SAN PEDRO LIONS CLUB-- 82 YEARS OF COMMITMENT <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> <><><><> September 2, 2004 Calendar September 2nd - 12:10 pm - Regular meeting. Ante's Restaurant, 729 South Palos Verdes St., San Pedro, CA 90731. September 9th - 7:00 pm - Board Meeting. - TBA September 16th - 12:10 pm - Regular meeting. Ante's Restaurant, 729 South Palos Verdes St., San Pedro, CA 90731 September 18th - 10:00 am - The Lions Camp At Teresita Pines in Wrightwood Annual Open House. All Lion's club members and their families are invited. September 23rd - 6:30 pm - Tri Club meeting with the Harbor City/Lomita and Wilmington Lions Clubs. 6:30 pm Social. 7:00 pm dinner. Ante's Restaurant, 729 South Palos Verdes St., San Pedro, CA 90731. October 7th - 12:10 pm - Regular meeting. Ante's Restaurant, 729 South Palos Verdes St., San Pedro, CA 90731. Charity Downhill Race The 5th Annual Lions Club Charity Downhill Race was a great success and the largest and best attended in the five-year history of the event! Twenty-two drivers raced in the Downhill and over one hundred show cars along with one highly customized diesel truck tractor were on display at Point Fermin Park. Chami Fernando racing for the DPR Racing Team finished 1st. David Alvarez driving the Harbor City - Lomita Lions Club entry was 2nd and "Flying Byron" Harrell piloted a specially modified DPR Racing car to 3rd place. Congratulations to all of the winners and participants for great race! Twelve year "Flying Byron" was born with congenital abnormalities of his limbs and uses prosthetic legs to move about when not racing. DPR Racing and Life-like Prosthetics of Torrance worked together to build a vehicle with special hand controls and custom leg supports that allowed Byron to safely participate in this years Downhill. This was the first competitive event that "Flying Byron" had ever participated in! His family and friends were at the race to cheer him on and witness his success. The looks of joy on Byron's and his families' and friends' faces were something to behold. District Governor Dick Selway and Vice District Governor Al Adams were both in attendance and participated with checkered flags as Honorary Starters. The Lions Club Charity Downhill Race would not be possible without the help of Harbor Community and the many sponsors. 15th District Councilwoman Janice Hahn and the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks were major sponsors and made sure that the race had the venue and help needed for the event to take place. Beacon House, as they have every year, provided a hard working and skilled group of men along with booths, tables and chairs, tools and a lot of muscle. The men and women of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation did a wonderful job of street closure and traffic control. The highly dedicated Downhill Race Committee members with Chairman Eddie Keyse put forth an extraordinary effort. Many members of the Harbor City - Lomita Lions, The Wilmington Lions Club and the San Pedro Lions Club, along with other Lions from around the District, worked together in Lionism to make this year's event the best ever! San Pedro Lions Club In the News The Lions Clubs of the LAX - South Bay Area had a one half page color advertisement with a map showing the different clubs meeting schedules and contact information in the Daily Breeze on August 26th. The Daily Breeze More San Pedro for Saturday, August 28th had great article on Byron Harnell and the Downhill Race along with great article by Donna Littlejohn on Hot August Nights and the Cainine Companions for Independence. The Daily Breeze for Monday August 30th ran a great series of color photos of the Downhill Race on page A3. From the President's Computer A telephone tree is being established to contact members about meetings and events. If you would like to help by calling a few of your fellow Lions, please call Lion Susan Dorsey at 310-831-6245 or e-mail her at susand@sanpedro.net. If you don't contact Susan she will be calling you! The editor would truly appreciate any written contributions for The Lions Tale. Please fax your material to 310-831-6076, email it to tomd@sanpedro.net or snail mail it to PO Box 470, San Pedro, CA 90733-0470. Here is your chance to participate in The Lions Tale. Thank you! Speakers are needed for both the noon and evening meetings. If you have any ideas or potential speakers, please call me at 310-831-6245 or email tomd@sanpedro.net Lion Tom Dorsey AN OPEN LETTER TO LIONS MEMBERS In the past 2 weeks we have had 2 great projects. The Hot August nights and the Downhill race. They have done a lot for our publicity in San Pedro and they have made money for our charity account. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Julie Nicosia and Eddie Keyse on their vision and hard work. They both have shown great vision on these project and were the Lions that started them but they have gone beyond the vision and have made them a reality. Eddie Keyse in particular has spent the best part of 5 years, about 8-9 months out of each year getting the downhill race off the ground and making it a great event here in San Pedro. This is not to say that Julie has not done a great job on Hot August Nights, she has worked for 9 years to make this a success. With their vision and hard work we are recognized as the premier service club in San Pedro. I for one would like to thank both Eddie and Julie and would hope that yoou other Lions would take the time to tell both of them, WELL DONE! They deserve your gratitude so please go to the effort to contact them and say thank you to them and their committee members. Wayne Bettis