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Lions Clubs International - Lion Phil Nathan |
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Show you care, get involved, let's enjoy ourselves |
Past International Director Phil Nathan
International 2nd Vice President Campaign
A Land Down Under…
For the first time, the Lions ‘Down Under’ have hosted their own Constitutional Forum, the ‘ANZI-Pacific’ and, having been invited by the Forum Chairman, PID Ken Bird, Philip Goodier and I travelled to Queensland, Australia, in early September to participate in the events.
The Forum venue was on the Gold Coast, about 60 minutes drive south of Brisbane. There is no short journey to Australia and two or three flights are the ‘norm’ and so it was for us.
Arriving on the Thursday gave us 24 hours to unravel before the Forum Opening Ceremony on the Friday morning.
I was delighted to be invited to participate in the Opening Ceremony, carrying the Union Flag, which was well received by all present.
All the Executive Officers were in attendance and it was good to have the opportunity to meet and talk with them all.
We were very well received throughout and enjoyed a great deal of pleasant banter with the over 700 “Down Under Lions’ who attended their first Forum. One of the real pleasures was to have my hand shaken by more than one of the PDGs I have enjoyed teaching at the various DG Seminars I have taken and more than one commented on the stories I used during the Seminars and that some of them were still using those stories in their own speeches!
The Forum had a distinct ‘Aussie’ feel to it, with a lot of humour and the irreverence we have come to expect from our friends ‘Down Under’.
There was also a lot of serious business to be done with some excellent Seminars and there is always something to learn. At the lunches, we had the pleasure of listening to motivational and inspiring speakers, including an address by International President Dr Wing-Kun Tam. The President updated us with the Tree Planting Environmental part of his programme. An incredible 1.3 million trees had been planted to-date. Those figures were compiled from the MD’s that had reported to-date. I hope we fully participate in this programme. A great legacy.
The social side was not ignored either, with a Gala Dinner that many British & Irish Lions would have thoroughly enjoyed, being reminiscent of our own Convention ‘Host Nights’.
After three enjoyable, interesting days the Forum drew to a close and I was again invited to participate in the Closing ceremony by leading the parade of flags from the Hall.
After farewells and requests to go to future Forums, it was time to return home, which took just as long and was just as far as the outward trip.