Thank you and congratulations to our now Immediate Past President Andrew. I think I speak for all members when saying that you have done an outstanding job over the past 2 years. Our club continues to grow and strengthen through membership, projects, activities and fellowship.
Your dedication, leadership and mixing things up with fun activities and new ideas has helped bring our club to where we stand today. A happy and healthy one. You’ve certainly set the bar high; I feel no pressure at all.
Back in 2013, I was really honoured and excited to be inducted as the first female member of this great club with my dad as my sponsor and mentor. The thought of one day becoming President had never come to mind. I simply wanted to volunteer in the community. For those of you who know me well, I’m just a little bit passionate about all things Lions.
It’s unfortunate that our vice district governor, my dad, is unable to be here to night as he was meant to be conducting the handover for us and I know it meant a lot to him to be a part of tonight and he tried to be here, but we are very appreciative that Lion Gary took on the role in his place tonight.
It feels a little surreal to not only be inducted as President tonight, but to have my husband handover, or handball, the club presidency and becoming the first female president of this club.
What I love about this club is that we are strong in membership, open to new ideas and change, versatile in projects and activities, and have such a diversity of people who share a common goal to serve the community.
Although we are here to serve the community, it’s really important that we are involved in projects and activities that you, the members, are interested in and passionate about. I look forward to hearing about and exploring your ideas over the next year.
What I also really love about our club are the partners and families who support our members because without your involvement and volunteering, our club simply could not do what we do. And it’s now fantastic to have more families joining and seeing so many kids attending our meetings and for our club to be so welcoming and inclusive.
Being a family-friendly club is important to me and I know we are the envy of other clubs in our district. This is what I really look forward to building on in the next 12 months.
The bar has also been set to reach 75 members (thank you dad!). Continue to talk to everyone and anyone about what we do, and let’s continue to get the Lions name out there and educate our community while we help and support those in need.
Thank you for putting your faith in me to lead and represent the club for the next 12 months. I look forward to what we will achieve together. Let’s have another great year!
Petrea Stacey
President
