By Susan Lee DeRemer
The Santa Monica Lions Club happily renewed our Lions traditions at our second in-person meeting with the induction of a new Lion, Cara Chang. The ceremony was presided over by 1St Vice District Governor Farideh Monghate, from the Venice Marina LAX Club, followed by the traditional Lions three roar welcome and reception line (modified to meet covid standards by eliminating the handshake).
Cara, a native of South Korea, moved to Los Angeles in 1990, after graduating from The Juilliard School. Transitioning from her classical training, Cara is a Grammy-nominated pop violinist, whose videos on YouTube showcase her extraordinary talent. She plays other instruments in addition to the violin and has offered to lead our members in Lions songs while accompanying us on the piano. Our motto, We Serve, appealed to Cara as she follows her grandmother’s example of being a philanthropist.
Enjoying a full evening of traditions, we introduced two prospective members from the country of Georgia, Sandro, a wine importer, and Nino, who is finishing her real estate license. Both had heard of Lions when they lived in Georgia and were now interested in attending a meeting.
As we learned when we resumed in-person meetings in July, there is a slight learning curve in remembering how meetings flowed in 2019. To make sure we hadn’t forgotten our rituals and past, members participated in a light-hearted quiz on Lionism. Hoping to also use this as a fun way to share our history with our new and prospective members, it ended up being a good way to re-educate our members as well. No one member excelled, however as a group, we were 100% in recalling the answers.
Coming up on Wednesday, September 8th, Matt Hall, editor of this newspaper, will be our speaker. He is always engaging and very informative about what is happening in Santa Monica. If you are interested in coming to the meeting and learning more about becoming a Lion, this is a great opportunity. To attend the dinner at the Elks Lodge at 6:00 pm, please RSVP by contacting Yoriko Fisher, at santamonicalion@gmail.com, or Kingsley Fife at 310-454-2960. Please remember, due to reinstated health guidelines, masks are required for all indoor events.
