I am happy to say that not all Lions activities came to an abrupt halt because of COVID-19. While many traditional high school and middle school graduations were canceled, we were still able to present the Lions Young Leaders in Service Awards to some amazing students. These awards are given to students who have accumulated an established number of community service hours within a 12-month period.
Silver Level – 50 to 99 hours
Quentin Corbel – Lincoln Middle School
Bethan Hughes – Lincoln Middle School
Sara Ty – Lincoln Middle School
Kate Woodhall – Lincoln Middle School
Gold Level – 100 hours or more – many double or more the minimum required
Alexa Frcek - Lincoln Middle School
Jordan Klein - Lincoln Middle School
Valentina Manco - Lincoln Middle School
Mihret Melaku – New Roads School
Zoe Yu – New Roads School
While we were unable to make the presentations in person, all recipients received a certificate and Santa Monica Lions pin via mail. If you are interested in participating in the future, please have your middle or high school contact Pam at santamonicalion@gmail.com.
As our Lions members continued to stay home in accordance with local guidelines, I asked them to share some of their experiences through responses to four questions.
First, what projects have you been working on, or have you learned any new skills? While some members were now working from home, they still joined other members to use the opportunity to get caught up on projects they had put off. These included repairing their grandchildren’s bicycles, getting caught up on health physicals, landscaping, planting a garden or cleaning out cupboards and closets. One member cleaned out her garage and then sent old photos she found to family and friends. One ambitious member took the Lions Leadership Training course. Since our board meetings needed to move online, many of our members learned how to use Zoom, which opened up exercise classes and other options.
When asked, what do you do to relieve stress during this period of isolation, the responses varied from getting outside and walking 2-3 hours a day or having picnic lunches with social distancing in parks with friends, to staying inside and doing crossword and jigsaw puzzles, reading, cooking and baking, playing online games versus the computer of friends, and the favorite, watching TV. Some got nostalgic and watched old series, such as the Dick Van Dyke Show and original Magnum PI, while others got caught up on recent series and streamed movies. There were a few that found it more difficult to distract themselves and the disruption to their regular schedules was a constant worry.
The responses to the other questions I asked, what do you miss the most and what are you looking forward to once we are able to resume activities, will be shared in our July article.
As the SM Lions move forward we will keep you posted as to when in-person lunch and evening meetings might resume. In the meantime, if you have any membership questions please contact Yoriko Fisher at yorikofisher@gmail.com or 443-883-1101.
Susan DeRemer
