DECEMBER — one of the busiest months and full of the giving spirit

The Moultonborough School District Holiday Fair was held on Saturday, December 1 and the Lions were out and about.  Mark, Stephanie, Sally, and Dawn spent four hours doing vision screening at the fair.  And eight Lions — one in costume — sold raffle tickets until the 1 pm final drawing.  The winner of the $5000 prize was a local Moultonborough resident.

 

On Friday, December 7 we again hosted Cookies and Caroling for the Community.  We had about 55 guests ( people from all three nursing homes, Senior Meals, and Community Caregivers), including Larry Kohut.  Plenty of delicious cookies were provided by club members.  A delightful preview of Moultonborough Academy’s winter concert songs sung by the Middle School Chorus and directed by Harmony Markey provided excellent entertainment and was followed by a general sing along with Harmony on the guitar and President Peter Allen on the Keyboard, hosted by VP John Menken.

 

The next day, December 8,we were prepared for 100 people to come to our Community Family Pancake Breakfast from 8-10.  The cooks (Larry and Phil) were outside in 4 degree temperatures.  And Bill and Peter were inside cooking.  The few community members who came (@20) seemed to enjoy themselves, and we got a chance to chat with Harold Damsberg whom we don’t see often.  Pete Strople even suited up and stood on the corner of 25 and Old Rte 109 when it was 5 degrees to drum up business.  We know we need to make sure our advertising gets out; we hope to have the crowds next year.

On to the giving … each year for many years, the Moultonborough Lions have given a $500 Holiday check to each of the four communities we serve — Moultonborough, Center Harbor, Sandwich, and Tuftonboro.  Below are pictures of three of the four checks being donated by President Peter Allen — to Nancy McCue, Director of the Moultonborough Library; Heather Cubeddu from the Town Clerk’s Office in Tuftonboro, and Robin Woodeman from the Selectman’s Office in Center Harbor.  Unfortunately, the check was mailed to Sandwich so there was no photo op.

BUT THERE IS MORE …. a truly generous, giving individual act

The winner of the $5,000 Raffle was Brian Sanford of Moultonborough. President Peter tried to reach him right after the drawing to no avail.  When Peter finally did reach Brian to congratulate him on winning the $5,000 they agreed to meet for a photo op at the club’s “Thank You Pancake Breakfast” on Saturday morning.

The next day Peter received a call from Brian saying that he went out on the Lions Web Site and was so impressed with what he saw that he decided not to take the money. He wants the club to use it for their many Community Projects. Lions Pride!  Thank you so much, Brian, for helping the Moultonborough Lions serve others.

And then we have the Salvation Army Lion bell ringers.  Thanks to Mike and Kate Lancor, Don Trudeau (and his wife), and Michelle Duddy (and her daughter) for representing the Lions while ringing the Salvation Army bell at the Walmart in Plymouth.

Plus, a good time was had by all at our Christmas Party/Dinner Meeting.  The Yankee Swap was a hit and Susan surprised us all by bidding $100 for the privilege of being Number 1.  Joe and Pat finally got to see through the Magic Glasses. And we were able to show our appreciation to Donna Grow who cooks our dinner meals throughout the year with a gift certificate to Hobbs.

Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year, 2019.

 

December 2017

The holidays are always busy and so are the Lions.

On December 1, we will be decorating the building for Christmas so that all who use the building can get into the holiday season for the entire month.

On December 2 Lions Joe and Pat, Dawn, Joanne, John, Pete, Bob and Betty sold raffle tickets for the last time before the 1:00 drawing for the $5,000 prize.  When the winning ticket was drawn by an elementary student from MCS, it belonged to a person in Massachusetts.  We  also be provided free vision screening at the Moultonborough Central School on that day to about 80 individuals.

We had two other vision screenings scheduled for the beginning of December:  Tuftonboro Central School on the 4th and the Holderness Central School on the 5th. Between the two schools 270 elementary students were screened.

On Friday, December 8 the Moultonborough Lions and the Inter-Lakes Community Caregivers hosted the second Cookies and Caroling afternoon from 1-3:00.  The amount and variety of the cookies was outstanding, baked by Lions and Caregivers. Check out the photo of all the cookies on the tables. Neighbors serviced by Community Caregivers and two area nursing homes enjoyed cocoa, cookies, caroling, led by Peter Allen, and a performance from a Moultonborough Academy choral group.  To the delight of all, Pete Strople donned his Lion suit and handed out raffle prizes!

Several Lions — Mike and Kate Lancor, Don Trudeau and his wife, Bobbi, Joanne Lau, Dawn Law, and Michelle and Jim Duddy rang the Salvation Army bells at the Plymouth Walmart.  Unfortunately bad weather canceled two other days of Lions bell ringers.

