As we viewed the ever-changing skyline of Santa Monica from the penthouse of the Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica, PDG/President Carol Ann, called the Santa Monica – Pacific Palisades Lions meeting to order. Following our traditional Lions opening ceremonies, we enjoyed a delicious buffet created by chef Johnny and were welcomed by Heidi, the catering manager. The hotel had even created a special non-alcoholic drink to honor our first meeting at our new location.
The evening was a return to Lions traditions, as PDG/President Carol Ann had promised during her installation. She started off by handing out a new Lion’s information booklet she had composed with Lion Kingsley and was designed by IPP Derrick. It is a great refresher for long-time Lions as well as an instrumental resource to be used to welcome new Lions to our club. She also gave gifts to the two IPPS, Derrick and Pam for their past year of club leadership.
And, because our motto is We Serve, the meeting moved toward a discussion of service projects that our club members were and would be supporting. That evening, Lion Brian, our service chair, collected bags from members who brought groceries he would take and donate to the Westside Food Bank on our behalf. Fortunately, he has a large SUV and we filled it. And because the fall is always a busy time, he then reviewed the upcoming events where Lions will be participating, the Foundation Fighting Blindness VisionWalk is Saturday, 9/19 at 9 AM at the Crescent Bay Park and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Walk is Saturday 10/10 at 9 AM at the SM Pier. Brian also shared that at our October meeting he is hoping to share information regarding hygiene packages we will be assembling.
We were happy to have a new prospective member, Maryam, join us. She was enthusiastic and full of questions, as she is extremely interested in community service and potentially using her skills to increase our online impact.
Lion Kingsley reminded everyone that the next Lions Lunch Social gathering would be a week earlier than usual, on September 9th at Hop Li on Pico. These new lunch gatherings have been a popular addition to our club activities. They are not required and no Lions business is discussed, but they are a great opportunity to get to know your club members better and just have fun.
If you would like to discover what being a Lion is all about, please consider joining us at a dinner meeting as our guest on October 7 at 6:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica, 530 Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica. Valet parking is available. To RSVP, please contact Kingsley, our membership chair, at 310-454-2960 or smpplionsclub@gmail.com.