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1989-1990
Lt. Governor Robert L. "Bob" Noyes of the Big Springs Evening Lions
Club was selected to be the 31st District 2-A1 Governor. Lion Ernest
Barbee of the Midland Downtown Lions Club was selected by the District
Cabinet to be the Lt. Governor after obtaining approval from Lions Clubs
International.
Governor Bob was the first Governor of District 2-A1 to
have lady Lions on the Executive Board with the appointment of First
Lady Jan Noyes as Cabinet Secretary, Lion Suncha Christensen as the
Cabinet Treasurer and Lion Vera Westbrook as Membership co-chairperson.
The District Convention was held in Big Spring on April
27-28, 1990 and was sponsored by Governor Noyes' home club. At the
Cabinet Meeting the Lions selected Lion Ernest Barbee as the Governor
for the 1990-91 year. Lion Paul Palmer became the Lt.
Governor-Elect. At the Convention, a District Diabetes Awareness
Essay Contest and a Drug speech contest for High School students was
held for the first time. Also, the first annual District Contest for the
International Peace Poster Contest was held. Governor Noyes nominated
Lion PDG Conner Scott to the Texas Lions Hall of Fame.
At the Texas State Conference held in Wichita Falls on
June 7-10, 1990, the District 2-A1 Queen was selected as the State
Queen. On July 1, 1989, membership was 2710 in 67 Clubs, with 12 Lioness
clubs with over 210 members. Several Lions clubs began accepting ladies
and increased their membership. By July 1, 1990, however, membership had
dropped to 2623 in 66 clubs, a continuing trend not only in the District
and State, but also nationwide. Governor Bob was instrumental in
promoting Club growth with the acceptance of lady Lion members. He also
promoted combining the Texas Lions State office and the Texas Lions
Foundation as one. This would promote a central location and authority
to the Foundation.
The Webb Lions Club was re-instated from Status Quo.
The Eden Lions Club was dropped. Lake Brownwood Lioness Club was also
dropped, but the members joined the Lake Brownwood Lions Club. Midland
Suburban Lioness was dropped in June 1990, but many members joined the
Midland Suburban Club.
Governor Noyes promoted the purchase of a travel
trailer, equipped with Glaucoma Testing equipment for use by the clubs.
Governor Noyes and First lady Jan attended the International Convention
in St. Louis, Missouri on July 11-14th, 1990. Governor Bob was the State
Parade Chairman. He organized a Texas-wide Sweepstakes
Contest that raised over $30,000 to send 100 Canadian High School Band
members to the International Convention held in St. Louis, Missouri.
Governor Noyes was awarded a 100% District Governor's Award.
Lion Ernie Barbee was elected as District Governor for
the year 1991-92. Lion Paul Palmer of Early was elected as Lt.
Governor. Midland Northside Lion Carey Behrends was appointed as
Cabinet Secretary.
1990-1991 Lion Ernie
Barbee became the 32nd District 2-A1 Governor. Lion Paul
Palmer of the Early Lions Club was the Lt. Governor. Midland
Northside Lion Carey Behrends was appointed as Cabinet Secretary.
The District Convention was held on April 26-27, 1991,
at the Holiday Inn in Sweetwater. During Governor Barbee's year, the
District gained one new Lions Club, the Westbrook Lions, with 26
members. Governor Barbee received the International Leadership Award,
the Governor's Retention Award, the Melvin Jones Fellowship and the 100%
District Governor's Award. Lt. Governor Paul Palmer was elected as
District Governor for the new year 1991-92. Lion Bill Leach was
elected Lt. Governor.
1991-1992 Lion Paul Palmer
was elected as the 33rd District 2-A1 Governor. Lion Bill Leach
was elected as Lt. Governor. Lion Dale Palmer was appointed as
Cabinet Secretary and Newsletter Editor.
On July 6-7, 1991, Governor Paul and Lion Dale were in
Kerrville to attend the "Meet the Children Conference." Governor
Palmer announced his "Special District Project." He proposed that
District 2-A1 fund and build a 2,400 sq. ft. concrete block building in
Cuidad, Acuña, Mexico. This
building would be the home of Lions Health Clinic of Cuidad, Acuña. The clinic will be the site for free eye
examinations, eye surgeries and other services performed by Dr.