October Happenings – 2017

This will be a very busy month for the Moultonborough Lions

Meetings:  the board and business meetings will be held Monday, October 2 starting at 6:30 and 7:00 respectively.

Our usual dinner meeting has a different flair to it this month: On Monday, October 16, members of the Moultonborough Lions Club invited the public to attend a special lecture on “Black Bear Behavior” presented by wildlife rehabilitator Ben Kilham from Lyme, NH. Ben, his sister Phoebe and his wife Debbie have raised over 150 black bear cub orphans over the past 20 plus years!  Between Lions and guests, about 70 people attended the fascinating and informative presentation.

A social hour was held from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Moultonborough Lions Club on Old Route 109 in Moultonborough. Appetizers provided by the Lions and non-alcoholic beverages were available. Lions Club president Mark Cotrupi welcomed all attendees at 7:00 p.m. sharp. Ben’s hour long slide and video presentation began afterwards and he  stayed to answer questions.  Special thanks to Mike and Kate Lancor for inviting Ben and his wife.

Ben Kilham is licensed by the State of NH as a wildlife rehabilitator and has a special license to conduct research on black bears. He has been featured on NH Crossroads (NH Public TV), NBC Dateline, National Geographic Television, Discovery Channel, Good Morning American, The Today Show, and the list goes on. Ben is often called “The Bear Whisperer” and raises black bear cubs with minimum human contact so the bears retain their wild nature and can be reintroduced to the wild.

Ben received a B.S. in wildlife from the University of New Hampshire and a PhD in Environmental Sciences from Drexel University. Books authored by Ben include “ Among the Bears” and “Out on a Limb: What Black Bears Have Taught Me About Intelligence and Intuition.” Indeed, Ben is a nationally renown expert on the behavior of black bears.

Raffle:  Four Lions:  Ed and Sandy Meskys, Joanne Lau, and Peter Allen will be selling raffle tickets at Heath’s on Saturday, October 7, starting at 9:30.

AND on Friday, October 27 Lions Eileen and Bob Zewski, Mark and Sarah Cotrupi, Pat and Joe Keegan, Bob and Betty Purdy, Peter and Judy Strople, Larry and Linda LaPointe, Sally Sibulkin, John Menken, and Mike Lancor, stuffed raffle tickets and letters into 1848 envelopes.  The process began at 9 with cider belly donuts and ended at noon with pizza.  We are hoping for high yields from this mailing as we were only able to do four selling dates at Heaths this year.  Remember it is not too late to get a ticket if you don’t receive any in the mail.  We will be selling them until minutes before the drawing for the $5000 prize at the Holiday Fair at Moultonborough Central School on Saturday, December 2.

December 2016

Well the snow finally appeared, and even though it is just the 7th of December as I write this, we Lions have been busy:

We (Mark, Joe, Pat K, both Peters, Sally and Marion plus one member from the Women’s Club — Barbara Koehler) decorated the Club for Christmas on Friday the second of December so that all can enjoy the lights and wreaths and tree for an entire month.  Forgot to take a photo,but hopefully all of you will see it and the Christmas Dinner meeting on Monday, December 12 (remember to bring in a book — for children 6 months to 18 years — to be donated to CHAD at the January Mid-Winter Convention).

Then there was the Holiday Fair at the Moultonborough Central School.  It was our last day for the raffle.  Thanks to the sales skills of Bob and Betty Purdy, Joe and Pat Keegan, Dawn Law, Joanne Lau, Don Trudeau, and Peter Strople we took in  $1,312 in sales that day!

I so want to title this photo:  “Please let me draw MY ticket; I’m really concentrating and not looking.”

unnamed-2The winning ticket was drawn at 1 pm by Christine and was a gentleman from Topsfield, Massachusetts who has a summer home on the Neck Road near Kona .  Thanks to all who purchased tickets we will be able to continue giving several good scholarships to college-bound students.

President Mark and Secretary Sally did vision screening at the Fair for the second year in a row.  We screened 65 children with 7 referrals to see an eye doctor.

Friday, December 9, we celebrated the first (hopefully, annual) Cookies and Caroling at the Moultonborough Lions Club from 1-3 pm.  Peter Allen,second vice-president of the Lions and on the Board of Directors of the Inter-Lakes Community Caregivers, proposed a joint venture between the two service organizations.  Peter is a retired music teacher and has been hosting cookies and caroling in various forms over the years.  Peter also provided the music sheets for everyone, played the piano, and asked Christmas trivia questions.  The Community Caregivers provided items for raffle and the Lions baked the cookies — which filled four tables!!!!!  Approximately 50 “neighbors” were in attendance with about 20 members of both the Lions and Caregivers.  A Great time was had by all.  Check out the slide show below.

