What’s in this January issue:

MD21 Leadership Messages
CC Ken Leja

HAPPY NEW YEAR

My, how time flies!  It is the start of the new calendar year and marks our mid-point of this Lion year.  It is a time of reflection and resolutions.  How are we doing?  From a Service side, the shared stories, posts and pictures of incredible service warms my heart.  Any strength still has opportunities for improvement.  FAR too many of clubs still do not record their service.  How can we truly measure our effectiveness without data?  By recording your service, you are sharing and quantifying how Lions are meeting the needs of their community.

As Lions, we are dedicated to serving our communities; HOWEVER, we also need the camaraderie of networking together within District, Project and Multiple District events!  You first opportunity is to attend the Melvin Jones Memorial Celebration of Lionism!  Arizona is the location of Melvin Jones birthplace!  We do not rededicate the Memorial but rather, rededicate ourselves to Lionism.  We learn and appreciate the past and remember Melvin Jones’ vision of Lions.  We rededicate ourselves. 

Next up will be the online/virtual Council Meeting!  This venue allows all Lions to attend and learn of key activities and decisions within the Multiple District!  Your voice matters, so please attend!  Both Districts will be having their District Conventions.  Support your District!  Together, we are stronger and more effective! 

Many events and key information are outlined within this publication!  Support it!  If you glean one nugget, it has served its purpose!  Information at your finger tips!  If you think of communication as a puzzle – then YOU are the most important piece!  Make your resolution to actively engage with the communications and events being offered! 

When I reflect on this past year and specifically the past 6 months, I’m awed by the fabulous Lions within Arizona!  It is clear we have a shared vision of service, now we need to make our focus on growth, training and reporting additional priorities! 

Let’s not forget that 2026 celebrates our Country’s 250th Anniversary!  Start your planning now for how your club will support and celebrate this incredible milestone! 

Happy New Year Arizona Lions!  This will be an incredible year! 

Governor’s Report – District 21-N

Governor’s Report – District 21-S

Why are WE Lions?

We joined because Lions were visible and we were attracted to serving, we liked the Lions we met and we had fun. We have remained Lions because we feel welcome, appreciated and part of a team that values our voice. And we have flourished because we have had a purpose, opportunities for growth and we know that our service is making a difference.

How can we make sure that others have the opportunities that we have had to become Lions, to Serve and to have fun. Please allow me to propose some New Years Resolutions for our clubs for this coming year.

P.S. You told us at the Kickoff that the second most important thing you wanted us to help you with was growing your clubs. Think of this as step one. Reach out to us, so that we can help you grow your clubs. And be sure to join us on February 21st at our District Convention to hear more ideas for growth.

21-S Lions Clubs New Year’s Resolutions

1. Insure meeting formats, venues and times are convenient, attractive
    and fun.  Reduce the bureaucracy

2. Have Lions invite friends to service projects

3. Partner with another club for a project

4. Start a new service activity, listen to new Lions

5. Have a Marketing Chair & always take photos

6. Report service in social media for community to see

7. Invite a newer/younger member to lead something

8. Celebrate successes and those that create them

9. Visit nearby clubs and share ideas

10. Reach out to District Servant Leaders for support, we are here to
      SERVE you, so how can we help?

AND ALWAYS, ALWAYS, HAVE FUN

Register for Upcoming Events Now!

Global Week of Service – HUNGER

57th Annual Celebration of Lionism

MD-21 3rd Council Meeting – Online

21-South 3rd Cabinet Meeting

Greetings Lions, 

The 3rd Cabinet Meeting of District 21-S will be held on February 19 at 5:30 PM on Zoom, register here: 
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/vs4VkcP7RnG1l6OthxHYsA

We hope to see you there.

DG Richard

21-South District Convention & Agenda

21-N District Convention

21-N Convention Registration

MD-21 Convention

108th Lions International Convention
HONG KONG

Future Host International Convention Locations

USA/Canada Forum

Register Early for Savings
Memphis Tennessee
September 3-5, 2026

PDGA’s PROUD LION Program

Mark Your Calendar to Support Club Events

We will be posting rules in the coming weeks. Our hope is 4hr simmer before tasting. 

Come on Lions, let’s have some fun and really see just what club/member has the best chili! 

Bring on the next Challenge! 

137th Rose Parade Float

Rose Parade theme is
“The Magic in Teamwork!”