Stephan Kelly and others on a volunteer basis. A request was made
to LCIF for a $50,000 grant for the "Sight First" building project in
Cuidad Acuña. In January 1992,
Governor Paul, wife and First Lady Dale, and Lion Doug Hill traveled to
Acuña to observe Dr. Kelly and staff perform 24
cataract surgeries. They also delivered more than 1600 pairs of
recycled eyeglasses.
PDG Oscar Cook was appointed as the District Lioness
Chairman and urged all Lioness Clubs to convert and become Lions Clubs
before June 30, 1992, as requested by Lions International.
The District Convention was held in Brownwood and Early
on April 10-11, 1992. Lt. Governor Bill Leach was elected as the
District Governor for 1992-93. Midland Northside Lion Henry Goulet
was elected Lt. Governor. Lion Vernon Shock was elected Lions Camp
Director. During the business meeting, Governor Palmer announced
that the $50,000 grant from LCIF had been approved.
Three new Lions Clubs were chartered: Three Rivers
Lions Club of San Angelo, the Concho Pearl Lions, formerly the East
Angelo Lioness Club of San Angelo, and the Blackwell Lions of Blackwell.
Midland Tall City Lions celebrated their 20th anniversary on November
30, 1991.
On April 12th, 1992, the District was saddened to
learn of the death of PDG E.C. Grindstaff of Ballinger. He had
been a Lion for 57 years and was the father of PIP and PDG E.J. "Ebb"
Grindstaff.
The ground breaking ceremony for the Lions Health
Clinic building in Cuidad Acuna, Mexico was held on Friday, May 22,
1992. Governor Paul Palmer was the principle speaker and laid the
first stone for the structure. At the end of Governor Paul's year, the
number of clubs had increased from 67 to 69. Membership increased from
2612 to 2678; a net gain of 66 Lions. Three new clubs were
chartered, but the Big Spring Webb Lions Club dropped it charter for a
net increase of two clubs.
1992-1993 Lion Bill Leach
became the 34th District 2-A1 Governor.
The 1992-93 year began with 2648 members. At the end of
December membership had declined to 2627, and 2578 by the end of June
1993. Three District Clubs: Ballinger Noon, San Angelo Downtown
and Midland Downtown, received the Campaign Sight First Top 5 Honor
patch for leading the District with the highest per capita
contributions.
The District Convention was held in Sweetwater on April
16-17, 1993. Lion Henry Goulet was elected as the District
Governor for the year 1993-94. The Coleman Evening Lions Club
celebrated its 25th anniversary at a special meeting on May 20th. The
Midland Downtown Lions Club was appointed to receive, process and
distribute eyeglasses for the Sight First program.
1993-1994 At the District
Convention on April 17, 1993, Lion
Henry Goulet was elected as the 35th District Governor of District 2-A1.
Lion Jim Wilkes was elected Lt. Governor.
Webmaster's note: No history
was recorded for DG Goulet's year. Any contributions will be
greatly appreciated.
1994-1995 Lion Jim Wilkes,
a member of the Sweetwater Downtown Lions, was the 36th District 2-A1
Governor at the District Convention held in Midland on April 10, 1994. Lion John Hancock of the San Angelo
Downtown Club, was elected to serve as Lt. Governor.
At the beginning of the year, there were 65
clubs and 2623 members in the District.
There were four inactive clubs with a combined membership of 63.
The Brownwood Lions Club celebrated its 75th anniversary in October
1994.
The Rowena Club was re-organized with
17 members and had their installation meeting on December 28, 1994, a
fitting way to end the year.
The District Convention was held in
Sweetwater on April 28-29, 1995. Lion John Hancock was elected as
District Governor for the 1995-96 year. Lion Ike Fitzgerald was
elected as the Vice District Governor, a change in title from the
traditional position of Lt. Governor.
PDG Paul Palmer was re-elected as Texas Lions Camp Director.
At the Governor's Banquet, guest speaker International
Director William Iannacone presented Presidential Citations to Governor Wilks, PDGs Verchel
Smith, Paul Palmer and Leonard Hanson.
San Angelo experienced a devastating wind and a rain
storm on May 28. Several hundreds homes received extensive roof and
structural damage. In June, LCIF provided a $5,000.00 emergency grant,
and TLF granted $2,000.00.
There were 7 Melvin Jones Fellows reported: Governor
Wilks, PDG Leonard Hanson, Lions Tandy Curlee, Lewis Elliot, Harold
Gilbert, Weldon Barton and Bill Collins.
