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Here we are once again in lockdown, so our August busines meeting was attended by 17 members on the Zoom. At the recent Zone meeting we raised the Men’s Health Meeting, and the Zone, in principle agreed to support it.

We had our first post-lockdown meeting at Dannemora on the 15th July. It was very pleasing to see the participation of our newer members, for which I am grateful, and I am confident this will continue.

My theme for the year is “Enjoyment in Service”. It is my hope that we can focus on projects concerning our youth, and to that end I have sought the help of several long-standing members to work with Ella and her crew to fulfil this important and topical issue.

As a club we need to start giving serious thought to officer and non-board positions for the new Lions year starting in July. The grant from Auckland Council for our Water Safety Picnic in March has finally come through and planning is well underway.

Thank you one and all for all your hard work this year; from the Summer Festival and Water Safety Picnic at the start of the year, through the school gala chip cooking season, our six-weekly sausage sizzles and now into our Christmas Cake sales and finishing the year with the Senior Citizen's Christmas Party.

As I mentioned in last month's Tatler, we made the difficult decision to cancel the Howick Lions Summer Festival 2020 for financial reasons. Not to be cowed, at the October Business Meeting, we dedicated more than an hour to brainstorming ideas for service and fundraising activities.

As we enter into the warmer months, our School Gala chip cooking season is getting into full swing. Last month we had Shelly Park and Owairoa, and this month we'll have Our Lady Star of the Sea, followed by Wakaaranga School in November. These are not only significant fund raising activities for our club, but also important for our profile.

Thank you to everyone who attended our joint club August Dinner Meeting with Pakuranga-Panmure and Bucklands Beach Lions Clubs. It was a brilliant atmosphere with over 50 people in the room all mixing and getting to know each other.

It's been a rather busy start to the new Lions year. Our funding application for the 2019 Summer Festival has been submitted to the Howick Local Board. Myself, Neil Hornblow and Rajiv Sondhi attended the Club Development Day training for incoming officers.

Thank you for putting your faith in me to lead our club for the next 12 months. I'm a firm believer in 'evolution, not revolution'. I'm excited for the year ahead and look forward to seeing our club continue to evolve and prosper.​