Welcome to District 1-BK Lions

OFFICIAL CALL TO THE MD-1 STATE CONVENTION

May 15, 2021 via Zoom

Hello Fellow Lions and Leos of MD-1,

Our 100th Annual MD-1 Convention will be held May 15, 2021. Because of the pandemic restrictions related to the size of gatherings, this year’s convention will be held virtually via ZOOM. All Lions and Leos are invited to attend.

This will be the first – and hopefully only – virtual state convention. The convention committee has spent a lot of time and effort working on this event. I want to thank State Convention Chair Lion Terri Pasternik for her efforts working through uncharted waters this year.

Agenda

Because this is a virtual event there will be no charge for attending so you don’t have to leave the comfort of your home. The agenda is still being finalized but we expect the first plenary session to run from 1:00 to 3:00, followed by district caucuses and voting, with the second and final plenary session running from 6:00 to around 8:15.

Some of the highlights include hearing from our International Guest, recognition of State and International Presidential award recipients, a necrology service, voting on 4 constitutional resolutions, the announcement of the LIF Sight-And-Sound Sweepstakes winners, the revealing of next year’s Council Chair and State Chairs, and six gift card giveaways.

International Guest

Our International Guest this year is Past International President Clem Kusiak. PIP Clem is excited to be visiting with the Lions of Illinois and we look forward to having him with us via Zoom on May 15 ^th.

Registration

As stated earlier, registration is free this year but to attend or be a delegate you must register. The registration link and information will be sent out within the next day or two.

Voting Information

This year’s election will be held using Election Runner, an approved LCI electronic election program. All voting will occur between 3:00 PM and 5:45 PM on Saturday, May 15, 2021 using this software.

Delegates

Clubs will be entitled to the number of delegates based on their membership according to Lions International as of April 1, 2021. Each Club gets 1 delegate per 10 members or major fraction.

Example – a Club with 26-34 members gets 3 delegates. A Club with 35-44 members gets 4 delegates. PDGs should be listed as delegates and do not count toward the club’s number of allowed delegates.

Each Club will return their delegate form, to be received by their district Secretary by no later than May 5, 2021.

Then, each district Secretary will submit Club delegate forms to the State SST - to be received by the SST no later than May 10, 2021.

Your Club MUST be in Good Standing to be able to vote – that means the Club is current with their District and MD-1 State dues by April 30, 2021. This is 15 days prior to the convention in accordance with the MD-1 C&BL.

Once your Club’s delegate form is received by SST Mary and your Club is verified to be in good standing, CC Joe Vinyard will issue an email to each delegate with their unique Username and Password for the Election Runner software during the week of May 10, 2021.

Delegates MUST have an email address to be able to vote.

Delegates MUST be registered for the convention.

Resolutions

Attached to this email are the 4 constitutional Resolutions that will be on the ballot this year.

Please bear with us as we work though some unprecedented circumstances to put on a successful convention for the Lions of Illinois. We look forward to “seeing” you on May 15 ^th at our 100 ^th state convention.

Thank you for all you are doing to serve your communities!!

Joe Vinyard

MD-1 Council Chairperson