And thanks go out to four Lions members — Mike and Kate Lancor and Eileen and Bob Zewski — who spent four hours in front of the Plymouth Walmart ringing the Salvation Army bells.

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Winter is here…but not the snow — yet

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  On Sunday, the 15th of November, five Moultonborough Lions — Pat Strickland, John Menken, Peter Strople, Sally Sibulkin and Jeni Williams — attended the 44H District Meeting at Pheasant Ridge Country Club.  There were many committee reports and interesting news presented, along with an ample and enjoyable brunch buffet.  These meetings happen four times a year.  If other Lions are interested in attending please let us know.  And think about attending the Multiple District Annual Mid-Winter Convention to be held in Nashua at the end of January.  You can register until mid-January.  See Jeni or Sally if you a

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DECEMBER

On Friday, December 4 6 Lions and 1 member of the Women’s Club decorated the Club for Christmas.  Seven pairs of hands and willing workers enabled us to complete the decorating in one hour.  (Remember, we will need people to help take down the decorations as well!)

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The dinner meeting this month will be the annual Christmas get-together with the Women’s Club.  Good food (baked ham), good entertainment, and good fellowship.  Please note that it will be held on Monday, December 14, starting at six with a hospitality hour.  Bring an UNWRAPPED item for the raffle table.

Holiday Fair Lions Club Events

And Lions were busy on Saturday, December 5 as well.  We had six people (Joe and Pat Keegan,  Bob and Betty Purdy, John Menken, and Bob Zewski doing the last of the raffle sales.  This was the culmination of five other days of sales in front of Heath’s Supermarket and a large scale mailing.  Thanks to the efforts of many Lions, we managed to net almost $12,000 to be used for scholarships.  This is after the prize money was given and after expenses.

And during that same Holiday Fair Mark Cotrupi, Sally Sibulkin, Jeni Williams and John Menken held vision screenings.  The youngest child screened was 8 months old (and we were too polite to ask the age of the oldest person).

A Busy Fall for the Moultonborough Lions

At the October Dinner Meeting, District Governor Scott Wilson, inducted five new members to our club and had them sign the large banner he is brining to every club this year, as one of his directives is , “keep one; add one.”  Below is a photo of DG Wilson, with new members: Kathy Allen, Peter Allen, Christine Woodland, Joanne Lau, Ted Olguin, and President, Jeni Williams.

October inductees

Blood Drive on Friday, October 2

Sandy Meskys organized the Red Cross blood drive at the Lions Club the first Friday in October and was assisted by the following Lions:  helping Sandy on the morning shift were Joe and Pat Keegan and Don Trudeau; the afternoon shift was manned by Kate and Mike Lancor, John Menken, Eileen and Bob Zewski, Larry LaPointe, Jeni Williams and Joanne Lau.

blood drive

Raffle Stuffing Party.  Around 2,700 envelopes were stuffed on Friday, October 30 in about three hours, under the direction of raffle chairmen, Eileen and Bob Zewski.  The following Lions were part of the “assembly line” for getting out the letters for our major fundraising activity:  Pat and Joe Keegan, Mike and Kate Lancor, Pat Strickland, Peter and Kathy Allen, Jeni Williams, Sally Sibulkin, Roy Putnam, Sam Pylypczuk, Ed and Sandy Meskys, Peter and Judy Strople, Larry LaPointe, and Jack Weinmann.

Stuffing envelopes

Peace Poster Contest — The winner of the International Lions Club Peace Poster Contest for the  Moultonborough Lions Club was sixth grader, Cameron Shannon, shown below with MCS Principal, Kathleen D’Haene, President Jeni, and Peter Strople.

Contest winner Cameron ShannonKathleen D'Haene, Cameron, Jeni Williams, Peter Srrople

Fall Happenings

One other thing that happened late summer/early fall was the much needed cleaning of the Lions Den.  With four people working (Sandy, Mark, John and Sally) much was accomplished.

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The August dinner meeting was the annual cook-out with area nursing homes and the evening was a success.

