CULLMAN, Ala. – The Installment Dinner for The Lions and Lioness Club marked a historical change for the organization Monday evening at Stonebridge. What was once an evening of celebration for the Lions Club and Lioness Club individually, is now one club, unified by their motto “We Serve.”
The evening kicked off with a Call to Order by Club President Javon Daniel, a group rendition of “America, the Beautiful” led by Song Leader Richard White and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Lion Chris Robinson, after which dinner was be served.
Once dinner had been served, President Daniel resumed the podium once more to recognize the honored guests of the evening. These guests were MD-34A DG Glenda Moxley, Lion Andrew Manning, Lioness Heather Rabending, Lioness Dean Twilley and Lioness Ginger Hogeland. President Daniel then reviewed the difficult points of the past year and commended the members of the club for their unity and sense of togetherness through it all before concluding with a congratulatory statement on the union of the Lion and Lioness Clubs saying, “For the Cullman Lioness Club, this year has been an incredibly unique year. This year, we brought in and embraced fellow Lions from the Lioness Club and they are now the Lion and Lioness Branch Club. We are immensely proud to have them with us.”
Immediate Past President Heather Rebending was introduced and spoke about her honor of serving as Lioness President in the past year saying, “I would like to thank my family, friends, Lions and my husband for your support and guidance during this unique year while serving others. Even though we were not able to do as much due to the pandemic, I thought it was an overall successful year.” She then listed things that the Lioness Club has come to accomplish over the course of the past year, such as the annual fair, managing concession stands and booths, maintaining monthly meetings, a Valentine’s Day banquet, White Elephant sale to contribute to membership dues and supplying two $1,000 scholarships to students from Cullman County Schools. They have also contributed over $18,000 to HFC’s throughout the community, such as NapSacks for Kids, Brook’s Place, United Way, Learn, Grow, Eat, & Go, Good Samaritan Clinic, Alabama’s Lion Sight, Grace Place, Cullman Caring for Kids and Kenya Relief.
Rebending then shared her sentiments for the new president saying, “I wish our new president the best for this upcoming year, and I know that she will represent our club well. I would like to leave you with this quote from Helen Keller. ‘Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.’ Thank you all for serving others.”
The Lioness of the Year Award was then awarded to Lioness Cynthia Tubbs by Lioness Mary Daniel who said, “It was not hard to choose this Lioness. She does her job well and her duties as an officer in our club. With her doing all of that, she suffered a great deal of misfortune in her family with COVID. Yet, she kept doing her duties within our club.”
MD-34A DG Glenda Moxley was introduced to commence the Installation of Officers. She began the Installation by calling each representative from the Lions and Lioness for the following categories:
- President- Javon Daniel, Dean Twilley
- Immediate Past President- Andrew Manning, Heather Rabending
- 1st Vice President- Milford Parrish, Linda Smith
- 2nd Vice President- Cody Smith, Sara Beth Willoughby
- 3rd Vice President Tim Sinyard, Christina Gadow
- Secretary- Craig Gadow, Cynthia Tubbs
- Treasurer- Jerry Bonner (PCC), Sue Spradlin
- Tail Twister- David Bussman, Megan Smith
- Lion/Lioness Tamer- Dave Gratz, Virginia Barnett
- Director- Chris Brooks, Mary Daniel, Delane Ray, Judy Smith, Fred Osborne, Judy Waldrep, Casey Smith
- Membership Chair- Gordon Boyd, Nelda Powell
- Membership Vice Chair- Bill Ruehl, Jennie Gurley and
- Membership Member- Frank Odell, Judy Mangum.
Holding the title of an Officer in the Lions and Lionesses Club is an incredibly special honor in which the members must remember their words, “We Serve.” These positions demand consistent selflessness and putting the better of the community first.
Following the Installation and well-deserved congratulations, the Presentations of the Gavels to the Lions and Lionesses presidents were conducted by Lion Andrew Manning and Lioness Heather Rabending.
Lioness President Dean Twilley shared, “I am honored to be voted in as your President of the Cullman Lion and Lionesses for the second time. I look forward to working with Javon and making sure everything is running smoothly. I am just excited about this year.”
President Javon Daniel closed out the evening by saying, “And as we begin this new year, I challenge you to be the best Lion that you can be and then together, Cullman can be the best Lions Club we have ever had. Thank you for this honor. –Ladies we are so glad you are part of the Lions Club. I know you continue to have your own meetings and agenda, but when it comes right down to it–we are all Lions.”
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