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