Tonight, following the Count for the Local Assembly Elections, I attended, as High Sheriff of Belfast, with my wife Kerry, the Banquet and Ball of the 60th Annual Lions International Convention , which was taking place in the Waterfront Hall, Belfast. The Banquet and Ball was held in the Ramada Hotel, Shaw's Bridge. The local Organising Committee was led by Lion John Mooney and Lions Clubs Multiple District organising Officer Lion Brian Yeoman.

Kerry and I sat with Lion Sid Scruggs lll, International President of Lions Clubs and his wife Judy, Past International Director Howard Lee and his wife Claire and Council Chairman Lion Jacquie Prebble and partner Bob. Sid and Judy were of Scotch-Irish/Scottish descent. Judy was a McBride, the ancestors of whom had been in America before the Revolutionary War. Sid's family were originally from Aberdeen. Judy told me that there was a plaque in her native New Hampshire celebrating the advent of the Potatoe there by Irish Presbyterians. I said that there was a remnant of Ullans in her speech as she often said “y'all” or “ye all”.The couple now lived in North Carolina, a centre of Scotch-Irish settlement.

This was the Annual Business meeting for the Lions of Great Britain and Ireland. The business sessions took place Saturday morning and afternoon and Sunday morning.The Banquet and Ball was the formal event of the weekend. Speeches were Toast to Lions Clubs International Council Chair Jacquie Prebble, Response International President Syd Scruggs, Toast to Guests, Response High Sheriff.

Lions Clubs International is the world's largest Service Organisation with over 1.3m members operating through 45,000 clubs in 206 countries.Multiple District 105 Great Britain & Ireland has 17,400 members operating through 850 clubs throughout Great Britain and all of Ireland north and south.Lions Clubs were formed in 1917 in Chicago and established in 1950 in the UK. Only once has a Lion from Great Britain and Ireland held the office of International President, the late Bert Mason from Donaghadee Co. Down in 1984-1985.

http://lionsclubs.org/EN/index.php is the International website and http://www.lionsmd105.org is the Great Britain and Ireland website

Michael Fisher comments: I hope you and your wife enjoyed your night with the Lions from MD105 (Britain & Ireland). If anyone in the Belfast area would like to join the revived club in the city, please contact me (Michael Fisher, President Belfast Lions Club) at mjfisher1@hotmail.co.uk. Our meetings are held at the Wellington Park Hotel on the first Wednesday and third Tuesday of each month at 8pm. The great contribution of Bert Mason to Lions International was marked by the planting of a tree and plaque in Donaghadee (Saturday 14th May), organised by the Newtownards Lions Club with which Bert was also associated in his latter years….ed Ian Adamson