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Lions Clubs International - Lion Phil Nathan |
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Show you care, get involved, let's enjoy ourselves |
Past International Director Phil Nathan
International 2nd Vice President Campaign
Anchorage Aweigh….
In late September, together with Philip Goodier, I travelled to Anchorage for the USA/Canada Lions Leadership Forum. The Forum is a very big event with some 1,800 participants making the long trip from all parts of the USA and Canada, and beyond.
One thing you do not expect when you arrive at a hotel in a different country is to see your own flag flying high, and, in prime position. But, on arrival at the Captain Cook, that is what greeted us, the Union Flag, in between the Alaska State Flag and the Flag of the USA, and not in one location, but two.
This turned out to be one of the ‘quirks’ of Anchorage.
The Forum is attended by the Executive Officers, International Directors and Board Appointees, the majority of whom lead Seminars. Also attending are Past Presidents and Past Directors from the USA & Canada.
The Forum lasts for three days; it was a very, very positive visit for us and we returned with a real buzz.
I had the opportunity to meet, privately, with Executive Officers and also had long meetings with several Past Presidents; together, these meetings lasted for several hours. Not all meetings are private, some are far more relaxed, but, each of these meetings and discussions was extremely positive and supportive in it’s own right and provided us with a great deal of information and advice.
What was very encouraging was that Past Presidents’ with whom I have not worked previously were engaging in positive, supportive, conversation.
I was invited to attend the PIPs/PIDs ‘Update Seminar’ at the Forum and was introduced to those present, by the International President, as the ‘Endorsed Candidate from MD105’
Also present at the Forum was PID Joe Preston from Arizona, USA. PID Joe is the recommended candidate for 2nd Vice President in 2012. PID Joe was introduced to a special meeting of PIPs and PIDs as the recommended candidate and the opportunity taken for questions and statements of support and I was pleased to be able to present letters of endorsement to PID Joe from the Council of Governors on behalf of the Multiple District.
Earlier, I mentioned ‘quirks’.
The hotel we stayed in, the Captain Cook, is named after the English Captain James Cook, the great 18th Century explorer and navigator, and contains copies of books and pictures that detail his several journeys. Anchorage is located at the head of the Cook Inlet, explored by Captain Cook in his attempt to discover the fabled ‘North West passage’.
A second quirk we discovered was around Anchorage’s description of itself as the ‘Air Crossroads of the World’, located so far north it is crossed by many trans polar routes, however, it was a delight to see ‘Whitby’, not renowned for its international airport, featured on the direction post, why, because Whitby is where Captain Cook was first apprenticed to the sea!
The Lions of Alaska were excellent hosts for the Forum, they and the other Alaskans we met have a very different approach to life, what plane do you fly being of more interest than what car you drive, they are open, inquisitive and extremely friendly. The Forum reflected very much the people and it was a pleasure to be there, just don’t tell my daughters I ate Reindeer Sausage!