November is a busy month for our Club.

Thanksgiving and giving. Our club matched the money collected by the Moultonborough staff and administration to provide food gift certificates to families in the area.

We also contributed $500 to Breaking Bread Food Pantry to help buy supplies for over 70 families and two members helped to pack vegetables on November 22.

Sally (in red) with the hard-working crew of Breaking Bread

Bob doing some heavy loading

The Club decided to deliver our Christmas checks to Moultonborough, Tuftonboro, Center Harbor, and Sandwich. Each town decides how best to use the money; however, the majority goes towards the needs and wishes of children. Below is a photo of Co-President Mark Cotrupi handing the check to Brittany Durgen, Moultonborough Public Library Director, for the Santa Fund. The checks to the two towns totaled $2,500,

One of the service platforms of Lions Clubs throughout the world is pediatric cancer. Several weeks ago, Pete and Judy Strople delivered $500 worth of toys (listed on the CHaD Amazon Wish List) to Molly’s House at Dartmouth hospital.

Our raffle sales in front of Heath’s from July through October are over and many Club members (and our District President and Secretary/Treasurer) got together on a Saturday to stuff 1,1000 envelopes with raffle tickets and a letter explaining the many services the Moultonborough Lions Club provides. We have already received many return envelopes with raffle tickets and checks enclosed. Thanks so much to all who responded. Your last chance to buy a raffle to win $5,000 will be at the Christmas Fair at MCS on December 7.

Things seem to get busy in the autumn. As well as temperatures beginning to cool and leaves starting to don their red, gold and orange leaves, The Moultonborough Lions are out and about.

Roadside Clean-up: Three Lions, Sarah, Mark and Bill picked up 20 bags of trash along The Center Harbor section of Route 25.

We plan to clean parts if Route 25 in Moultonborough later in October as well as clean a portion of the road in Sandwich — with some Moultonborough Academy students.

Raffle: Our last time to sell raffle tickets in front of EM Heath’s will be Saturday, October 12. On Saturday, October 26 we will be meeting to stuff over 1000 envelopes with raffle tickets and information. Look for your envelope in the mail soon after. The drawing will be held at 1 pm at the Holiday Fair at Moultonborough Central School. You can buy tickets on that day, starting at 9 am and ending at 12:45 before the drawing.

Camp Pride: Five Lions (Dawn, Sally, Larry, Pete and Judy) spent Saturday morning on September 18 cleaning our adopted bunkhouse in preparation for winter.

Vision Screening: Mark Cotrupi has been extremely busy doing vision screening at area elementary and middle schools (sometimes with the help of a few other Lions but always with the assistance of the school nurses).

Two schools — and 466 students — were screened over two days in September. And during the month of October, we have 10 schools already scheduled. Four schools were done between October 2 and 7 with 527 students being screened.

We would be more that happy to do nursery schools if asked.

Bingo: remember Bingo is held every Tuesday. Doors open at 5:30 and the calling begins at 6:30

We are into the second month of the new Lion year and are so proud to announce that we have three new members. Happiness is having more hands for service projects and for ideas for new service projects. Pete Strople is our greatest ambassador for finding new Lions.

We have two August raffle sales dates. One was on August 17 on a rather cloudy day

and the next will be the last day of August (the 31st). There will be one more Saturday sale in October during Columbus Day weekend. And then — good news — the Holiday Fair is back on (!) and we will be selling the last of the tickets on December 7 prior to drawing the winning ticket for the $5,000 prize.

And speaking of monetary prizes, don’t forget we hold Bingo every Tuesday evening! Calling begins at 6:30; come early to get your packets.

Sutherland Park: we have one and a half more months for Lion members to continue to keep up the flowers and area. We hope people are enjoying it — perhaps bringing some beverages and snacks to enjoy outdoors.

We donated almost $1,600 to four different organizations that provide services to the blind.

In addition to the business meeting on the first Monday of the month, we had a delightful tappas-style dinner meeting on the third Monday of August. Our next business meeting will depart from the usual first Monday because of Labor Day weekend. We will meet at 5 pm on Monday, September 9.

July has decided to be an extremely hot and humid month, and the Fourth of July was no exception. Members of the club set up for the annual barbeque and then served about 250 people hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, three salad sides, and watermelon and drinks. The parade marchers and spectators entered hot and hungry and we were ready for them. From set-up to clean-up, we accomplished it all in four hours.

The weather has also made the need for weeding and, especially, watering Sutherland Park. Members take turns doing this on a weekly basis.

