year was a success."Guest Speaker for the night was Jan Brown who commended the Lions in all the hard work that they carry out throughout the world. She encouraged those present to remain active and to continue in the dedication to Serve. Zone 59 Queen Alexis Guerrero was introduced to members and she delivered the Vote of Thanks.At the end of the ceremonies, music was enjoyed by Rompe Raja. Delicious finger food was had and everyone had an enjoyable time.