The Anderson Valley Lion’s Club is proud to announce that their president (for the last eight years) Eric Bloyd was named “Lion of the Year” at the 66th Annual District 4-C2 Lion’s Club Convention held May 16-18th at the Holiday Inn in Dublin (California). Eric is also the District Zone Chairperson.
As Zone Chair he travels to other Mendocino County Lion’s Clubs assisting them in their various projects and helping them to find solutions to their organizational problems.
The engraved plaque presented to Eric reads, “Lion of the Year Award to Eric Bloyd in recognition of outstanding service, loyalty and devotion to lionism in District 4C-2 2024-2025”
The overarching mission of the Lions Club is “We Serve Our Community.” In this current moment where it seems looking out for the needs of others has lost ground, the Lions’ Club is holding steady. At the convention members had a chance to meet with many officers from other areas of the state and country. Daniel Simpson who is First Vice District Governor and has been a Lion in Rio Vista since 1996 is representative of other Lion officers. With a long history of service to his community his personal motto is, “Mindset is everything.” Deborah Cantrell whose motto is “We rise when we lift others up” is the International Director for 2024-2026 who joined the Lebanon Host Lions in 2004. She also has a long leadership resume.
Reaching out to Eric, Deborah handed him a small plastic box containing eight small objects, each one a reminder of the best in every individual Lion. A toothpick: reminder that the Lions only pick the best. A rubber band: reminder that Lions are flexible — Blindness, Measles, Disaster Relief, Hunger, Diabetes, Pediatric Care, the Environment, Youth Mentorship — are all concerns of the Lions Club. A battery: Lions have a lot of energy to serve others. They keep going and going. A quarter: Lions are not paid because they are worthless but because they are priceless. A candy: because there is nothing sweeter than helping those in need. A Paperclip: a reminder that Lions help hold things together when things fall apart. A tissue: because Lions wipe away tears of sadness every single day and they also create tears of happiness. A candle: to remember that in 1925 Helen Keller challenged the Lions to be “Knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.”
A brochure that was available at the convention addressed the question, “Why should I consider becoming a Lion?”
The reasons included; We make new friends with a common purpose (around the globe). Being a Lion is a rewarding experience. There are world-class training and opportunities to grow as volunteers. Lions develop young leaders (by being an example to youth).
The brochure asks, “Will you share your talents?” Together WE can do more. Alone WE can do so little and together WE can do so much. The Lions are the largest service organization in the world — 15 million strong now. Founded in 1917.
As a member of the Anderson Valley Lions Club I can say that the promises the brochure makes are real. I joined the Lions club under president Christine Clark who served for 26 long years and whose father was the founding president of the AV club and then under president Bill Harper for ten years and now with Eric for eight.
Each year has brought more rewards in friendship, satisfaction of a job well done with able teammates, knowing we can push through difficulties to get to the other side. It hasn’t all been easy but it has all been good.
If you are interested in joining the local Lions to help us serve our community we would welcome you. You can do some research on the club at www.lionsclubs.org. You can call our secretary Mea at 707 489-7026.
We meet once a month on the third Monday at 6:00 for a potluck dinner at the AV Grange Hall followed by a business meeting. It is an opportunity to meet people outside of your usual social circle; people who care enough to do something for others. When we are working together (which is really what we do best) we have a lot of fun along with what can be some pretty hard work.
We feel connected in a very old school, positive way as we work together. It is undeniably true that the most lasting happiness comes from making others happy. The Lions Club with its emphasis on service is a simple old-fashioned and sturdy way to both do good and feel really good.
Congratulations Eric!