Bingo numbers continue to grow as summer residents and tourists join us on Tuesday evenings to have some air-conditioned fun and perhaps win some money.

Raffle Sales: We started our first raffle sales in front of E.M. Heath on the 13. The sunny, 80 degree weather was great for the boaters and people enjoying a breeze off the lake, but it was a bit less comfortable on the bricks outside. But we met some interesting people who stopped to chat and buy a ticket or five.

The sales in front of Heath’s and the October mailings will most likely be your only chance to buy tickets for a $5,000 prize as it appears that the MCS Holiday Fair will NOT be taking place this year.

In spite of two April snowstorms (giving us more snow in those two storms than all winter), spring finally came to Moultonborough, NH. The bears woke up and so did the Lions with our service activities.

In April, we began our Monday board and business meetings in person, and started our dinner meetings on the third Monday of the month. There were five Tuesdays in the month, so that made five Bingo nights. April is also the time to clean up the roadsides in Center Harbor (18 bags of trash collected) and Moultonborough — we are now doing Route 25 in Moultonborough from Blake Road to Aubuchon’s (43 bags of trash collected over two days).

In May, the scholarship committee met and selected seven students (from applicants living in Moultonborough, Center Harbor, Sandwich, and Tuftonboro) to received a total of $13,000 worth of scholarships to be paid at the beginning of the students’ second semester. We continue our cleaning routine by thoroughly cleaning our adopted bunkhouse at Camp Pride

And with the help of Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts from the Moultonborough Troop and Pack, we collected a little over $1400 to give to organizations which help the blind during our White Cane Day project.

In June, after Lion Pete Strople planted annual flowers in the upper part of Sutherland Park in Moultonborough, we began our weekly routine on weeding and watering by various Lion members.

We also finished up donating individual books to all the elementary students in Moultonborough, Sandwich, and Tuftonboro, by distributing 82 books to students in Tuftonboro.

At our dinner meeting we had speakers from Moultonborough Village Savings Bank, including Dwight Berry who initiated the informative presentation about Frauds and Scams and what we can do and what we should not do.

I really did post for the beginning two months of the year, but there was a glitch in the system and they got lost. I can, however, recap as these three months are relatively slow months for activities and meetings. Many of our members head south during this time and the weather is unpredictable, so we have our monthly meetings by Zoom and won’t start the dinner meetings until April.

Membership

We have welcomed a new member, Bill Adams, who has already attended a meeting and chosen a service project he is interested in pursing. Our other new member, Nina, has already put in 20 hours helping out at Bingo.

Vision Screening

President Mark, screened 98 students at Plymouth Elementary School in early January. Ten of those students were referred to see an optometrist. We welcome the opportunity to test students and can use the vision screener for children aged three months and up. The earlier a vision problem is detected, the sooner it can get corrected.

Eyeglass Collection

Thanks to the wonderful people in our communities we collected 508 pairs of glasses to send to Virginia to determine the prescription and then mailed to third world countries.

Reading in the Schools

This Tuesday, March 26, we delivered 267 new books to each student at Moultonborough Central School. The books are selected by either the librarians or the reading teachers at each of the elementary schools in Moultonborough, Sandwich, and Tuftonboro. We will be bringing books to Sandwich and Tuftonboro at dates they will choose.

Roadside Beautification: We managed to get in a roadside clean up along Route 25 in Center Harbor before the first snow came down. Six of us collected over 10 bags of trash ready to be picked up. It is a good feeling to remove all the litter thrown out by unconcerned motorist and leave the sides of the road looking clean again.

Raffle Tickets and Winner We mailed about 1,200 letters to people near and far explaining what we do as a service organization and containing five raffle tickets to purchase. The returns during the month of November were positive as was the number of tickets sold at the Moultonborough Central School on December 2 at the Holiday Fair. The winner of the $5,000 was drawn at 1:00 pm and the winner is a local resident, Linda Luck of Moultonborough! That should make for a Merry Christmas.

Vision Screening: Ninety students were screened for eye problems at Campton Elementary School on November 15.

Christmas Donations: We have delivered our annual Christmas checks to the four towns our Club services — Moultonborough, Center Harbor, Sandwich, and Tuftonboro. Each town uses the money in the most needed areas of the town. In Moultonborough the money goes to the Santa Fund, headed by Youth Librarian, Sharon Gulla. The Santa Fund is a community initiative (completely funded by donations from individuals and businesses in the Moultonborough community) that provides clothing, food vouchers, and toys to families in need in Moultonborough during the holiday season.

