As is typical for Conroe Noon, last week’s meeting featured upcoming events, opportunities to serve, and just enough good-natured mischief to keep things interesting.
While Lions volunteers often receive the credit, we couldn’t accomplish nearly as much without our community partners. Special thanks to Community Partners of the Week, Sondag Enterprises and Sam Houston Memorial Funeral Home, who quietly make much of our work possible — and whose support benefits residents across Montgomery County.
The club celebrated volunteers who recently participated in Reading Across America and Field Day at Reaves Elementary School, where members read with students and helped serve snow cones. Small gestures leave lasting impressions. The real MVP, as always, was Snowie — the intrepid snow cone machine owned by Lion Ralph Perez, which has likely crossed the 10,000-snow cone mark for Conroe Noon by now.
The weather is finally cooperating, and you’ll find Conroe Noon out in force at several upcoming service activities: Vision Screening on Monday, March 16; Service Saturday on March 21; and the Interfaith Healthy Kids Fest on March 28.
At the last Healthy Kids Fest, Lions screened more than 100 children — helping identify vision issues early so families could seek proper care. Volunteers will assist with screenings and, perhaps most importantly, distribute stickers, a role that proves surprisingly popular with the kids.
For Service Saturday on March 21, CNLC members will build birdhouses for TLC campers, combining hands-on work with good fellowship. Tools will be provided, but members are encouraged to bring five-inch orbits of sanders to help move things along.
Members were also encouraged to attend the Texas Lions Camp Work Weekend, scheduled for the first weekend of May in Kerrville. Founded in 1949 and opened in 1953, Texas Lions Camp has served more than 82,000 children with disabilities and health challenges. The annual work weekend brings Lions from across the state together to prepare facilities before summer camp begins and typically includes travel on Friday, a group dinner, Saturday volunteer projects, and shared meals throughout. Special hotel rates are available — contact Jake Freeman, Andrew Perry, or committee members for details. Veterans of the trip consistently call it’s one of the club’s most rewarding experiences.
Spring also means FAIR and Lions staffing the concession stand, one of the club’s most cherished annual fundraisers. Signups are open this week and next Wednesday; after that, the committee will begin assigning shifts. Lions who’ve been around for a while know what that means: choose your shift now, or the schedule will choose for you.
A membership drive contest, led by Membership Recruiting Chair Steve Wohlschlaeger, is underway — and what better way to build camaraderie than a Battle of the Sexes? Points are awarded for bringing a guest to a meeting, bringing a guest of the opposite sex, submitting a membership application, and recruiting a new member of the opposite sex. Participants earn raffle tickets in hopes of winning a $100 Gringo’s gift card. This week’s live contest involved competitive table-setting under time pressure, judged by Miss Rachel. Lions service, it turns out, covers a wide range of skills.
Special thanks to program presenter Wes Wessel, who drew on the book The Go-Giver and his decades of experience in finance and insurance. Wessel outlined the book’s five key laws — Value, Compensation, Influence, Authenticity, and Receptivity — and illustrated them with personal stories about persistence, humility, and faith. One account stood out: his father’s decades-long effort to develop an oil well, which eventually yielded mineral rights income years later, perfectly captured the idea that generosity and perseverance produce long-term rewards. A club built around service doesn’t need much convincing about the value of giving.
At the conclusion guests were welcomed, and prospective members are encouraged to bring completed applications. The meeting closed, as always, with a Lion’s ROAR.
For more information, please visit our website, www.conroenoonlions.org, or call the local club office at 936-760-1666. You may also call 936-760-1666 for additional information on any area Lions Club.