Lions District Governor Rev. Kerry Hookstra will make an official club visitation to the Great Bend Evening Lions Club at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 13, at the First Presbyterian Church, 2400 Washington St. in Great Bend. All club members are encouraged to be present for this important meeting with the District Governor and other visiting Lions leaders.
The Lions of Western Kansas elected Rev. Kerry Hookstra, of the Downs Lions Club, as the District Governor for the 2010-11 club year.   Hookstra was installed in office while attending the 93rd International Lions Club Convention in Sydney, Australia in July.
Reverened Hookstra was called to minister with First Christian Church of Downs in 2007. He is active in the Downs and Osborne Ministerial Associations, along with being a member of the Downs Arts Council Players. He writes local sports copy for newspapers in Oklahoma and for the Downs News and Times.
DG Hookstra is married to Renetta who is also a Lion and serves as District Leo Club Chairperson. Lions Clubs sponsor Leo Clubs as an   organization of school-age youth that is designed to teach and encourage community service.  Kerry and Renetta are the parents of five grown children and seven grandchildren.
Lions Clubs is the largest community service organization in the world, with 1.37 million members in 45,675 clubs, in 206 countries around the globe.  In District 17-L, which covers the entire western half of Kansas, there are 1,685 Lion members, in 70 Lions Clubs, all dedicated to serving the needs of their home communities.