Kalispell Sunrisers Lions at the 2026 District Convention
April 17th and18th was the Montana Lions State convention held in Columbia Falls. It was attended by large and small cities across the state with 150 Lions and guests attending. The meeting was very educational with classes for officers, and presentations from many Lions promoting humanitarian organizations.
We heard from Leader Dog’s for the Blind, who have served 80 clients in Montana, MT Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation have covered 49 patients with hearing aids plus some Cataract surgeries. We also learned from the School for the Deaf and the Blind in Great Falls that have 1,500 students in the state. Miss Montana, Haley Joy Tate, and Miss Teen Montana from Kalispell spoke about their passion for Chicks in Chaps, a breast cancer financial help group. There were many more learning experiences.
Next year, the convention will be in Choteau MT. The International Lions Clubs are the largest humanitarian organization in the world, with USA having the 3rd most members following Japan and India. Come join use and help USA become #1. We Serve!!!
By Lion Peggy TobinSeeley Lake Lions Attend 2026 District Convention
This past April 17-18, 2026 we held the convention in Columbia Falls. While I’m sure the host Lions club will be posting an article, this one was special for Seeley lake. Our own Lion Jon Kimble was voted our new District 37 Governor and our 2nd Vice governor was elected 1st Vice District Governor. As an extra surprise and well-deserved accolade was the presentation of the International Presidents Award to Lion Cheryl Lewis. All of us in Seeley Lake are proud of all three of these Lions and their dedication to service and our community. They are very deserving of these accomplishments.
Everyone had a great time with guest speakers Miss Montana and Miss Teen Montana both giving very heartfelt and inspiring speeches. Thank You Columbia Falls Lions for hosting such a terrific convention with training, great accommodations, food, music and lots of laughs.
By Seeley Lake Lions ClubHow to Assign Your Club Convention Delegates
TO ALL CLUBS WITH VOTING DELEGATES GOING TO THE DISTRICT CONVENTION
Every club with voting delegates attending the convention needs to go to the Lion Portal and enter those delegates. Your club secretary, administrator or president can log into the portal and complete this process. If you have ANY questions, please feel free to contact Lion Peggy Tobin at 406-461-4206 or [email protected].
In the portal, go to “My Club”. Click on “Members” Select the blue button across the top that says “Manage Delegates”. Select “District 37 Convention”.
Note on the next page in the upper righthand corner, the number of allowed delegates for the club will be listed. This may be different than 10% of total members if the club has “households” or other types of members.
Example – A Lions club has 44 members so one would assume 4 delegates, but the club has multiple households and the club can only have 2 delegates! This is very important to know when clubs are assigning folks to be delegates!
The page will look like this:
District 37 Convention – 2025-2026
April 17, 2026 – April 18, 2026
Cedar Creek Lodge VIP Delegates: 0
Allowed Delegates: 2
Assigned Delegates: 0
Available Delegates: 0
To assign a delegate simply check the circle “Assign a Delegate”. It will bring up your roster and you can select the club member. When you complete this, the delegate will appear on the table. Continue assigning delegates, but note that the system will not allow more than the “allowed delegates”. If someone ends up not being able to serve, you can remove that delegate and assign another.
Delegates
1 of 1 item
Search this list…
Navigation Mode
| Delegate Name | Confirmation Number | Is VIP? |
*What do you like to do?
Θ Assign a Delegate Θ Remove a Delegate
NOTE: All of your delegates should have current membership cards which can be printed under “My Club”/Members – click on the blue button “Membership Cards”.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Peggy Tobin, 406-461-4206, [email protected].
Sunburst Lions Host Fifth Annual Prom Dinner
On April 11th, Sunburst Lions hosted twenty-five North Toole County High School students at their 5th annual Prom Dinner. PDG Mike Tobin (complete with a tux & tails) and Lion Missy Nau (in an elegant dress and silver jewelry) greeted and signed in each student and escorted them to their tables where Lion Dan Nau served sparking apple juice and entertained them with fabulous jokes.
The meal was prepared and served by a dedicated group of lions who put in over 80 hours to provide a beautiful setting at the Sunburst Methodist Church complete with china and crystal on the tables and decorations for the theme of this year’s prom. Homemade artisan bread was in baskets at each table. The students were served salads followed by BBQ Steaks (Courtesy of Chef Lyle Benjamin) or baked Pork Chops, cheesy mashed potatoes, and roasted green beans. The meal was topped off with chocolate pudding cake w/vanilla ice cream and delicious lemon fluff desserts. The Sunburst Methodist Church pastor, his wife and one of the student’s grandmothers joined the 20 Lions to make this a very memorable experience.
By Sunburst Lions ClubLions Easter Seeley Lake Style
Easter is a great time of year and this year was no disappointment. Our Easter Egg Hunt Committee pulled off another great event over two days.