SEPTEMBER:  The September dinner meeting featured guest speaker, Katie Blackadar, a Moultonborough Academy graduate who received her RN degree from UNH.  Her first nursing experience was in Tennessee and from there she became a traveling nurse, her latest position being in the state of Washington. Katie spoke to us about her 10-month volunteer experience on the Africa Mercy, which was docked in Madagascar. She began with a video outlining one patient’s story and then told us about  the different kinds of operations performed on the ship…tumor removals, facial surgeries, and orthopedic (club feet) to name a few. The number of people needing medical assistance and surgeries was staggering. Katie lived in an onboard cabin with 5 other volunteers and worked in outpatient care on the ship, tending to the needs of post-op patients. Katie’s experience was very positive, and not only did the Mercy Ship experience provide inspiration for her and renew and redirect her dedication to nursing, it is also something she would like to volunteer for again. Volunteers must pay their own way and for all their living expenses, so this is truly a giving experience for the hundreds of men and women from all over the world who provide their expertise, love, and dedication to others.

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The Lions Club performed two vision screenings:  One at Moultonborough Academy, coordinated by nurse Carolyn Nelson on picture taking day (Friday, September 25), where over 200 students in grades 7-12 were screened.  And the second on Wednesday, October 7 at Inter-Lakes High School where over 100 seventh and eighth graders were screened thanks to scheduling by nurse Jodi Pendexter.

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Also, on Friday, October 2, the Moultonborough Lions Club hosted a Red Cross Blood drive, coordinated by Chairperson, Sandy Meskys.  Thirty pints of blood were donated thanks to the efforts of the donors, the Red Cross and Lions Sandy, Joe and Pat Keegan, Kate and Mike Lancor, Don Trudeau, John Menken, Eileen and Bob Zewski, Larry Lapointe, and Joanne Lau.

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Also in October, Lions Don Trudeau and Sally Sibulkin did the final fall weeding of the top area of Sutherland Park.  More help will be needed in the spring with some new plantings and the staining of the picnic table and benches.

The October dinner meeting will be held on Monday, October 9.  District Governor Scott Wilson will induct five new members to the Club at this time.  Photos will follow after the event.

Also in October…on Friday October 30, beginning at 9 am (with coffee and donuts) as many Lions as can make it are asked to come to the Club and help stuff the envelopes with letters and raffle tickets for the annual raffle fund-raiser.  The winning ticket will be drawn at the MCS Holiday Fair on December 5.

Dates to Remember for October, November, and December

Monday, October 20 will be the monthly dinner meeting.  Three new members will be inducted, the speaker will be Will Powers, and the dinner will be chicken parmesan.

Friday, October 24 will be the annual “stuffing” party, starting around 10 am.  Come and help get out the raffle letters while socializing with fellow Lions.

Monday, November 3Board of Directors meeting at 6 pm, followed by the Business Meeting at 7

Saturday, November 8 is the fall Hope Auction.  Helpers are needed on Friday, November 7, Saturday, and for clean-up on Sunday, November 9.

Monday, November 17 — Dinner meeting.  The speaker will be Harry Vogel from the Loon Center.

Monday, December 8 Christmas Holiday Get Together — Lions and Women’s Club.  More details to follow.

It’s Raffle Time Again!

As you all know, the annual raffle is the main fundraiser of the Moultonborough Lions Club and the source of the majority of the community scholarships given by the Club.

The dates for selling tickets at E.M. Heath’s are as follows:

  • Thursday, July 3.  Two shifts:  noon – 2:30 and 2:30 – 5:00
  • Saturday, July 19.  Two shifts:  9:30 – noon and noon to 2:30
  • Saturday, August 9.  Two shifts: 9:30 – noon and noon to 2:30
  • Saturday, August 30.  Two shifts: 9:30 – noon and noon to 2:30
  • Saturday, September 13.  Two shifts: 9:30 – noon and noon to 2:30
  • Saturday, October 11.  Two shifts: 9:30 – noon and noon to 2:30

Pat Strickland has already volunteered to sell tickets at the 4th of July Cookout at the Lions Club.

And we will need four people to volunteer ago sell on Saturday, December 6 at the Moultonborough Holiday Fair at MCS.

  Do the math; if we can get 24 people, each would only spend two and 1/2 hours on this project.  Remember to sign up at the dinner meeting, business meeting, or by contact Eileen Zewski

We will also need volunteers to stamp return addresses and put stamps (and perhaps address labels) in advance of the “Stuffing Party”  which will be held on Friday, October 24 when we put together all the envelopes for mailing, followed by a pizza lunch.  Signs up for this will happen in September and October.

 

Raffle Drawing and Winner

On Saturday afternoon, December 7, at the Moultonborough Central School, the winning raffle ticket was drawn from the drum.

drawing of the winning ticketThe winner was Joyce Egge from Danbury, NH, shown below receiving her $5,000 check from Eileen Zewski, chairman of the raffle committee.

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Merry Christmas to all those who worked on the raffle and all those who purchased raffle tickets to make this a very successful fund-raising year.