80TH LIONS INT'L CONVENTION

80TH LIONS INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION, PHILADELPHIA, USA
JUNE 30-JULY 5, 1997

The months of June and July would be busy months for all district governors-elect.  As I me I was very excited as I prepared for my overseas trip weeks ahead.
I attended the 80th Annual Lions Clubs International Convention which was held in Philadelphia/Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, USA from 1st-4th July 1997. The flying trip was 31 hours and I was up and about, very excited over the whole event.

The Convention City
I arrived at Philadelphia, the ‘City of Brotherly Love’ two days earlier prior to the district governors’ elect school. The weather was warm. It was 102 degrees Fahrenheit.
I expected a colourful sight and a roaring welcome just like our home convention; but somehow, it turned out to be very peaceful. There was no Lions welcome sign, banners or buntings. I then realised that was too early for that. I took a cab and find my way to the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel.

The Convention Delegates
Unlike previous International Conventions which I had participated, the 80th LCI Convention was not very well attended. There were about 15 thousand delegates. Of the total number of delegates attending, those from United States outnumbered the rest. The Asian Lions, in fact, became something of a sought after novelty especially by the pin exchangers who were more interested in what colourful and unusual pins you might have for exchanging. You could see these international goodwill pin interchanges almost everywhere; be it at the Convention Hall, inside the buses and lifts, on hotel escalators and even five-foot ways whilst waiting for buses.

The Campaign form International Directors
The politicking for the election of the International Directors went into full swing at the Pennsylvania Conventions Centre. You could see all the talents and human ingenuity put into operations to attract votes. I was amongst  the thousand who collected gifts including key chains, fans, diaries, stickers, badges, placards with photos and the list went on. It appeared that the respective election campaign personnel spared no expense and efforts to get their candidates elected.


The Convention Sessions
The Opening Convention Plenary Session on 1/7/1997 started on time at 8.30 in the morning. The programme started with the presentation of the Flags of Nations of Lionism and this was recited by the International 2nd V.P. Kajit Habananada.

Mr. Luis Vincente Giay, the Rotary International President was the guest speaker at the 1st Plenary Session. Mr. William J.Bennet who was a noted author, commentator and former presidential appointee, serving as the co-director of empower America spoke at the 2nd Plenary Session.

The 3rd Plenary Session was most exciting. There was tremendous excitement and commotion when the names of the successful candidates for the International Directors were announced.

There were recognitions of the 100% Club Melvin Jones Clubs; the announcements of International Contest Winners. Candidates vying for International Directorship were each given an opportunity to say their piece. There were translations in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Sweden were available at all the plenary sessions.

The Installation of International President and the 700 over District Governors of which 69 of them were ladies. The finale was the declaration of the International President Judge  Howard L “Pat” Petterson. Supporters and well wishers appeared from everywhere and they, together with a prearranged music band of some 40 strong ‘took over’ the Convention Hall for about 20 minutes.
The installation of district governors was carried out with a simple tearing of the broach tail.

The Convention Workshops
The Convention had lined up several workshops. I noticed that the time set for some workshops crashed with each other. These workshops were conducted by veteran Lions and PIDs. The talks were, namely: Focus on Environment, the Lions Eye Health Programme; Leo Clubs, Children At Risk, Eyeglass Recycling, Youth Exchange, Club Twinning, Peace Poster.
Due to time factor, it was impossible to attend more than two topics in full. I chose Environment and Publicity and sort of ‘peeped in’ on a couple of the others workshops. I must say that all the seminars seemed to have enjoyed full house. In some workshops, there were no standing room; perhaps, due as much too good attendance. The LCI organizers had provided inadequate seating capacity.  

As I reached the end of the seminar hall, I saw a Round Table Discussion Group. I enjoyed this session as I was able to share my ideas with other Lions on our  Clubs activities and how we raised funds for projects. Most of the Lions in the west were hands-on projects.

The Lions International Parade
The parade, held on July 1st was one day before the Opening Convention Plenary Session. This was traditional and always heralded the commencement of a Lions Intentional Convention.
We were instructed to assemble at Penn’s landing on Columbus Boulevard at 10.30am. We had our contingent lined at the 134th position. Because of this, we started marching at 12.30pm. At this time I was unable to comment on the start of the parade as there was no opportunity to see what was ahead. The parade consisted of floats, banners, bands and marching girls. We had to walk from  Market Street to the 13th Street which was about a mile long. The Lion dignitaries including the international president, the board and all past international presidents and judges were standing on a prominent areas to see the march past. It was certainly one of the longest, most colourful, liveliest  international parade I have ever seen. It was widely published on front page of all the news papers in Philadelphia.
The parade was well organized. The participants were totally disciplined. The event  was definitely one of the highlights of the convention, an event never to be missed by any Lion delegates.

The International Show
The one and a half hour show features singer and actor Bobby Rydell. Also there were other variety acts.
I always thought the show was an international joint effort by Lions from each nations each putting up an item of entertainment of national character to give a truly intentional flavor to the international show. After all it was suppose to be an international show.
 
Leisure hours
I made use of my free hours at the Pennsylvania Convention Centre meeting with the staffs of LCI. They were very friendly. I had the opportunity to know their responsibilities and how they work. They were the people who would respond to our communication through the English Language Department. I took a couple of photos with them and I sent them hard copies when I was back home. In this manner, they remembered me during the one year period, at least.

Representatives from District 308B

Not many Lions from our district participated in this convention. PCC Dr. Chin Yoon Hiap and wife, PCC Dato Dr. K Nagaratnam and wife, PCC Jeffrey Quah and wife, and wife, PDG John Loh and wife were the few POAs who attended.