Chairman Lion Warner Phelps, left, asks State Senator Brandon Creighton, right, to pull the tickets for the 24 finalists who will return for the Lucky Derby Car Raffle on Wednesday to vie for a brand new 2018 Chevrolet Equinox donated by Buckalew Chevrolet.

“Rich Sproba, come on down! Your name has been picked to be a finalist to win a Brand new car,” was NOT stated during our meeting this week. The big news that everyone was waiting on was if they were named as a finalist in our Lucky Derby Car Raffle for 2017. I am very disappointed with Lion Warner Phelps and his Distinguished, and supposedly unbiased drawer – State Senator Brandon Creighton. He had 24 chances to pick my name and failed miserably. I am sure that those lucky enough to be picked don’t feel sorry for me and are getting ready for the final event which is on December 13. This is our big day where we come up with a game to determine which one of the 24 will drive away in a 2018 Chevy Equinox, donated fully by our very own Lions Don and Donnie Buckalew. The Buckalews have helped Lions in many ways and with their generosity this year, it will end up making this one of our largest fund raisers of the year.

Some of the lucky ones this year do include former Mayor Carter Moore, Lions Stephanie Davenport, Anne Hoffman, Russell Miller, Bobby Adams, Mike Sproba, Lisa Poppell and even 1st VP Bobby Brennan, plus a few of our Community Partners made the drawing. We even have Sparky Gullo as a finalist, so we would get a kick out of him driving a Chevrolet if he were to win.

Our club has a lot of fun but still has plenty of service to do for the last few weeks of 2017. The biggies remaining include our Christmas Baskets that will be organized and packed on the 19th and ready for delivery on the 20th. We need Lions help so please get in touch with 2nd VP Lion Scott Perry or Lion Paul Moore. We also have the Jingle Bell Bash at Reaves Elementary (our local adopted Conroe school.) This is the last party of the year for the kids there so only requirement to helping is willingness to have fun and celebrate the start of the Christmas break.

Our meeting this was week was our annual Round-ball Roundup. I know the Courier has already done a write up about that so won’t repeat what they have said. I will send a thank you out to Lions Don Buckalew and Mark Weatherly for organizing the event. They brought in coaches from The Woodlands, College Park, Oak Ridge, Montgomery, Caney Creek, Conroe and Willis to give us a brief update of what they have to look forward to in the High School basketball season. As always, the coaches are very impressive to see and find out what they do to motivate the players to excel on and off the court. The coaches were all very well spoken but I would like to highlight Willis High School Coach Michael Storms. He was the only one to not only give thanks to the support of his principal, athletic director but also his wife! This guy knows what it takes to be a success so even though his wife didn’t hear it, hopefully she will see this.

For more information, please visit our website, www.conroenoonlions.org, or call the local club office at 936-760-1666. You may also call 936-760-1666 for additional information on any area Lions Club.