Delegates sign in at the Coronet Hotel Thursday afternoon. (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Service Clubs

P.A. hosts international convention for Lions Club members

May 23, 2019 | 5:05 PM

Prince Albert is playing host to Lions Club members from across western Canada and parts of the United States.

The visiting lions are in town for the multiple district convention. The event sees delegates from Lions Clubs in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba, joined by their colleagues from the Dakotas and Minnesota. Garry Beaudry, president of the P.A. Lions and the convention chair said they had originally hoped to have 200 delegates attend the convention.

“This morning, I just registered the 201st person, so we’ve met our quota that we wanted and it’s going to be a good weekend,” he said.

Planning the event was a two-year process for the local club. According to Beaudry, P.A. has not hosted a Lions gathering of this size since the 1980s. People in town for the convention are staying at the Coronet Hotel, where the meetings are taking place and the Comfort Inn. Beaudry added there are also plans for site seeing and shopping.

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“We’ve got a bus tour that’s going to be going out here at three o’clock that’s going to take more of the wives around, show them the historic sites of P.A.,” he said.

The meetings will include speakers — one of which is from Lions International and another from non-profits like the Guide Dog Organization.

Brian Sheehan, international third vice president for Lions Club International, who travelled from Minnesota to be at the meetings said learning is a big reason for having conventions like this.

“It’s always good to educate the clubs on how we can continue to strengthen ourselves, how we can do better in our communities, how we can get more people involved,” he said.

Sheehan said as is the case with many service clubs, Lions have had issues with recruiting younger members. But despite the challenge the club is still growing overall.

Sheehan said he feels people of the younger generation want to serve their communities and it’s a matter of local clubs adapting to accommodate. He added Lions have a lot working in their favour when trying to attract people interested in service as members are part of an international network and can really pitch in.

“The tornados just went through Missouri this morning. The Lions are there. We’ve got boats on the ground and we’ve got people there that are going to help people out,” he said.

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn