Incoming Lions Clubs International president Kajit Habanananda will be the featured speaker when the 75th Missouri Lion's State Convention is held in Cape Girardeau later this month.

Some 800 Lion's Club members are expected to attend the four-day event, which will be held at the Holiday Inn Convention Center April 30 through May 3.

Habanananda, of Bangkok, Thailand, will deliver the keynote address during a banquet May 2. The international consultant will become the 82nd president of Lions Clubs International this summer at the international convention to be held in Birmingham, England.

A variety of informational activities, club meetings and training seminars are planned. The event will also feature other activities, including a golf tournament and tours of historic Cape Girardeau sites.

Dr. Keith Deimund, Cape Girardeau Noon Lion's Club convention chairman, said the convention is being held in Cape Girardeau because of a successful bid won by District 26-D two years ago. Delegates from the 35 clubs included in the district, which encompasses all of Southeast Missouri from Park Hills to the Arkansas border, and the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau developed the bid presentation, he said.

"This is the first time in 50 years it's been held in Cape Girardeau, so we feel fortunate to get it here," he said. "The Convention and Visitors Bureau is helping with registration and transportation needs. They were a big help in helping us plan this."

CVB director Mary Miller said the convention is a "classic example of good local support." Besides the collaborative efforts of Lions representatives and CVB employees, others in the community were helpful in scheduling events so they didn't conflict with the convention, she said.

"A lot of people were pulling together to make this happen," said Miller. "They made a commitment to work on bringing this to town and it's going to be a real benefit. Each and every time a person comes to our community, it's an opportunity for us to say welcome, and hopefully make a good impression so they want to visit us again."

Deimund said club members will learn more about the many philanthropic projects sponsored by Lions clubs during the convention. Free hearing tests will also be available to the public in the Lions hearing van, which will be based at the Holiday Inn, he said.

Local Lions organizations support a number of projects dedicated to assisting the vision and hearing impaired, including the national Leader Dog program, the Mid South Sight and Hearing project in Memphis, and the Missouri Lions Eye research Foundation in Columbia.

"Our main emphasis is on the sight and hearing impaired," he said. "We'll also focus on diabetes, because it's a major cause of blindness, and we'll learn more about the prevention of and treatment of sight and hearing problems."

Deimund said the event is expected to benefit both the city and the club district. If everything goes well, it's possible district members will want to bid for another conference in the future, he said.

"It will definitely provide an economic boost for Cape Girardeau because of all of the convention attendees," said Deimund. "We hope it's a big success and then in six or seven years we might bid on it again."