The theme celebrates the sense of accomplishment in knowing that by working together, we can collectively achieve outcomes so much richer than we can ever experience as individuals. 
 

Our Lions International Float! 
In Harmony We Serve 

Peace Poster Contest – Plan NOW

For nearly four decades, the Lions International Peace Poster Contest has given children ages 11-13 the opportunity to share what peace means to them through art.

Each year, Lions clubs around the world sponsor the contest in schools and organized youth groups, giving young people the opportunity to be recognized at local and international levels — and awarded a grand prize of US$5,000 — for their creativity in sharing their vision of the current year’s theme.

Important deadlines

 If you’re planning to sponsor a contest, keep the following dates top of mind so you don’t miss any submission deadlines.

Club

• January 15: Kits go on sale in the Lions Shop online.

• October 1: Deadline to purchase kits from the Lions Shop online.

• November 15: Postmark deadline for a club to send one winning poster (per contest sponsored) to the district governor.

• December 1: Postmark deadline for a club not belonging to a district to send one winning entry to the Brand & Creative Department at Lions International Headquarters.

• February 1: Club presidents of international winners will be notified on or before this date.

A Prescott Sunrise Lions’ Thank You

Info from your 2025-2026
Global Action Team

LCIF

Emerging Lion Leaders Institute

• Phoenix/Tempe (east valley),
• Tucson, or
• Phoenix/Glendale (west valley).

CLICK BELOW TO READ MORE

21-S Knocking Membership Growth
Out of the Park 

Happy New Year From LEO Lion

Global Service Week – HUNGER

Elections:  Need to Know 101

All MD21 Clubs: NEED TO KNOW 101 – selecting your Club’s delegates; financial policies & payment requirements to vote
A club in good standing impacts more than just your club. The good standing rating affects and dominoes onto your club members and their participation on the District and Multiple District cabinets. These policies apply to anyone seeking to run for a District Office at their District Convention, 21N or 21S, and to those club members currently serving on or will seek to become a member of any MD21 State Project Board of Directors elected during the MD21 State Convention; all must be in compliance & in good standing.

Club Delegate and Alternate Selection
As a representative of your club and to be able to vote in person at your 2026 District Convention, 21N is February 28 and 21S is February 21, your Club’s Delegate/s and Alternate/s must be registered for their District Convention and must be present to vote. Ask in your upcoming club meetings who will be attending your District Convention and select from those members who will be your delegate/s or alternate/s. Don’t submit members who are not attending, please don’t ask why. Delegate or Alternate names can only be changed by submitting an email, copying the club’s president, secretary and treasurer, with the new delegate or alternate name before the deadline date of 15 days prior to the election day – 21S would be due before February 5, 2026; 21N would be due before February 12, 2026.

BE sure you list all of your delegates and alternates names that you are entitled to; you never know if something would happen to prevent a delegate from voting.

• If your club is entitled to 1 vote, submit the name for one delegate and for one alternate, etc.
• If your club has a past international officer as a member, add their name after you have listed your allowed number of delegates.

This year we are going to try a new system to avoid difficulties in printing and submitting a form of your Club’s delegates and alternates

1. After January 1, 2026, go to your club’s home page on the LCI portal

• Click on Members tab above your club’s name

• Click on View Delegates

• Click in the circle to the left of your upcoming District Convention

• LCI will have in the upper right corner the number of delegates your club is allowed; you are also allowed this same number of alternates. THEN –

        2. Send me an email, Linda Finley – at amigorose@aol.com and include this information in this order:

• In the subject line – Enter your District (21S or 21N); 2026 District Convention & your Club Name

• Then copy and paste the information from your subject line into the email

• Enter the number of delegates/alternates your club is allowed – if you have one delegate you are also entitled to one alternate, etc.

• Enter the name of each allowed delegate and their member number

• Enter the name of each allowed alternate and their member number 

• If you have a Past Int’l Officer as a club member, enter their name and member number

• Let your Club Delegate/s & Club Alternate/s know on arrival at your District Convention, they will check in & then sign in to be certified to vote. All Club Delegates/Alternates must be certified before the voting begins. On entry into the voting room, the Club Delegate or the Club Alternate taking their place will sign in to receive their ballot/s to vote

• Before sending this email to me – you must also add the Club’s President, Secretary and Treasurer on this email (if any officer is omitted and not on this email, a delegate/alternate form cannot be made for you); the club officer’s email will be their electronic signature and authorization to submit the club’s voting members; the Treasurer’s email attests that all club dues and balances are paid in full

• Now email to me and I’ll make your Club’s form for you. Can’t make it easier.

