Greetings Fellow Lions and Happy Holidays:

As we again approach the end of another calendar year, I just want to take this moment to wish you, your family and friends the best of the holiday season and a happy and safe 2023.

This Lion year has been a year of hope for the Lions of District 16 L. We have started to transition from the COVID 19 restrictions of the past to an active District and we are so excited to see that our fellow Lions have continued to do their very best to maintain their clubs, community activities and fundraisers which for me has been very exciting to hear and see. The visits to many to your clubs during my first 6 months as Governor has been a rewarding and a humbling experience.  Through my visits along with my district team, we have been able to see first-hand how active, caring and dedicated our clubs and members have been.

The opportunity to be able induct many new Lions into your Lions club during my visits has been a prime example of how the district is moving forward not only to increase our membership but to also prepare these new Lions for future leadership roles.

Since July, our training initiative has gotten off to a strong start in the Zone Chair and club training arena and I want to thank our district and especially our District Training Team for their hard work and for what has been accomplish thus far. While we have achieved some mile stones here, there’s still many areas at the club level that could use some refresher training as many things have changed over the years because new criteria’s and how many now things are now done at the community level which has changed how they function and operate. Making sure that our club leadership, its membership and especially our newest members are properly trained is now more important than ever if we are to keep up to an ever-changing community. Our District must be ready to tackle these local and global changes and prepare our leaders to tackle the problems of tomorrow. We must be the stewards of this change. I truly would like thank all our district team for all their efforts for what they have done thus far and will continue to do during this Lion year. Our District and clubs will be able to achieve all its goals and objectives and be successful but only if we as a unified team bind together to make it happen.  

If we for a moment, we were to consider ourselves as a turning wheel with many spokes, it would show us that a wheel does not run effectively if some of its spokes are missing. The same holds true for our district and our clubs. All of them have to work together to make things run effectively. Using this type of thinking will enable our District and clubs to move to the next level and thus achieve greater impact within our clubs and the communities we are trying to serve. We must continue to prepare ourselves, the district and clubs and use all tools necessary to prepare ourselves to tackle the many issues of the future.

I am very excited and look forward to meeting our remaining clubs during my District Governor’s visits in 2023. However, I am saddened that I was not able to fit everyone in my Schule during my first 6 months as District Governor.  I truly believe that using this year’s theme “Together We Can” we can achieve far and greater objectives but only if we as a unified team work together to make it happen.

May the upcoming Holidays Season bring you much happiness along with your families, friends and/or significant other and may 2023 bring you the best!

Yours in Service,

Ely S. Mateo
2022-2023
16 L District Governor

November MD-16 Council of Governors Meeting 

Business meeting highlights

Lions Multiple District 16 held its second Council of Governors meeting on November 19, 2022. The meeting was held at a new location, Bog Restaurant, in West Windsor. Council Chairperson Bob Freidel presided over an interesting meeting, which included a wonderful presentation by representatives from NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness). We learned that Lions can help destigmatize mental illness and also where to find help. The NAMI representatives are available to speak at District and Club meetings.

Voting on the winning Peace Poster, from those submitted by the three districts, took place at the meeting. Representing District 16L was our district's first place winner. Brooks Meyer. Brooks is a seventh grader at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School who was sponsored by the West Berlin Lions Club. The overall winner from MD16, whose poster will move on in the competition, was Serena Jung, who was sponsored by District 16N’s River Edge Lions Club. MD16 Peace poster Chairperson, SuzAnne Pacala, did a wonderful job running the Peace Poster Contest, as did our 16L Chairperson, Min Elders.

Multiple reports were offered by the chairpersons of the various committees, including information on the Multiple District Convention, International Convention, and the USA/Canada Lions Leadership Forum. PCC Al Olizi gave several reports and also was serenaded for his birthday and presented with a delicious birthday cake!

The Multiple District has new initiatives on marketing, led by CS Subarna Sahni, who is in charge of coordinating efforts at publicizing service throughout the three districts.

CC Bob Freidel spoke enthusiastically about the Balloon Festival, which will take place on June 16-18, 2023, at the Flying W Airfield in Medford, NJ. There will be hot air balloons, vendors, and WW II vintage planes on display, as well as service projects during the day throughout the event. Any Lions who wish to volunteer for this event, which will raise funds for the US-Canada Forum we are hosting in 2024, should contact CC Bob Freidel.

Contributed by 1st VDG Donna Freidel

Lions Love to use Acronyms

Understanding our Lions alphabet soup.  

Many companies and organizations adopt their own unique jargon and abbreviations - that while understood by insiders are sometimes hard to decipher by those outside their group. Lions are no different in that respect - we have so many acronyms, that it can be a challenge for new members to get up to speed on what they all mean. And when new programs or initiatives are rolled out by Lions International, even seasoned Lions can find it hard to keep up.

If you want to brush up on your Lions Acronyms, click here to download a list of with the full term spelled out. Want to help educate your club members about their meanings? Maybe your club's Tail Twister would like to make up a short quiz at a meeting to see how many acronyms each member can get correct.

