Lions Club conference is good for businesses

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Event starts Friday

By Lynne Lynch

Herald staff writer

MOSES LAKE - This weekend's Lions Club International District 19-D Conference boosts business for Moses Lake's restaurants, gas stations and the Best Western Lake Front Hotel.

The hotel is the site of the event, explained Mike Conley, of Moses Lake, a Lions Club district governor.

"We have a lot of people who will rent rooms at the hotel and there will be a number of them, at least on Friday, who will be eating at local establishments," he said.

About 220 people were registered for the event by Wednesday.

Nonmembers are welcome to attend and observe certain portions of the event. 

For more information, contact Conley at 509-765-4479.

Ten of the registered attendees are part of the young person's Lions clubs from Othello and Warden.

The event starts with a cabinet meeting on Friday, to include about 30 people and is separate from the conference. It is the last of four annual cabinet meetings.

Friday night also features the Western-themed Pioneer Days.

Saturday's opening session starts at 8:30 a.m. Conference business takes place and attendees participate in four training sessions. 

At lunchtime, Moses Lake Lep-re-kon pharmacist and Lions Club member Lateef Olaniyan is the main speaker. He talks about the Moses Lake medical team, of which he is a member.

The guest speaker for the evening banquet is Bob Smith, a first-year director of Lions Club International. He is retired from law enforcement and from Sacramento.

On Sunday morning, a service remembers Lions Club members who died this past year.

A contest award presentation honors people excelling in many areas, including scrapbook, bulletin work and public speaking.

This weekend, raffle tickets are sold for $5 each to win a 1954 Ford Crestline Victoria. The raffle continues until the first weekend of December, said Janice Stephens, of the Quincy Valley Lions Club. 

The raffle raises funds for the club's various community efforts, such as providing scholarships, hearing aids and eye glasses.

The car will be at the convention and was provided by Butch Gebers, of Quincy.

He is donating half the value of the $40,000 car and the club is buying the remaining half.

The car has 64,000 miles on it and received a complete engine overhaul at 63,000 miles from Tom Jones, of T&J Service in George.

The body and paint restoration work was done by Bob King, of Rock Island.

For more information, contact Stephens at 509-398-2631, or via email, at quincyvalleylions@yahoo.com.