21NORTH will vote for – the 2026-2027 District Governor, 2026-2027 First Vice District Governor and 2026 2027 Second Vice District Governor

DISTRICT CONVENTION DELEGATE VOTING ELIGIBILITY
LCI issues their Voting Report twice prior to any election

1. The LCI Preliminary List of Certified Clubs with Eligible Member Counts and Balances Report is issued after the first of the month prior to the month of the District Convention and 
2. The LCI Final List of Certified Clubs with Eligible Member Counts and Balances Report is issued 15 days prior to the day of election

The LCI Preliminary List of Certified Clubs with Eligible Member Counts and Balances Report will be issued to 21N and 21S after January 1, 2026. This report lists give two items

1. Any amount owed to LCI – please remember, LCI dues will have been invoiced and on your club account by January 1. Because of the timing of these reports and the dates of each District Convention, please pay any and all balances for your 2nd half dues; new member dues and any Supplies purchased as soon as possible after they are posted to your account after January 1, 2026, AND pay for any charges added to your account in January. Pay those as soon as they appear on your account and before deadline dates – 21S before February 5 and 21N February 12; AND

2. It gives the number of delegates LCI allows for each club **Delegate numbers are determined by the new ruling in effect since 2023

   1. A Club’s delegate numbers are based on the number of continuous members in the club one year and a day.

   2. And those same club members (from a.) are further qualified and must also be full dues paying members. No family unit memberships can be included in the Clubs base member count to determine a club’s eligible delegate count.

PAYING your LCI DUES/or SUPPLIES & your MD21/DISTRICT DUES ASAP & IN FULL after invoicing is essential to be able to vote.

The LCI PAYMENTS AND VOTING POLICY – ALL BALANCES (dues and/or supplies) MUST BE PAID IN FULL and must be POSTED TO YOUR ACCOUNT NO LATER THAN 15 DAYS PRIOR TO AN ELECTION. This is LCI’s rule and the reason for the deadline dates.

1. Be aware that it also takes 3-5 business days to process a credit card payment made online and it can take up to 7-10 business days after a mailed check is received, processed through the lock box and given time for LCI to receive the information to post to your account.

2. If a check does not post in time, you won’t be able to vote. 21S before Feb 5; 21N before Feb 12.

3. And this explains why I have said in the past, if you have procrastinated and not paid quickly or allowed for at least the maximum business days or more for a check to be received and posted to your LCI account and you want your club to be able to vote, a written check is not proof of payment until it is posted nor is it the best method of payment to vote if you wait too long.

4. If you have waited too long, I highly recommend you pay your second half dues to LCI by credit/debit card from your club administrative account. *Only the Treasurer can pay online. *LCI will email the treasurer automatically a Confirmation of Payment Receipt acknowledging they have received your payment and are charging your account for your payment amount. *Another officer can pay using a credit or debit card and call my LCI A/R contact, Mary Lopez to make a phone payment; her LCI direct number is 630-468-6883. You again will get a confirmation of payment receipt, however, it is not as fast as the online payment system. The receipt might take a day to be sent. *This receipt for using a credit/debit card is your proof of payment, because it tells me you have paid your account in full and I will not penalized a club for any delay LCI might have in posting your credit or debit card payment. *If you are paying late by credit or debit card ( in February), you must forward your LCI Confirmation of Payment Receipt to amigorose@aol.com as proof of your payment.

5. On the Final Certified Delegate Eligibility Report, LCI determines and places all Clubs with any outstanding balances in an ineligible to vote status. The Club’s LCI Confirmation of Payment Receipt is the only document that I can use to override LCI’s ineligible ruling to allow a Club’s delegate/s to vote.

Also remember, for both Districts 21N and 21S, the same LCI payment policies and deadlines apply to all MD21 and District dues; these also must be paid in full to be able to vote.

• For 21SOUTH, 21S Cabinet Treasurer, Rick Duncan and I are in constant contact during this election time of year to assure any MD/District dues payments made are received so clubs are able to vote.

• For 21NORTH, as the CST & Nominations and Elections, I am constantly talking to myself and know when payments are received.

