Jim Vermeersch is excited to have his new role with Lions International.
Vermeersch, who is a long-time member of the Estevan Lions Club and a resident of Kenosee Lake, was elected as the new district governor for Lions District 5SKS for the 2019-20 year at the international convention earlier in the summer. He’ll be responsible for a large area that stretches from the Alberta border to the west and the Manitoba border to the east, and Highway 1 to the north and the U.S. border to the south.
Seventy-three clubs are in southern Saskatchewan, including many smaller rural clubs where the Lions are the only service club in the community.
“Those seem to be very strong clubs, like Bateman or Climax,” said Vermeersch. “They’re not very large towns.”
His first vice-district governor is Don Morris from Cabri and the second vice is Doug Ross from Regina. Between the three of them, they will visit all 73 clubs over the course of the year.
“The district governor probably does the bulk of the travelling,” said Vermeersch. “But I’m looking forward to that. I consider that the best part of the job is being able to go out and visit all of the clubs and members.”
He has not been to many of the clubs in western Saskatchewan in the past two years, so he expects to spend a lot of time in the west.
When he visits a club, he tries to carry the same message about the power of service and the importance of optimism.
Vermeersch has been a Lion for about 26 years, and was asked a few years ago to consider becoming a district governor. He decided to jump at the opportunity a couple of years ago.
“I decided it was time to step up into a larger leadership role. I’ve made a lot of great friends being a Lion, and given the fact that I was retired, I thought it was time for me to do this.”
The role is essentially the chief executive officer for Lions International in southern Saskatchewan, he said, which means he will have to handle a lot of administrative duties.
He has a cabinet of Lions members from throughout the region that he has to work with, and they meet four times per year. Several people from Estevan are on his cabinet. Mike Zeleny is a zone chair, Nancy Brodeur is the cabinet treasurer and Bob Abernethy is the chair of the sight and service committee.
When he joined the Lions in Carlyle in the 1990s, Vermeersch knew they were a great service club. He viewed it as a way to meet a lot of people and help the community.
He is still very proud to be a Lion, and he is excited to take on this new role within the organization.