Lions are busy, and using acronyms can save time - both when speaking and writing. It is easier to say three syllables than nine - "P" "I" "D" instead of Past International Director for example. Just keep your audience in mind when using an acronym. If you are addressing a group that includes many non-Lions, make sure you use the full term at the beginning of your presentation, before reverting to using an acronym. In writing a press release, or even making a fundraising flyer, it is good practice to spell out the full term/title, followed by the short term. You can then use the short fprm throughout the rest of your document without leaving the reader wondering what those letters mean.    

Contributed by PDG Karen Ressler

"Clubcast" Debuts in South Jersey

Promoting Lionism in District 16L   

It is often said that the Lions, and all the great service done by Lions, are the world’s best kept secret, but two lions from the Hammonton Lions Club are working to change that! PZC Mike Villani and Lion Sam Seitles have started a podcast to tell folks all about Lions and Lionism!

These two energetic and creative guys began with an introduction to Lionism in early November (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0ALUu3dR7E) and followed up with their first “regular” podcast, featuring interviews with DG Ely Mateo and 1st VDG Donna Freidel on December 1, 2022. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgv6eJfNDts) These upbeat and entertaining videos provide information on all that Lions do to serve! Be sure to check out their channel, Hammonton Lions Clubcast and be sure to share it with your friends!

Contributed by 1st VDG Donna Freidel

Gloucester Township Lions Club 

On Tuesday November 8, 2022, District Governor Ely Mateo visited the Gloucester Township Lions Club. The meeting was held at the Family Eye Associates in Turnersville. In attendance were Club President Thomas Huesser, VP Anthony Cecero, Secretary Sharon Mills, Treasurer John Williams and other club members, as well as three members of the Timber Creek Regional High School Leo Club, and Zone Chair Heather Roark (taking the photo).
    

Eatontown Lions Club 

     

Audubon and Gloucester City Lions Clubs 

DG Ely Mateo and 1st VDG Donna Freidel attended a joint meeting of the Audubon and Gloucester City Lions clubs on November 15, 2022. Several club members were presented with milestone chevrons, an award which recognizes Lions for their long-term service. Lion Bill Dilks, of the Gloucester City club was recognized for sixty years of Lionism.

      

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Atlantic City Bangladesh American Lions Clubs

 

On November 29, 2022, DG Ely Mateo visited with the Atlantic City Bangladesh American Lions Cub at the ballroom of Nizam Restaurant in Egg Harbor Township near Atlantic City. Also visiting the club representing District 16L were ZC Milly Smith and Cabinet Secretary Ken Lee.

The club's 2022-23 officers were installed at the meeting: President - Kanak Routh; Secretary - Akbar Hossain; Treasurer - ZC Shri Roy; Vice President - Abdur Rafiq; Executive Committee - Mohammad Zahirul, Islam Babul and Mozaher Ali; Tail Twister - Abu Zafar Bhuiyan; Lion Tamer - Zakia Tania; Club LCIF Coordinator - Mohammad Hossain Jani; Club Service Chairperson - GLT-D Kazi Islam; Club Sight Chairperson - Rahman Babul; Club Membership Chairperson (and Immediate Past President) - Farooq Talukder; and Directors - Ishrat Jahan, Jaya Roy, Tanim Rahman Javed, Nivedita Routh, Salim Alam and Manoara Hossain.

Leaders of various local political and social organizations, as well as members of the press and local business owners attended the celebration.

 

   

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Turnersville-Washington Twp & Clayton Glassboro Lions Clubs

DG Ely Mateo, ZC Milly Smith, and RC Thomas Volpe, visited with the Turnersville-Washington Township Lions and Clayton-Glassboro Lions on December 7, 2022. The meeting, held at TGI Fridays in Washington Township, provided a wonderful opportunity to exchange ideas.

Welcome to our New Members 

Lions registered in MyLCI during November 2022

Allentown Lions Club
Edward Fox ~ Sponsor: Robert Strovinsky
Paul Lafata ~ Sponsor: Robert Strovinsky
John Tyminski ~ Sponsor: Kurt Bolz
 
Avalon Lions Club
Stephanie Cooney ~ Sponsor:  Holly Rennie
John T Kelley ~ Sponsor:  Thomas Burns
William J Metzler ~ Sponsor:  Vincent Lamanna
 
Bridgeton Lions Club
Evelyn E Simpkins ~ Sponsor:  Sabrina Simpkins
 
Eatontown Lions Club
Vin Gopal ~ Sponsor:  William Phillips
 
Medford Lakes Lions Club
James S Rimback ~ Sponsor:  Robert Hanold
Marie A Messler ~ Sponsor:  Marianne Devine
 

Service Scenes is a collection of photographs depicting District Lions in action serving their communities. This column also includes helpful tips from clubs about ideas they had to make their project more successful. 

Westville Lions Club - October Service

  

Avalon Lions Club - Generous Donation to the Diller Home  

Service Scenes 

Submitting your photos to the Governor's Gazette

Service Scenes is a collection of photographs depicting District Lions in action serving their communities. Like to see your club featured here? Send your "best shot" of your club's fundraiser or event and we'll do our best to include as many as we can.

Please send an email with a high resolution photograph to Lions16LExpress@gmail.com (PDG Karen) to be included in the next edition of "Service Scenes". Please try to submit only one photo per event. Pick your "best shot" and submit it with a caption that tells the "who, what, when, and where" details about the photo and event. If you have a lot of photos you'd like to share, create an Album on Facebook or other site, and we'll include a link to it in the Gazette.