I Believe

We are welcoming you to the District A9Convention in Goderich on May 4, 5, & 6, 2012

The Convention Committee has been working hard to put on a great weekend foreveryone at the 2012 A9 convention to be held at the Knight of Columbus Hall in Goderich and even though the tornado hit us hard in August we are well on ourway to recovery and things are looking great for the future of our town.

• We will kick it all off with a golf tournament at the Maitland Golf Club onFriday morning – weather permitting of course.
• Friday night will see a Beach Party BBQ hosted by the Goderich Lions Club.
• Saturday we will have a Twister’s lunch hosted by the Goderich Lioness Club.
• In the evening there will be the Governor’s Moonlight Banquet catered by Wamby’s Catering Service.
• On Sunday morning we will have a Sunshine Breakfast hosted by theGoderich Lions Club.

Hospitality rooms will be available at various hotel locations in Goderich on Friday and Saturday nights.

Thank you for this opportunity to welcome you all to the 2012 A9 Convention. We certainly hope to see as many as possible in Goderich in May.

Convention registrations received and paid before January 15th will receive adiscount to $90 for the full package price of $99. Registration forms areavailable on our website at http://www.goderichlions.ca and will also be mailedout to all clubs.

Congratulations to Emma Bradley of Caledon, Ontario. Emma’s poster was selected again this year as the winning entry for District A9. She receives $100 for winning the District contest and her poster has been submitted to the MDA contest. Emma’s poster was sponsored by the Amaranth Lions Club.

Thanks to all clubs who participated as well as those who have submitted a donation to support the Peace Poster Contest. This money is used to cover the cost of both District and MDA contests. Clubs who have not yet contributed are encouraged to submit $25 to district treasurer Lion Doug Coultes.

The theme of the 2011-12 Peace Poster Contest is "Children Know Peace." Carol Johnston, a retired art teacher from Kincardine District Secondary School, was this year’s judge. Emma’s poster was selected as the winner because of the excellent image expressing the theme with strong and effective colour and contrast.

Below is a picture of Emma’s winning poster.

Dear Lions:

As most of you know, District A-9 Lions decided at the Palmerston Convention to adopt the Saugeen Valley Children’s Safety Village as a district wide project and to support the Saugeen Children’s Safety Village with a minimum contribution of $50,000 spread over three years. This represents a great opportunity for all Lions clubs to contribute to the construction of a SafetyVillage which many of our children and grandchildren will visit and benefit from.

The Safety Village will be built on Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority property south of Hanover in the Sulphur Spring Conservation Area (formerly Headquarters Conservation Area). This location will make the Village accessible to almost all of the schools in District A9. Construction will begin when a minimum funding level has been reached, probably within the coming Lions year.

There are currently about a dozen Safety Villages in Southern Ontario. They consist of a child’s sized town site with streets, sidewalks and stoplights etc. Typical service buildings such as the Fire Dept. and Police Headquarters and store-fronts line the streets.

Children will visit the Village with their classmates during their school year. They will beinstructed by district police and fire officers on various safety related topics such as crossing the street, bicycle, internet, water and farm safety and dealing with fire emergencies.

Most important of all will be the method of instruction. The children will be involved in hands on learning by demonstration and active participation. These methods have proven to be tremendously effective in other Safety Villages and in children’s learning in general.

With the size of our contribution District A-9 will receive naming rights to some aspect of theVillage. This will be a lasting legacy of our involvement and will be a permanent reminder of the role of Lions in our communities.

Should anyone like more information PDG Al Leach would be willing to make a presentation to any club about the Village. Al can be contacted at 519-367-3040 ext. 224 or in the evenings at519-323-4924. I can also provide additional information if necessary.

As your club and executive prepare your budgets, I hope you can find room for a contribution over three years to this exciting and worthy cause.

Yours in Lionism

PRC Murray Yungblut

A9 Chair for Children’s Safety Village