The LCI Final List of Certified Clubs with Eligible Member Counts and Balances Report will be issued 15 days prior to the District Convention Elections. Any clubs with outstanding balances will be given a status of ‘ineligible to vote’.

Remember to Forward to me (amigorose@aol.com) the emailed LCI payment confirmation receipt you receive as your proof of payment. This LCI receipt is the only proof of payment I can use as MD21 Nominations and Elections to override a club being marked as ineligible to vote on the LCI Final List of Certified Clubs with Eligible Member Counts and Balances Report.

• 2026 District Officer Voting will be on paper ballots and will take place during each District’s Convention

• 21SOUTH will be on February 21; 21NORTH will be on February 28

• All Club Delegates/Alternates must be registered, certified after check in & in attendance to be able to vote

• Each District Convention’s date, time and place have been previously announced

• District Officer voting times will be determined by the District’s Convention Agenda

FOR THOSE CLUBS THAT STILL OWE DISTRICT & MULTIPLE DISTRICT DUES,

For 21S Payments – Contact 21S CT Rick Duncan, 602-329-0270

For 21N Payments – Contact 21N CST Linda Finley, 602-999-5797

Thank you for reading Need to Know 101

Lion Linda Finley, your MD21/21N Nominations and Elections/Certification Chair

Lion Gene Schaefer Service January 14, 2026

Gene Philip Schaefer, 76, of San Tan Valley, Arizona, passed away on November 26, 2025. Mr. Schaefer will be remembered as a spiritual man, dedicated to humanitarian causes. His voice, loud in song, will be sorely missed.

Gene was the first pharmacy tech for Kaiser Permanente, working at Bess Kaiser Hospital in Portland.

Gene was born in Moscow, Idaho, and grew up in Battle Ground, Washington, where his father was a teacher at Battle Ground High School. He graduated in the class of 1967, from that school. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Washington State University.

Gene is survived by his wife of 23 years, Mary, his sister, Barbara, his sister in law, Jani, and nine cousins.  Also surviving are Mary’s 2 children and 4 grandchildren.

Gene was preceded in death by parents, Phil and Ruth, and brother Gary.

Gene was actively involved with St. Vincent de Paul at Sacred Heart Church in Battle Ground for 25 years. He was a member and officer in the Battle Ground Lions Club, and a charter member and officer in the San Tan Lions Club. He is a Melvin Jones Fellow. He earned third degree in the Knights of Columbus, Council 17036.

Gene became blind at age 32, a victim of diabetic retinopathy. After undergoing three years of kidney dialysis, he became the recipient of a donor kidney in 1985. He joined the Donor Registry in Arizona, in order to share the gift of life with others.

Services will be held at St. Michael the Archangel, in San Tan Valley, 10AM January 14. A funeral mass, burial, and reception will be held at Sacred Heart Church in Battle Ground, WA, 11AM June 11. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made, in Gene’s name, to St. Vincent de Paul, c/o Sacred Heart Church, 1603 N. Parkway (PO Box 38), Battle Ground, WA 98604

New Lions, Sponsors & Club Report

Club Charter Celebrations

Camp Tatiyee

As the year comes to a close, we’re reflecting on something simple but powerful: every child deserves a place where they feel empowered.
At Lions Camp Tatiyee, we provide a 100% free summer camp experience for children and teens with special needs across Arizona. For many of our campers, this is the only place they get to race go-karts, explore science and art, swim, make friends, and just be kids – without barriers.
None of that happens without you.
Your end-of-year gift directly supports camper scholarships, specialized staff, adaptive equipment, meals, medical care, and safe facilities. Lions Camp Tatiyee has never charged a fee to the children we serve, and we never will. But you help is needed to sustain this mission.
If Lions Camp Tatiyee has ever made you smile, feel hopeful, or proud of our community, now is the moment to lean in. Your donation before December 31 may also be tax-credit eligible and can make a real, immediate impact in 2026.

Donate here: https://loom.ly/Z2FMFCc

Request for LFA Board Nominations

LFA Board Nomination Form 2026

Melvin Jones Lions International Memorial Commemorative Calendar

Don’t Wait – Order your Memorial Tickets NOW

Join the Melvin Jones Memorial Board

21-S District Projects

ALERT – AZ Lions Eyeglass
Recycling Terminal 

AZ Youth Exchange – C Kirby Smithe

Let’s have some Fun!

Word Find & Word Scramble Submit to Win

Tail Twister Trivia