News & Happenings

Conventions, Forums & Conferences, District News, LCI, Newsletters, Training for Montana Lions

Dates to Remember – January 2026

JANUARY CLUB ANNIVERSARIES

517 years of service!!!

                                 Sun River Valley                                    01/05/1966

                               Helena Gold Rush                                   01/09/1984

                                     Glendive                                             01/10/1944

                                  Hot Springs                                          01/23/1940

                          Eureka-Tobacco Valley                                 01/16/2014

                                   Cascade                                               01/25/1958

                                    Denton                                                 01/26/1955

                                   Hamilton                                       01/27/1930 – 96 Years!

UPCOMING DISTRICT MEETING DATES

District Cabinet Meeting – January 10, 2026 @ 9:00am  VIA ZOOM

MT Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation –  January 20, 2026 @ 6:00pm VIA ZOOM

2026 DISTRICT 37 CONVENTION

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!! 

MAKE YOUR HOTEL RESERVATIONS!!

APRIL 17-18, 2026, COLUMBIA FALLS, MT

LIONS CLUB INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION SCHEDULE

2026 Hong Kong – Jul 3-7

2027 Washington DC – July 2-6

2028 Singapore -June 23-27

2029 Minneapolis, MN

2030 San Antonio TX

2031 – Helsinki Finland

UPCOMING USA/CANADA FORUMS

USA/CANADA LIONS LEADERSHIP FORUMS CAN BE RELATED TO ALL AREAS OF YOUR LIFE – NOT JUST LIONS

2026  Memphis TN – September 3 – 5

2027  Huntsville, AB – September 16-18

2028 Grand Rapids, MI – To be announced

2029 Shreveport, LA – To be announced

 

District News, Newsletters

Special Notices – January 2026

For Club Secretaries

If you make changes to your club officers, meeting locations and/or meeting dates & times in the Lion Portal, please send a note to Lion Peggy Tobin, District 37 Secretary at [email protected] or call/text 406-461-4206 so she can more efficiently update the District website. The club directory information on the website is used by the district governor’s team to plan visits, set up meetings, and provide updates.  THANK YOU!

For Club Treasurers

PLEASE SEE THE RECENT POST NOTING THAT DISTRICT DUES WILL BE DELIVERED VIA QUICKBOOKS ONLINE!  ALSO KEEP A LOOKOUT IN THE PORTAL FOR YOUR JANUARY 1ST STATEMENTS FROM LCI WHICH WILL REFLECT THE 2ND HALF OF THE INTERNATION DUES OF $25/LION

District 37 Club Officer Training Videos

These videos are all accessible via the district website, www.montanalions.org under “Training/Resources”: 

Short videos about how to do specific secretary or treasurer tasks:

Filing your 990-N (e-Postcard) (9 minutes)

With the release of the new LionPortal, we have added links to some of the short videos provided by LCI:

Newsletter Information

Any Lions club member can submit information associated with any type of Lions project or general club information. You can submit Club News ANYTIME! You are also welcome to email your news (hopefully with photo) to: Lion Peggy Tobin at [email protected].

Website Updates

In Addition to the “Tri-Fold Generator” for clubs to create their own club brochures,  additional documents have been added under  including Leo Application forms!!  If you have trouble finding a resource and it’s not currently available on the website, please contact Peggy Tobin at [email protected] or call 406-461-4206.

Free Club Websites!

The club-level website is still being offered by Montana District 37 at NO COST! If you don’t already have a domain name, Deanna can provide one for a cost of $20/year after the first year. If you are interested in getting a website for your club, please contact Peggy Tobin at [email protected] or call 406-461-4206.

District News, Governance, Newsletters

2026 District 37 Membership Invoices Sent via QuickBooks Online

Happy New Year! District 37 membership invoices have now been sent electronically using QuickBooks Online. These invoices were emailed directly to club Treasurers, with Presidents and Club Administrators copied whenever that information was available. In cases where a Treasurer or President email address was not listed, the invoice was sent to the Club Secretary or the next officer listed in the directory to ensure timely delivery. In the rare cases where no officers were listed or no officers had emails, those invoices were mailed directly. Please note the following details so you can easily identify a legitimate invoice: This is the standard email address QuickBooks Online uses to deliver invoices. If you see an invoice matching the details above, it is coming from the District and is valid. That said, healthy skepticism around financial emails is reasonable and encouraged. If you ever want to verify the legitimacy of an invoice or have questions about what you received, I strongly encourage you to contact the sender directly. In this case, that is me. My phone number is listed in the District Newsletter, and I am always happy to confirm or walk through an invoice with you. Thank you for your prompt attention to District dues and for the work you do to keep your clubs running smoothly. Clear communication and accurate records make all of our jobs easier. Dues can be paid electronically via the link in the invoice email, or by sending a check to:
District 37 PO Box 202 Choteau, MT 59422-0202
Yours in service, Lion Steve District 37 Cabinet Treasurer
Club News, Newsletters

Missoula Lions Serve!

