District Gov. Dr. Bonita Lowrie visits club
BY BILLY WATSON

District Gov. Dr. Bonita Lowrie was welcomed to the Feb. 9 Rusk Lions meeting. From left are Alicia Oliver, Region VII chair; Ike Daniel; Ardys Brown, district chair for sight conservation and work with the blind; James (Sonny) Adams, president; Bobby Burch, secretary; Vic Whadford; District Gov. Dr. Lowrie; Dan West; and Billy Watson.

Zone chairman Alicia Oliver introduced 2-S1 District Governor Dr. Bonita Lowrie. Dr. Lowrie has 55 Lions Clubs to supervise. She visits each club to determine how they are functioning. She is very interested in what projects each club has and supports and new members each club has received. She gives rewards to each club she visits. Her first performance was to install Artys M. Brown to fill the Zone 7-B chair which covers Lions Clubs from Rusk, Jacksonville, Alto, New Summerfield and Mt. Enterprise. Ms. Brown was pinned with a special pin. Dr. Lowrie spoke about the 06-07 International President, Jimmy M. Ross, and his message of Expanding Our Mission of Service and the Lions Club Motto which is 'We Serve.' He said Lions Clubs should re-evaluate their old program and if they are not serving well, then drop them and replace them with new programs. He calls this the Paradigm Shift. It is our responsibility as Lions and as Community Leaders to continually develop and implement innovative service projects and workable strategies to bring in new members. Ike Daniel was congratulated and pinned by Dr. Lowrie for bringing in 54 new members to the Rusk Lions Club during his lifetime, and he continues to bring in more each year. Billy Watson was awarded anew membership pin for bringing in our latest new member. Dr. Lowrie asked what services did our club offer to our community? The club provides eyeglasses for the blind who are unable to pay; has developed a new Leo Club; sends eligible children to youth camp and provides scholarships for eligible high school students. President Sonny Adams was awarded a special pin for his outstanding services in Lionism for this past year.