First, we had the stuffing of all the eggs on Friday April 3rd. We had 17 members and 3 Leos there to help stuff them with candy, chocolate eggs and special prizes. Many hands make light and fast work, so in two hours we had them all done. Everyone was treated with pizza and refreshments.
On Saturday April 4th, we all gathered to spread the 3,100 eggs we prepared the night before. Again, we had 18 members on hand and another 3 Leos to help. All the kids gathered around 12:30 and at the start at 1:00pm, the mad dash started. Smiles were to be found everywhere and parents were very appreciative of the Lions hosting this annual event. Lions – “We Serve”
The Measure of a Lion
After my recent article about club visibility and membership, I heard from a member in my club who asked a question I suspect more people are thinking but not saying:
“Are we appropriate members if we contribute so little?” She went on to describe a full life. Working full time. Parenting. Living outside of town. Wanting to help when she could, but feeling like the club’s expectations exceeded her current capacity. She had joined because she believed in community service. She still did. But she was quietly wondering whether that was enough.
IT IS!
And it is worth saying directly, because Lions culture does not always communicate it well.
Committees and titles are infrastructure, not the mission.
Clubs need officers. They need committee chairs. Someone has to sign the paperwork, plan the projects, and show up to zone and District meetings. That work is real and it matters, but it is not the point. It is the scaffolding.
The point is service. It is the food bank volunteer who shows up on a Saturday morning. The person who quietly sponsors a kid’s camp registration. The member who helps a neighbor move, organizes a school fundraiser, or gives time to a local church event. These things are Lions work whether or not they appear on a club calendar.
A member who holds no title and chairs no committee but lives a life oriented toward service is doing exactly what this organization exists to promote. A member who holds every title and attends every meeting but treats service as a quarterly checkbox is a different story.
Capacity is not a permanent condition. The member who can give two hours a month right now may be the one running a committee in five years. The parent who is stretched thin today has kids who will grow up watching what their family values. The person who joins because they believe in service and stays because the culture is welcoming becomes, over time, one of the people a club is built on. Pushing people out, or letting them quietly drift because they feel like they are not doing enough, is how clubs lose exactly the people they should be keeping.
Service is not a means to membership. It is the point. There is a version of Lions participation that treats service as the activity you do to justify calling yourself a member. Show up, log the hours, attend the banquet, repeat. Membership is the destination and service is the ticket. That is backwards.
Service is not what you do to be a Lion. It is what being a Lion means. The member who is stretched thin but still shows up for a neighbor, still coaches the team, still gives time to the school or the church or the food pantry, is not falling short of something. They are doing the thing itself. The rest is paperwork.
When capacity is limited, that is not a reason to question whether you belong. It is a reason to do the service that fits your life right now and trust that the life you are living, oriented toward community, is exactly the culture this organization exists to build.
The question worth asking in your club: Are you measuring membership by titles held and meetings attended, or by whether people are living the values? Both have a place. But if the first list is driving the conversation and the second list is an afterthought, some of your best members may be quietly deciding they do not belong.
They do. Make sure they know it.
By Lion Steve DogiakosSunburst Provides St. Patty’s Pancake Supper & Raises Funds for Project 250
The Sunburst Lions Club is making a difference in their community, raising over $1,500 for the American Legion Auxiliary’s Project 250 from their annual pancake supper. The funds raised will be added to the generous grant that the ALA received from the Montana 250 Foundation to place murals designed by past Sunburst resident, Alan Snell, in Sunburst, Sweet Grass and Oilmont.
This year, for the first time, the pancake supper was served prior to Northern Telephone Cooperative’s annual meeting and was well received by all in attendance. Combining our resources, the supper and the annual meeting had record attendance of approximately 150 community members!
St. Patrick’s Day Celebration – Seeley Lake Lions
Each year the Senior Citizens of Seeley Lake put on a dinner celebration featuring all the usual Irish fare including Corned beef and cabbage, potatoes, carrots and a specially prepared Irish Stew. The event was held on March 14th at the Senior Center.
Lions Liz Britt, Rob Shaffer and Clay Creek were responsible for cooking the delicious meal while other Lions helped with tickets at the door, serving, clearing of tables and we even had some Leos there helping us to sell 50/50 tickets. Several people donated items for a silent auction to help raise money for the center. There was also a cake walk where donated goodies were won by people participating in the fun game. Players enter the game for a dollar and walk in a circle on numbered spots. Music is played and when it stops they pull a number from a hat and if you are on that number you win the cake!
Lots of smiles, plenty of food and everyone was Irish for a day!
By BillingsHeights
Havre Lions Serving Area Schools
Eighteen Havre Lions gathered for a work party to make flag bases for the flags they will present to Havre First Graders during Presidents Day Week.
The work consisted of cutting bases, branding Lions Emblems on wood, and sanding smooth. They produced 367 bases which will hold the flags donated to First graders..
Havre Lions’ President Russ Stinnett presented a check for $500 to MSU Northern Sweet Grass Society to help support their 49th Annual Pow Wow.
By Havre Lions Club
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