The Lion Mosaics
All proceeds from sales of any of my Lion mosaics go to the Sacramento Embarcadero Lions Club, to be used for assisting deafblind guide dog users with unexpected expenses for their dogs, and for supporting the raising and special training of guide dogs to work with deafblind handlers.
Embardadero’s Leo, Leonardo and Linus are all working hard to help two of my favorite guide dog schools, Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester, Michigan (where my first two guides, April and Trace, came from) and Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind in Smithtown, New York (where my present guide dog, Pat, is from).
Lionel the Turq and King of the Garden are eager to get to work, too, and still looking for their new homes!
Embardadero’s Leo, Leonardo and Linus are all working hard to help two of my favorite guide dog schools, Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester, Michigan (where my first two guides, April and Trace, came from) and Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind in Smithtown, New York (where my present guide dog, Pat, is from).
Lionel the Turq and King of the Garden are eager to get to work, too, and still looking for their new homes!
I dedicate 100 percent of all sales of my lion-themed mosaics to my Sacramento Enbarcadero Lions Club or any other LCI program, with the specification that the money be used to help blind and deaf-blind guide dog users.
The Lion Mosaics
About The Lion Mosaics
Lions Clubs began working to serve and improve their communities in 1917, and went international in 1920, becoming Lions Clubs International (LCI). In 1925, Helen Keller charged them to become “knights for the blind in the crusade against darkness.”
My own appreciation for LCI began in 1999 when I went to get my first guide dog, April, from Leader Dogs for the Blind near Detroit, Michigan. Leader Dogs is strongly supported by Lions Clubs in their area, and while I was there I met many Lions Club members. After I retired April, I returned to Leader Dogs in 2007 to get my second guide dog, Trace (now retired). I plan to return to Leader Dogs sometime in 2017 for my next guide dog.
Meanwhile, here at home in Sacramento, Lions Clubs pitched in to provide transportation and other assistance when I hosted the RP Socials in 2010 and 2013. I also worked with local Lions in assisting blind and deaf-blind runners participate in the annual California International Marathon between Folsom and Sacramento. Overall I was impressed with the pro-active attitude and the many avenues of service pursued by Lions here in Sacramento. If ever there was a community service organization I’d join, I thought, it’d be the Lions.
Then I went to Bangalore, India, from December, 2013, through February, 2014, to teach my mosaic technique to blind and deaf-blind students at the Mathru Schools for the Blind there. Then my traveling companion for my trip back home canceled due to an emergency appendectomy. I didn’t know how I was going to manage, all alone, the trip home, which included two nights in Hong Kong and five nights in Manila. My Lions friends went to bat for me and rounded up all the assistance I needed. Hong Kong Lions met me at the Hong Kong airport when my flight arrived there from Bangalore, India; they arranged for all the personal assistance I needed for two days and nights on my own in Hong Kong; they helped me catch my flight to Manila for a reunion with an old college friend; and then when I flew back to Hong Kong to catch my flight home to California, they were again there to meet me and see me safely off home.
And when I got home, I said to myself, "OK, after that kind of service and assistance, I have to join." So I’m a member of the Sacramento Embarcadero Lions Club now, and while I don’t make many of their weekly 7 a.m. breakfast meetings, and nor am I exactly their ideal person to serve at dinners and breakfasts, I am great for supplying cookies and other goodies for events, and I donate my mosaic-lid jars and other items for fundraising raffles.
Recently a deaf-blind friend who is also cognitively-impaired, needed help with meeting unexpected veterinary expenses for her guide dog. I was dismayed to find that Lions in her own area were not able to help her, and that while many Lions Clubs choose to support guide dogs for the blind programs, there is no LCI-wide program designed to help blind and deaf-blind guide dog users with expenses for their dogs. The happy ending to this story is that my fellow Sacramento Embarcadero Lions donated funds to help my friend pay her guide dog’s vet bill, and she and her guide dog are doing fine.
But I want LCI and my Sacramento Embarcadero Lions to be in a position to help guide dog users anywhere in times of need. I think helping blind and deaf-blind guide dog users is something Helen Keller would most definitely approve. So, in my own small corner of the world, and in my own way of bringing my talents to service in the Lions way, I have decided to make lion-themed mosaics and dedicate 100 percent of all sales to my Sacramento Enbarcadero Lions Club or any other LCI program, with the specification that the money be used to help blind and deaf-blind guide dog users. This is my contribution to the Lions mission of meeting Helen Keller’s challenge to serve as “knights for the [deaf-]blind."
