Have you ever wondered why we call our weekly meeting a meeting? After all, a “meeting” sounds boring, stuffy and can be a waste of time.
However, ours are anything but boring and most people would consider them to be entertaining. Where else can you go that if you make a silly joke or comment, you get a napkin thrown at you from across the room. Our “meetings” are informative, fun and a great break from the routine. This weeks’ get together was led by the leading women with 2nd VP Tracy Irvine and 3rd VP Sharene Carr since President Jason Miller and 1st VP Bryan Rennell were at a USA/Canada Lions Leadership Forum in Reno NV. Even Ladoris Cates prayed that they might learn something as opposed to the other distractions they have there.
Back to our “meetings,” we do get to hear of upcoming service options like from Tammie Rushing and Helen Thorton who organized those of us who just read to the kids at our adopted Reaves Elementary School. We have been working with this CISD school since 2013 thanks to past president Warner Phelps. We had over 40 Lions show up on Wednesday morning that read to about 750 students. Luckily the books had big writing and a lot of pictures, so we didn’t look too dumb. At this event, you will always find some of our favorites like Judge Kathleen Hamilton, attorney George Renneberg, Gail Cain and always Warner since it’s a chance for him to act like a kid again.
The other items you might hear from us are from Hannah Medley, Andrew Perry or Corey Moon who organize work groups (we call them Service Saturdays) to lead motivated Lions to go paint, clean, sort food, etc. We also heard about one of our big events, which is the upcoming 10th annual Clay shoot from Bobby Finley. The gun raffle has begun, so get your tickets. Winners will be announced at the shoot on Saturday, Oct 7th at Blackwood Gun Club. Sign up to shoot and to volunteer. We also heard from Carmen Wainright about our Pre-School Vision Screenings. It is fun and easy, and we can train you on the job. Last of all, we heard about our Hometown Military Hero program where we adopt active-duty service personnel to support while they are gone with treats and love from home.
This group of Lions that varies in age from 22-90 is made up of generous, funny, smart, and healthy members of our community that serve. That leads us to our program which was given by Past President Mike Sproba and his wife Robin about health. If you know them, you know that they are a disciplined couple that focuses on all aspects of health. They spoke about the five areas of health: Eat, Sleep, Move, Think and Connect. We learned that you can’t be perfect at all of them, but you can probably improve on where you are today. Try to eat less processed foods add a few more fruits and vegetables or even drink more water per day. Try to get quality sleep.
The goal is 9 hours; I am sure that every parent of school age kids would be ecstatic to get 6, but every hour of good sound sleep is better for your life. We also learned that we all sit too much, that is obvious for those that work in an office. Get up and even stand or walk around every hour and try to get 8,000 steps in a day. Another part is our mindset.
A positive person that has gratitude will go a long way compared to those that complain about everything from the weather to politics. Last of all is connecting with others. Having those real relationships where you can talk to people about anything is key. Maybe getting involved with a great group like the Conroe Noon Lions can be the way to develop some of those. We put you to work where you are moving and making you tired so you can get a good night’s sleep. We feed you, but it is up to you to go heavier on the salad and less on the ranch dressing. We get you in a positive frame of mind with our silly SMILE song. We make you connect with your fellow Lions and have fun doing it.
In summary, I am going to stop calling them meetings but maybe something like our weekly lunch hour, fiesta, support group…since we all go for different reasons and all leave in a “healthier” state of mind.
If you would like more information about the Conroe Noon Lions Club, please visit our website, www.conroenoonlions.org, or call the local club office at 936-760-1666 and/or details on other area clubs.
