In recognition of November being National Diabetes Awareness Month, Lions honored the top three winners of our annual Diabetes Essay Contest, one of three scholarship contests for high schoolers. Lions Clubs International has a long-standing focus on diabetes, being one of the 8-global causes. Students were asked to write on the importance of prevention, early detection, and living well with the disease. Judge & Lion Jay Wright, who co-chaired the committee along with six other club members, praised all the entries for their excellent essays.  The contestants recited their essays and Lions voted for 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners. All 3 were awarded $1,500 scholarships and the top essay writer will receive an additional $1,500 scholarship from the club upon representing the club at the district competition. 3rd Place winner was Carter Kaasjager, 2nd place went to Ashima Timilsina who both attend Conroe High School. And the 1st place honor went to Anna Eichenhorst, who attends Covenant Christian School.

In keeping with President Sharene Carr’s theme of “Driven to Serve”, all Conroe Noon Lions have been competing in “The Amazing Race” – Fall Membership Drive for the past several weeks. Lions were divided into 3 teams (Trailblazers, Navigators, and Explorers) and have been earning points for bringing guests to our weekly lunch meetings and recruiting new members. The winner of the drive will be announced on Wednesday, November 11th. In addition to the exciting conclusion of “The Amazing Race”, Lions will be honoring local veterans as our luncheon which falls on Veterans Day this year. Our lunch speaker will be David Yebra, Chief Officer of Veterans Affairs with Lone Star College. Join us as we recognize the top recruiting team in The Winner’s Circle and lavish some love on our Veterans! 

One of the highlight last week was hearing from longtime Lion Ladoris Cates, who answered the question, “Why I still serve?”  Ladoris has been a faithful Lion for 51 years; she regaled her fellow Lions with a list of some of her favorite reasons for being a Lion. She summed it up by saying, “I love all of you Lions and am very grateful for you!”

Our next Service Saturday is November 14th from 8:20 am to Noon. We will be helping the New Danville Community get ready for Christmas by decorating the grounds for the Holiday Season. It’s also time to get ready for Conroe Noon Lions Annual - Lucky Derby Car Raffle! Only 700 tickets will be sold for $100 each and are going fast, as they do every year! The deadline to buy tickets is Nov. 30th with the drawing for winners who will compete for a car and 27 other fantastic prizes. The Grand Prize is donated by Gullo Auto Group-up to $30,000 off MSRP! Initial winners will be announced on December 2nd, and the Winners’ Finale will be December 9th!

The Conroe Noon Lions Club meets on Wednesdays at noon at the Lone Star Convention Center.  For more information about the Conroe Noon Lions Club, please visit our website, www.conroenoonlions.org, or call the club office at 936-760-1666.