Little Ambassador Takes Leos Around the World

He’s little. He’s legendary. And he’s a Leo. Well, sort of.

Since 2018 Dustin Dumbledore has traveled to Lion and Leo events in at least four countries, received pins from International President Brian Sheehan and Past International President Brian Alexander, joined the Lions International Pin Trading Club in Calgary, ridden front and center in the International Convention parade, and spent countless hours in airports. All without uttering one complaint.

Perhaps that’s because he can’t technically talk. He is a stuffed animal. But those are details. What he lacks in flesh and blood he makes up for with charisma.

He gets photo requests wherever he goes. Everyone wants a piece of Dustin Dumbledore, the Leo mascot for the Lil Legendary Leos in Alberta, Canada.

With 400-plus Facebooks followers and numerous other fans this stuffed Leo has played a unique role in helping to spread the word about what Lions—and especially Leos—are capable of, says Foothills Lion President Tim Beer in Diamond Valley, Alberta, Canada.

It all started in 2018 when Beer’s daughter, Alicia Kiri Beer, attended the multiple district convention in Alberta and purchased him at the Lions Cavalcade for Diabetes booth.

At the time, she was chartering the Leo Club who chose their club’s name after discussing how great they were going to be. “We are going to be famous. We are going to be legendary,” the enthused group said. They are now 26 members strong and have the support of 60 Lions in their small town of about 5,000 people.

Alicia Kiri, 21, introduced to the Lion world by her father when she was just eight years old, is now a Leo-Lion, second vice president of the Foothill Lions Club, District C-2 Leo chairperson, USA/Canada Leo Leadership Foundation board trustee, and charter president of the Lil Legendary Leos Club. She also works full time and is graduating college this spring with a degree in disabilities studies.

Beer is multiple district Leo chair and new advisory panelist for Constitution area 2. He says Dustin Dumbledore—named for the man who encouraged the establishment of the Leo club, and for the Harry Potter character—lets Leos know the many opportunities available to them thru the organization.

“They love to see what their mascot is up to. He is representing all of them,’’ says Tim Beer who works as a city bus driver.

“We can’t do an activity if he’s not there, so we make sure to always bring him along. People ask questions. Where did you get his vest? How does he get all the pins? They want to more know more about the Leo club, and with questions come good things.

“Sometimes things get very serious in Lions world,” says Beer. “He has shown Leos that even those at the top can take the time for pictures with the mascot. They are not out of reach. They want to have fun with everybody else, and Dustin Dumbledore allows them to do that.”

What the charming Leo cannot do is help when the Leos are sorting glasses, cleaning up a section of highway, or collecting firewood from farms to sell at the Lion’s Winter Campground. But he has already proven he can bring in new members. And soon he will be packing his own travel backpack for a busy July with the 105^th Convention in Boston quickly followed by the USA/Canada Leo Leadership Forum in Chicago.

Says Tim Beer, “The little guy sure gets around.”