PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Ted Blevins
‘Tis the Season and here’s the reason for the season —
CHRISTMAS LOVE
This December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I cut back on nonessential obligations, card writing, decorating, and even overspending. I did not want to find myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments.
My grandson, Ben, is in kindergarten this year. It is an exciting season for a six year old. For weeks, he has been memorizing songs for his school’s “winter program.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’d be working the night of his show. I spoke with his teacher. She told me there’d be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation, and any parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Ben was ok with this.
So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I found a spot in the cafeteria and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly taking their seats. The students were led into the room, and sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each class, one by one rose to perform their song.
Because the public school system had long-stopped referring to the holiday as “Christmas”, I didn’t expect anything other than fun songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when Ben’s class rose to sing, “Christmas Love”, I was slightly surprised by its bold title. Ben and his classmates were adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snow caps. Those in the front row held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing “C is for Christmas”, a child would hold up the letter C. Then “H is for happy”, and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, “Christmas Love.”
The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly we noticed her — a small quiet girl in the front row — holding the letter “M” upside down, totally unaware her letter “M” appeared as a “W”. The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one’s mistake. But she stood tall, proudly holding her “W”. Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together.
In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why there was a purpose for our festivities. For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear: “Christ was love.”
And, I believe he still is …and I hope you do too!
Merry Christmas to everyone!
Ted
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More Help Wanted
Vice President(s)
If the president is unable to perform the duties of his/her office for any reason, the vice president next in rank shall occupy his/her position and perform his/her duties with the same authority as the president. Each vice president shall, under the direction of the president, oversee the functioning of such committees of the club as the president designates.
President
He/she is the chief executive officer of the club who presides at all meetings of the board of directors and the club. The president issues the call for regular meetings and special meetings of the board of directors and the club, and appoints the standing and special committees of the club while cooperating with chairpersons to ensure regular functioning and reporting of such committees. He/she sees that officers are elected as provided for by the constitution and by-laws, and cooperates as an active member of the district governor’s advisory committee of the zone in which this club is located.
Immediate Past President
He/she and the other past presidents officially greet members and their guests at club meetings and represent the club in welcoming all new service-minded people in the community served by the club.
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Lions Tales 2012
Our newsletter for next year will honor past presidents of the Fort Collins Lions Club. (Note those four words. We do happen to meet during the noon hour, but “noon” is not included in our name!)
We’ll be starting with Past President Lee Anderson and work our way through Ted Blevens and David Lambertson. We’ll be asking the Past Presidents for a digital photo and personal biography as well as some of the memories they have of “their year” such as fund raising, number of members in the Club, district conventions, notable Club visitors, Tail Twister’s antics, where the Club met, etc.
Hopefully we’ll get a few laughs at the differences between “now” and “then”!
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Merry
Christmas
& Happy
New Year!