Final membership at the end of June 1995 was 2578, a
net loss of 10 members.
1995-1996 Lion John Hancock became the 37th
District 2-A1 Governor. Lion Ike Fitzgerald of Midland was elected as
Lt. Governor. Governor John's first official function was to
attend the 78th Lions Clubs International Convention in Seoul, Korea.
Governor John's motto was "Living Up to Our Name."
The year began with 2578 members. The San Angelo
Westside Club became the first club to make a 300% contribution to all
Lions charities. In October 1995,
Governor Hancock introduced Campaign 2000, a new project implemented to
enable Texas Lions Camp to expand and improve its facilities to meet the
goal of being able to accommodate 2000 children annually by the year
2000. In October Doctor O.H. Chandler of Ballinger
was honored for 60 years of humanitarian service. He has been a member
of the Ballinger Lions Club since 1936 and was presented a Melvin Jones
Fellow from that club. Also in October, Governor John had the
honor of inducting the "oldest" new member in the world into Lionism;
Lion Maggie Cook and 95 years young! Lion Maggie was a
member of the Lake Brownwood Lions Club and said her entire life had
been one of service to others. In November, the Lions Council of
Governors accepted two resolutions recommending PDG Jimmy Ross (2-T1)
and PDG Freddie Wolters (2-S5) for the office of International Director
from the state of Texas.
On January 22, 1996, the Concho Pearl Lions
Club presented a resolution endorsing Lion Joan Caldwell for the office
of Vice District Governor for the year 1996-97.
Through the Campaign Sight First Program,
140 million dollars was raised to fight the war against blindness.
San Angelo Westside gave $292.00 per member. This ranked them 14th
out of 1060 Texas Clubs. The East Angelo Lions contributed $3,400.00 to
Texas Lions Camp Director Paul Palmer. The San Angelo
Downtown Lions became a 400% contributor to all Lions charities.
The District Convention was held in San Angelo on
April 19-20, 1996. More than 250 lions attended. Lion Ike
Fitzgerald was elected as the next District Governor for the year
1996-97. Lion Joan Caldwell, of the San Angelo Concho Pearl Club,
was elected Vice District Governor, the first woman to be elected to a
high cabinet office in the district.
1996-1997 Lion Ike Fitzgerald, a member of the Midland
Downtown Club since 1949, was elected as the 38th District 2-A1
Governor. Lion Joan Caldwell of the San Angelo Concho Pearl
was elected as the first woman Vice District Governor. The Cabinet Secretary was Denisa
Marston.
Governor Ike wore several "hats" during his term, that
of Governor, Construction Chairman of the Eyeglass Recycling building,
eyeglass coordinator, and he spearheaded the adult clinic for the State
of Texas.
In May 1996, at the State Convention in Houston, PDG
Paul Palmer was selected to be in the Lions Hall of Fame.
The 2nd Council of Governors meeting was hosted by the
eight Midland clubs at the Eyeglass Recycling Center on November 8-9,
1996. All sixteen governors from Multiple District 2 were in attendance.
There were also guests from El Salvador, Mexico; Oklahoma and
California. International Director Jimmie Ross, PIP Ebb Grindstaff and
PID Mike Butler were among the dignitaries present.
The Midland Downtown Lions raised $84,000
and received a $75,000 grant from LCIF for the MD-2 Eyeglass Recycling
Center.
At the
District Convention held in Midland in April 1997, Lion Joan Caldwell
was elected District Governor and Lion George Costlow was elected
as Vice District Governor for the year 1997-98.
1997-1998 Lion Joan Caldwell of the San Angelo Concho
Pearl Club became the 39th District 2-A1 Governor, and the District's
first woman Governor. Lion George Costlow of the Stanton Noon
Lions was elected as Vice District Governor, and Lion Joyce Downie, of
the San Angelo Concho Pearl Club, served as the District Cabinet
Secretary/Treasurer.
Governor Joan was born in England and met
her husband Bill Caldwell while he served with the 8th Air Force in
England. Lion Joan is a 19-year member of Lionism, being a Charter
member of the East Angelo Lioness Club. She holds two Life
Memberships and is a Century Club member of the Texas Lions Camp. She
also has a Life membership in the West Texas Eye Bank Alliance.
