The Norfolk Lions end of the year celebration was held at the Franklin Country Club on Thursday, June 29th. The annual dinner is an opportunity to reflect on the club's accomplishments and celebrate the end to a successful year. It may be summer break but we never stop serving!

King Lion Brian Hamlin recognized and thanked the club membership for their dedication, hard work and for the honor to serve as this years club president. He presented recognitions and awards to the following club members for distinguished service:

John Wason

Lifetime Member

Shawn Simpson

President's Appreciation Award

Jen Cote

President's Appreciation Award

Michael Lemenager

President's Appreciation Award

Ray Cisneros

Years of Service Award

Kelly Panepinto

Lion of the Year

King Lion Brian's final official act as president was to confer the prestigious Progressive Melvin Jones Fellowship to a longtime club member and the Melvin Jones Fellowship to three club members. The Melvin Jones Fellowship was established in 1973 in response to Lions’ requests for a way to extend their commitment to Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) and to honor Melvin Jones, one of it’s founder. In 1917, Melvin Jones, a 38-year-old Chicago business leader, told members of his local business club they should reach beyond business issues and address the betterment of their communities and the world. Jones’ group, the Business Circle of Chicago, agreed and the Lions Club was born.

Scott Dittrich

Progressive Melvin Jones Fellowship

Issued Posthumously to Scott's wife Bonnie Dittrich

Al Bozza

Melvin Jones Fellowship

Jack Campbell

Melvin Jones Fellowship

Kimberly Galvin

Melvin Jones Fellowship

Lions Mark Conley and Bruce Beans recognized Norfolk resident Jennifer DeLuca on behalf of the club for her steadfast commitment to serving military service members and their families as executive director of Fisher House of Boston and in recognition of her continuous support of the Norfolk Field of Flags. Jennifer is the Congressional Medal of Honor Society 2023 Citizen Honor Service Act awardee for going above and beyond for our military service members and their families.

The 2023-2024 officers and board of directors were sworn in and will begin serving on July 1st. President-elect Shawn Simpson addressed the club as King Lion for the first time in a captivating inaugural address. We roared in laughter as King Lion Shawn described how he came to be a Norfolk Lion and our hearts were inspired when he shared the moment he felt the power of the Lion's "we serve" spirit this year.

Congratulations to the newly inducted Officers and Board of Directors.

CLUB OFFICERS ​ Shawn Simpson President | King Lion ​ Lynn Worley Secretary ​ Todd Lindmark Treasurer ​ Jonathan Garven 1st Vice President ​​ Bill Hawkins Vice President of Service & Outreach

Brian Hamlin Immediate Past President ​ John Pokorny Lion Tamer ​ Paul Cote Tail Twister

Paul Calnan PDG-LCIF Coordinator

Kevin Roche Membership Director

Cindy Ladue

Visitation Coordinator

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Bruce Beans Al Bozza Dave Brady

Jack Campbell

Ray Cisneros

Mark Conley Eric Diamond Michael Lemenager Paul Lugten Danielle Rochefort

Dany Rochefort Ann Marie Smith Tara Spellman

David Turi

Frank Zolli