Lions Club of Seymour Goulburn members (from left) Heather Dunn, Bronwyn Allen, Carol Smith, Linda Johns, Ruth Hall and Liz Johnson join the 106th Lions International Convention in Melbourne. Photos: Supplied
The Lions Club of Seymour Goulburn experienced a very sunny, colourful weekend in Melbourne attending the 106th Lions International Convention.
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Members Ruth Hall, Carol Smith, Bronwyn Allen, Heather Dunn, Linda Johns and Liz Johnson spent five days at the convention, including joining in on the Lions Parade of Nations on Saturday, June 22.
Ms Allen said although they were not doing anything officially as a club, it was the first time the group had experienced being part of an international convention.
“We’ve got about 11,000 international and Australian and local Lions attending,” she said.
“We’re certainly enjoying it, the first time that we’ve been able to attend an international convention.”
Ms Allen said they had met many Lions members from all over the world through the convention.
“It’s a great opportunity to meet both the Australian and international Lions,” she said.
“The Lions also swap their badges, their commemorative badges or their club badges ... a lot of pin trading, I suppose, goes on too.”
“That’s another way of engaging with people from overseas.”
Lions Club of Seymour Goulburn members (from left) Ruth Hall, Carol Smith, Bronwyn Allen, Heather Dunn, Linda Johns and Liz Johnson at the Parade of Nations in Melbourne on Saturday, June 22.
The group also joined the Parade of Nations, when about 8000 members paraded the streets of Melbourne.
“Melbourne turned on a perfect day for it with the sunshine,” Ms Allen said.
“They had all the 160 countries represented, many of them in national dress. There was music with them and dances, so very colourful exhibition.”
The Australian contingent was stationed at the rear of the parade as the host of the international convention.
“We were able to watch all the other countries go through first and then we joined the back of the parade and joined in with our Victorian Lions colleagues,” Ms Allen said.
“That was a really great day.”
The Lions Club is divided in to 750 districts worldwide. The Lions Club of Seymour Goulburn is in District V5.
On Tuesday, June 25, all 750 districts’ elected governors were inducted, including District V5’s Kim Low.
“He will be a district governor for the next 12 months,” Ms Allen said.
Ms Allen said the group had been going through different seminars throughout the conventions and had learnt many things.
“It’s always just an opportunity to learn a bit more about Lions and what’s happening around the world and where our club, Seymour Goulburn, fits into the big picture,” she said.
“This is the first international convention l’ve attended and I probably won’t get to another one, so its been a real eye-opener to see how its run.”
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