The 1st Cabinet Meeting was hosted by the Kingsland
Lions Club, a first time for Kingsland to host a Cabinet meeting.
During the year the Colorado City Lions celebrated its 75th anniversary.
During Governor Joan's year, she and husband Bill attended the 1997
International Convention in Philadelphia, the Council of Governor's
Meetings in Kerrville and Lubbock, Leader Dog for the Blind School in
Rochester, Michigan; USA/Canada Forum in Syracuse, NY; and the
1998 International Convention in Birmingham, England.
The San Angelo Eyeglass Recycling Center celebrated the
processing of 250,000 pairs of glasses. PDG was awarded one of the
Top Ten International Awards for "Understanding and Cooperation."
This year only two awards were given to recipients in the USA and PDG
Ike was one of them.
The Mid-Winter Conference was held in Sweetwater on
January 9-10, 1998 and hosted by the Sweetwater Lions Club. Mint
Chairperson Sabino Garcia gave an informative and humorous report on the
Mint Campaign! One item of business voted on was to increase the
scholarship for the District Queen from $350.00 to $500.00.
On February 28, 1998, the Acuña
Clinic celebrated its 5th anniversary.
The District Convention was held in San Angelo on April
17-18, 1998. Past International Director Don Banker was the Guest
Speaker at the Governor's Banquet. PDG Ike Fitzgerald was presented the
Presidential Award. Lion Larry Evans of the San Angelo Southwest Club
was awarded the District 2-A1 Lion of the Year Plaque for his work with
handicapped children and adults. A Texas Fellow Plaque was presented to
Lion Bill Caldwell by Governor Joan in appreciation of his support and
help during the past year.
Vice District Governor George Costlow from the Stanton
Lions Club was elected as the District Governor for the new year.
Lion Robert (Bob) Edwards was elected as Vice District Governor. Lion
Joyce Downie of the Concho Pearl Lions Club was appointed as the
District Cabinet Secretary and Treasurer. Lion Robert Simpson was
elected as District 2-A1 Camp Director. The District began the
year in July 1997 with 2386 members and ended June 30, 1998 with 2323
members, a net loss of 63.
1998-1999 Lion George Costlow was the 40th District
2-A1 Governor. His Vice District Governor was Lion Robert "Bob"
Edwards. PDG Bob Noyes was appointed as the Cabinet Secretary.
Governor George was born and raised in Texas, became a
Lion in Colorado City in 1958 and has been active of the Stanton Lions
Club since 1959. Governor George served on the Eye Bank Board and is a
Century Member of both the Eye Bank and the Lions Children's Camp. Lion
George was installed as District Governor of 2-A1 at the International
Convention in Birmingham, England in July 1998. Governor's
Costlow's Motto is "Harmony, Fellowship, Service." At the First
Cabinet Meeting, a resolution was made by the San Angelo Downtown Lions
endorsing Lion Alvin "Al" Owen for candidate for Vice District Governor
for the year 1999-2000.
Governor George visited the Leader Dog School in
Rochester, Michigan in August 1998. In November 1998, Governor George,
along with seven other Lions from Texas, traveled Guatemala to provide
Eyeglass Recyling Training for the Lions of Guatemala.
At the Mid-Winter Conference held in Brownwood on
January 22-23, 1999, a resolution was presented by the Brownwood Lions
Club supporting Lion Melvin Phelps as candidate for the Texas Lions Camp
Director.
The Texas Lions Camp celebrated its 50 year anniversary
on March 12, 1999.
The District Convention was held in Midland on April 9-10,
1999, at the Midland Downtown Lions Activity Center. International
Director John Baum presented Lion Sabino Garcia, of the San Angelo
Southside Lions Club, a Certificate of Appreciation from International
President Kajit Habananand for his 38 years of service to Lionism.
Lion Denisa Marston also received a Certificate of Appreciation for her
outstanding work in Lions service. VDG Robert (Bob) Edwards
was elected as District Governor for the year 1999-2000. Lion Al
Owen was elected Vice District Governor. Lion Melvin Felch was
elected as Director of the Texas Lions Camp.
In May 1999, Governor George attended the State
Convention in Bryan/College Station. PDG Connie De La Garza was
chosen to be Texas' candidate for International Director. Governor
George escorted the Wild West Riders through the District on May 26-29,
a fundraiser for the Texas Lions Camp. The Riders were riding
their bicycles to the International Convention in San Diego, California. |