Eastern Connecticut news., 1946-08-17

LlOILdEy CLCs lIllS IdSLGu dppIOAl"
 mately 15 minutes until the flag
 was raised and the scene that has
 become so much part of the his- tory of the Pacific War was reen-
 acted exact and to the point in
 front of our eyes Speaking of
 eyes there were very few if any
 that actually were dry, and hearts
 were humping heavily. Following
 curtain call Past International
 President Frank V. Birch of Mill waukee introduced PhM2/c John
 H. Bradley, who very interestingly described how he, sailor, was with the Marines on Two Jima, how
 he happened to be one of the six
 to raise the flag, in fact he de-
 Scribed the entire campaign from
 start to finish. He also described the real tough tWO-mOnth Bond Tour the three survivors of the or- iginal were called to make. could go on and on but 1 think | could almost write book on this
 particular program. I later had
 the pleasure of meeting Lion Jack
 and had a real pleasant chat with him. The International Presidents Ball filled out the evening at Con- | vention Hall.
 Thursday morning, bright and
 early at 8 a. m, the Connecticut
 Breakfast was held with fine delegation from Connecticut, guests from surrounding states which included Melvin Jones and President CoIIazo. At the session at Convention Hall an address by
 Dr. John Robbins Hart of the American Red Cross was heard.
 Report of the nominating commit tee and second speeches.
 In the evening Lions Information al Mite was held at Convention
 Hall with two solid hours of en- joyable entertainment. Follow ing the close of this program the International Dance was held at
 the Benjamin Franklin Hotel. Friday morning voting was held
 from to 1O:30 for International
 officers and directors. The final convention session was called to
 order by Pres. Collazo. Final re-
 ports of all committees were re- ceived Prizes were awarded for various contests. The following
 resolutions were adopted. Better
 Educational Standards for the Ma ton, with increases in teachers salaries. Spanish be made a re- quired elementary school subject l in this country and that English be
 similarly required in Latin Amer ican Schools. That United Nations Charter Day, June 26, be set aside as an International Peace Day. l That Hawaii be granted the priv l ilege of becoming the 18th state. A resolution was adopted creating
 a Foundation for Sight Conserva-
 ton" with an annual appropriation of $5O,OOO. The foundation will l work with independent groups in | the prevention of blindness. All youth organizations were pledged | cooperation.
 Elections were announced as follows: President, Clifford Pierce,
 Memphis, Tenn; first vice presl-
 dent, Fred w. Smith, Ventura,
 Calif.; second vice president, Flu
 gene s. Briggs, Enid, Okla; third vice president, for which there were five contests, the winner was
 Walter C. Fischer of Queenston, Ont, Can. Among those elected to the International Board of Direc-
 tors was Arthur Hinman of Port
 land, Me, who will represent the
 N. E. District. Connecticut was
 signally honored when our own
 Harold Ashley of Waterbury was chosen as one of the seven mem
 bers of the Executive Council of Board of Governors.
 It was a fine convention Tn
 every respect, Philadelphians re-
 marked that it was the best be- haved crowd they have had in d long time. Prices were reasonable for everything, food, rooms, and in- cidentals. Here I have attempted to submit as fair report of your h. ternational Convention, as it was humanly possible to cover. I wish to thank the Norwich Lions for giving me the distinct privilege of AL, nk