Plus Optix Screening

This fall the Missoula Lions provided vision screening for 2,073 kindergarten through eighth grade. This was all coordinated by Lion Paul Buck.

Christmas Tree Sale

Missoula Lions sold Christmas Trees from November 29th through December 9th. Over 251 volunteer hours resulting in $26,000.00 raised for local projects

Club News, Newsletters

Bozeman Gallatin Empire Lions Club – Cooking Summer & Winter

The Bozeman Gallatin Empire Lions provided Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Popcorn, Candy and soft drinks at the Bozeman Stampede Rodeo. 

They put their cooking stills to work again for the recent Christmas Stroll, serving Brats & Hot Dogs – definitely not as warm outside! 

Conventions, Forums & Conferences, District News, Mid-month Newsletter

2025 District 37 Post Convention Report – Saturday Evening

This will be the last post in the series of the 2025 District 37 convention reports held May 2nd and 3rd in Helena MT. 

Saturday evening was the final event of the 2025 District 37 convention beginning with wonderful entertainment, a social hour, toasts and a delicious dinner. 

The keynote address by International Director Robert “Ski” Marcinkowski focused on how to “Go Fishing” for new lions.  This was followed by the induction new lion Chelsee Mahsman from Ennis.

The final event of the evening was the Governor’s award presentations.  

Certificates of Appreciation were awarded to District GLT/Diabetes Chair PDG Mike Collins, District Leo Chair Adrian Miller and District Treasurer Steve Dogiakos.  

Presidential Leadership Medals were given to Havre Lion Jerry Kuhn and Zone Chair Margaret Baylinson of Columbia Falls.  

The Presidential Medal was awarded to Shepherd Lion Carl Vender.  

Darcie Jo Jurenka, member of the Helena Gold Rush Lions and Convention Tail Twister was the recipient of the Certificate of Tiggerism award. 

Conventions, Forums & Conferences, District News, Mid-month Newsletter, Newsletters

New Hotel Information for 2026 District 37 Convention!

Club News, Mid-month Newsletter

Sunburst Lions Kick Off Christmas Season

On Wednesday, December 3rd, the Sunburst Lions Club kicked off the Christmas  Season with the Annual Christmas Stroll.  The Club had their annual raffle and sold MT Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation Raffle tickets for the Red Honda.  The event included hayrides and Christmas Carols were sung by all the students.  Event Coordinators were Lions Sally and Whitney Aschim and Lion “Santa” (Willie Wilson) arrived right on time to pass out candy to all the kids. 

On Saturday, December 14th the Sunburst Lions Club continued the Christmas Season with three of their Signature Club Activities.

They started the afternoon off with their Senior Christmas Party featuring yummy treats, bingo and lots of prizes.  Rudolf came and shared lots of hugs and salt water taffy.

Following the senior party, folks gathered for the 2nd annual Christmas Tree Lighting event located between Northern Telephone and the library.  Along with lighting last year’s tree and this year’s new tree, there was a fire pit, hot chocolate and apple cider for all of the participants. The weather even cooperated with a balmy, calm 35+ degrees. 

The final event of the evening was the Light Parade which had Santa Clause coming to town!!  The evening ended with fireworks!  

Club News, Mid-month Newsletter

Billings Lions Cook for Ronald McDonald House

Lions Sue Hanson and Richard Gessling of the Billings Lions Club, along with a friend prepared and cooked three meals for 30 people.  The meals were frozen to be used when necessary by the staff.  We got a tour of an apartment that was an example of the accommodations.

The Ronald McDonald House has added many new units over the years and now has close to twenty.  Our club last year and this will be donating food and presents to the Ronald McDonald House at our Christmas Party.

District News, Newsletters

December 2025 Newsletter

We are continuing to evolve the format of the newsletter notification emails. The publication of the newsletter is at the beginning of the month, but articles are posted all during the month.  A second email notification mid-way through the month will be sent if there are additional posts to share.

You can reply to this email to give us feedback on the new format.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!!