Below is a photo of President Mark giving the check to the Moultonborough Library Director, Brittany Durgin

We also delivered just over 330 personalized Christmas cards to the residents of Golden View, Forest View, and Mountain View and some of them were hand-made by one of our member’s daughter!

Vision Screening: On December 12 41 students at Wentworth Elementary School were screened. Four were referred to see an eye doctor.

Our Christmas dinner meeting will be Monday, December 18 with a meal, laughter, games and a Yankee swap.

From all of us at the Moultonborough Lions Club we wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a healthy 2024!

This has been a busy month for the Moultonborough Lions

Vision Screening: We went into 6 schools in the area — Holderness, Central, Gilmanton, Inter-Lakes Middle School, Tuftonboro Central School, Kenneth A. Brett School, and Sandwich Central School during the month of October 715 students were screened for possible vision problems. Of that number 42 students had letters sent home to their parents indicating a need to make an appointment with an eye doctor.

Raffle: Unfortunately our October date to sell raffle tickets in front of EM Heath’s had to be cancelled because of construction in front of the store putting in pavers instead of wood. On Saturday, October 28, we held our raffle “stuffing” get together. Ten Lions and one relative spent two concentrated hours putting mailing labels on envelopes and stuffing those envelopes with a return envelope, 5 raffle tickets, and a letter. We managed to get around 1250 sealed and stamped and to the post office ten minutes before they closed for the day!

So look for your envelope in the mail. This will be your last chance to purchase what might be the winning ticket for the $5,000 prize until the Holiday Fair at Moultonborough Central School on December 2. The winning ticket will be drawn a little after one pm on that date.

Bingo: There were five Bingo games this month. Remember Bingo is every Tuesday night, starting at 6:30. The doors of the Moultonborough Function Hall (formerly the Lions Club) open at five for ticket sales.

Donations: Since sight is one of the main Lion platforms, we donated $2,250 to sight-related organizations and individuals. Remember we collect eyeglasses you no longer need and they get sent to third world countries for re-use.

Plus we had a great pot luck supper on the 16th and enjoyed socializing. Why not think about joining the Moultonborough Lions!

It seemed like with the rain and the cooler temperatures, summer had ended in August. And while all the rain made lawns green and flowers grow, it also hurt some vegetable growth while making the mushrooms in the lawn and mulch multiply. Now it is September and summer seems to have returned with some beautiful weather.

We had two raffle sales in front of Heath’s in August and have one in September on the 16th. Stop by, sell hello, and purchase your chance to will $5,000 at the beginning of December. We will have one more outside sale date in October and then towards the end of that month, we will start mailing out tickets. Your last chance to purchase the winning ticket will be at the Holiday Fair at MCS on December 2 before the 1 pm drawing.

BINGO: We had four Tuesday night Bingo games in August and plan to have four more in September. It is a good chance to meet neighbors and new friends, have some fun, and win some money.

SUTHERLAND PARK; We’re almost at the end of the flowering season in the top portion of Sutherland Park (next to the Fire/Safety Building) — the rain kept everything blooming well. Come and enjoy sitting there for a while — maybe with a cup of coffee or a snack. Towards the end of the month it will be time for club members to clean out and weed … and do a little autumn decorating.

Two Lions, Mark and Sarah, did a tremendous job of picking up trash along Route 25 in Center Harbor on the 21st. We wouldn’t have as many bags if some motorists didn’t throw cans, coffee cups, and many strange things out their car windows. Let’s all do our part to keep all roadsides free of trash.

This is the start of the new Lion year. During the old year (2022-23) two of our caring and active members passed away: Lloyd Connery and Marilyn Indelicato. We are saddened by our loss and that of their families and friends.

We are trying to learn more about the previous lives of our members during dinner meetings — this is a fun and informative time of sharing which we hope to continue.

We also hope to entice new members who wish to serve their community, become part of a like-minded organization, and contribute new ideas. Some of our newest members are starting to organize a pickleball tournament in the next month or two.

There were plenty of Moultonborough Lions to serve the Fourth of July parade marchers and viewers. We cooked hot dogs and hamburgers, served three kinds of salads and chips, and had water, lemonade, and watermelon available.

The attendance at Bingo has been slowly increasing (which means so is the amount of money you can win) as our summer residents learn how much fun it is.

The roadside clean-up along Route 25 in Center Harbor was delayed until Monday, July 31 because of poison ivy along the road and wet conditions from the frequent July rain.