Two students from Independent School District 831 are among those who won first places in the annual District 5M-7 Lions Drug Awareness and Peace Poster Contest. Awards were presented last weekend to the two students and other winners who were guests at the District 5M-7 Lions Mid-Winter Convention in Bloomington. Each received a $100 bond.
Winning firsts were Wren Magnuson, 5, a kindergartner at Lino Lakes Elementary School and Elle McGee, 13, an eighth grader at Southwest Junior High School, Forest Lake.
Wren was a winner in the Lino Lakes Lioness contest. She is the daughter of LeRoy and Darlene Magnuson. Elle was a winner in the contest sponsored by the Forest Lake Lions Club. She is the daughter of Jim and Nancy McGee of East Bethel.
Wrenís poster was entitled: ìBe Happy -- No Drugs -- Be Yourself.î Elleís poster was called ìThe Path of Drugs May Lead to Death.î
Other district drug awareness poster contest winners were:
Grades 1-2: Amber Styre, Montrose Lions, ìI'm a Drug Free Kid.î
Grades 3-4: Summer Stewart, Hanover Lions, ìDrugs Cause Broken Homes & Broken Hearts -- Just Say No!î
Grade 5: Amanda Burggraff, Hanover Lions, ìDrugs Can Be a Matter of Life and Death -- Donít Do Drugs.î
Grades 9-12: Luke Balthazer, Chisago Lakes Lions, ìJoin the Fight Against Drugs.î
Melanie Schmidt of the Centennial Middle School was the 5M Multiple District winner of the Peace Poster Contest.
She will now compete in the Lions International Peace Poster Contest. She is the first 5M-7 Peace Poster Contest winner to advance to the international level.
District 5M-7ís drug awareness contest was started in 1985 by then District Governor Dick Tyler, Forest Lake, and chaired by the late Lion Bruce Gagnelius, Monticello.
Next yearís contest will be named after Lion Gagnelius. Lion Ginny Hestekind of the Circle Pines/Lexington Lions Club was chair of the two district contests.
District Gov. Kevin Schuldt, Anoka, presented plaques to all winners. District 5M-7 includes nearly 2000 Lions from clubs in the counties of Anoka, Chisago, Isanti, Sherburne, Washington and Wright.
Prior to the awards ceremony, attendees at a breakfast listened to Pauline Ulrey, field representative of Leader Dogs for the Blind, tell about her personal challenges with blindness and about her life being given back to her by Lions and their guide dog program headquartered in Rochester, MI.
Ulrey said she has had six Leader Dogs over the past 40 years. Accompanying her to the convention was her dog Storm.
ìThese dogs have given me my life, my independence, my motivation, my self confidence and helped provide an equalizer to society,î said Ulrey.
Since 1939 the Leader Dog school has graduated 12,500 people from 49 states, 39 Canadian provinces and 31 foreign countries. The school graduates 275 dogs and persons each year.
ìBlindness is my least limiting quality as long as I have my dog,î Ulrey said.
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