Here are my first two Lion mosaics, Embarcadero’s Leo and Leonardo. There are several Lion mosaics in my mind, just waiting for a board to jump on to, and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you. Stay tuned!
Lions Clubs began working to serve and improve their communities in 1917, and went international in 1920, becoming Lions Clubs International (LCI). In 1925, Helen Keller charged them to become “knights for the blind in the crusade against darkness.”
My own appreciation for LCI began in 1999 when I went to get my first guide dog, April, from Leader Dogs for the Blind near Detroit, Michigan. Leader Dogs is strongly supported by Lions Clubs in their area, and while I was there I met many Lions Club members. After I retired April, I returned to Leader Dogs in 2007 to get my second guide dog, Trace (now retired). I plan to return to Leader Dogs sometime in 2017 for my next guide dog.
Meanwhile, here at home in Sacramento, Lions Clubs pitched in to provide transportation and other assistance when I hosted the RP Socials in 2010 and 2013. I also worked with local Lions in assisting blind and deaf-blind runners participate in the annual California International Marathon between Folsom and Sacramento. Overall I was impressed with the pro-active attitude and the many avenues of service pursued by Lions here in Sacramento. If ever there was a community service organization I’d join, I thought, it’d be the Lions.
Then I went to Bangalore, India, from December, 2013, through February, 2014, to teach my mosaic technique to blind and deaf-blind students at the Mathru Schools for the Blind there. Then my traveling companion for my trip back home canceled due to an emergency appendectomy. I didn’t know how I was going to manage, all alone, the trip home, which included two nights in Hong Kong and five nights in Manila. My Lions friends went to bat for me and rounded up all the assistance I needed. Hong Kong Lions met me at the Hong Kong airport when my flight arrived there from Bangalore, India; they arranged for all the personal assistance I needed for two days and nights on my own in Hong Kong; they helped me catch my flight to Manila for a reunion with an old college friend; and then when I flew back to Hong Kong to catch my flight home to California, they were again there to meet me and see me safely off home.
And when I got home, I said to myself, "OK, after that kind of service and assistance, I have to join." So I’m a member of the Sacramento Embarcadero Lions Club now, and while I don’t make many of their weekly 7 a.m. breakfast meetings, and nor am I exactly their ideal person to serve at dinners and breakfasts, I am great for supplying cookies and other goodies for events, and I donate my mosaic-lid jars and other items for fundraising raffles.
Recently a deaf-blind friend who is also cognitively-impaired, needed help with meeting unexpected veterinary expenses for her guide dog. I was dismayed to find that Lions in her own area were not able to help her, and that while many Lions Clubs choose to support guide dogs for the blind programs, there is no LCI-wide program designed to help blind and deaf-blind guide dog users with expenses for their dogs. The happy ending to this story is that my fellow Sacramento Embarcadero Lions donated funds to help my friend pay her guide dog’s vet bill, and she and her guide dog are doing fine.
But I want LCI and my Sacramento Embarcadero Lions to be in a position to help guide dog users anywhere in times of need. I think helping blind and deaf-blind guide dog users is something Helen Keller would most definitely approve. So, in my own small corner of the world, and in my own way of bringing my talents to service in the Lions way, I have decided to make lion-themed mosaics and dedicate 100 percent of all sales to my Sacramento Enbarcadero Lions Club or any other LCI program, with the specification that the money be used to help blind and deaf-blind guide dog users. This is my contribution to the Lions mission of meeting Helen Keller’s challenge to serve as “knights for the [deaf-]blind."
Here are my first two Lion mosaics, Embarcadero’s Leo and Leonardo. There are several Lion mosaics in my mind, just waiting for a board to jump on to, and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you. Stay tuned!
By the way, the first and only lion mosaic I ever made until Embarcadero’s Leo and Leonardo was a commissioned piece, Fleurs de Leo, that is one one of my all-time faves. I should include him here even though he isn’t one of my Lions Club mosaics, because he’ll most definitely inspire future Lion mosaics!