A Great Meeting In Jefferson City!

Written by Bob Van Ark, PDG

Anyone who expected the Alternate Site Meeting in Jefferson City to be a ho-hum affair, was pleasantly surprised. We wound up with a crowd and, by all accounts, everyone had a great time. We filled the lower level of the Truman Hotel with tables, and the upper level with a fine hospitality area, filled with contented traders every night. (Those balloons spelling out " LITPC" were awesome!) We also enjoyed the convenience of lunches being made available right in the trading area. (Other pictures 8 pages).

There were 164 traders and 62 guests in attendance, and we had 197 for the Saturday breakfast and our Annual Meeting. Those appear to be record numbers. Registrants came from 36 states and from three locations outside the United States (Canada, England and Australia).

Thanks to the Missouri Lions Pin Traders Club, on Wednesday evening we were treated to huge barbequed pork steaks and trimmings along with some great music. They provided "Mule" Burgers and Game Night on Thursday and' in addition, the Louisiana traders brought a supply of shrimp, which were added to the menu. Then, our LITPC officers dressed the part and provided us with a fine Mexican treat on Friday. A number of other Traders and Clubs brought in wine and cheese, and cookies, cakes and other goodies.

Our Sightfirst II effort received a big boost, with receipts actually collected nearly doubling during the meet-we added $27,600 to the $28,850 we had already collected. It included $600 from the pin auction and $867 from a 50/50 drawing. It will increase further, since the Missouri Club plans to contribute any "profit" from the meet to Sightfirst II as well.

We are proud to report that, during the Saturday Breakfast Meeting, Lions Bill Prucha of Illinois, and Chuck Weldon of California were inducted into the LITPC Hall of Fame (Lion Weldon was a posthumous induction). All Hall of Famers present were also recognized (you can check them out on our website and the front of our directory).

Also at the Annual Meeting, we expressed our appreciation to outgoing Board Members, Lions Reginald Langusch, PDG, John Leggett and Bill Middleton, PDG, and elected three members to new two-year terms: Lions Nan Blakemore, PDG, of Missouri; Mike Guytan, PDG, of Indiana; and Jerry Townsend, PDG, of Mississippi.

Our Board also met while in Jefferson City.

Our thanks to chair, Lion Nan Blakemore, PDG and her host committee for their efforts in making this a memorable event.