Category Archives: Activities

December 2019

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The Christmas Festivities started promptly on December 1 with five Lions, one son, and two grandchildren (almost sounds like that Christmas carol, doesn’t it) decking the hall (and the tree) for the holidays.

The day after this decorating, Lions Dawn, Michelle, Joanne and Sally put up the Lions tree for the Altrusa Festival of Trees. Before that day, we got together on three occasions to make the ornaments. Our theme was Holiday Tree of Warmth: the tree was hung with hats, socks, and scarfs for garlands … and decorated with paper mugs filled with cocoa, cider, cinnamon, and candy canes, and home-made ornaments of stockings, sweaters, and mittens. At the bottom was a hand knotted blanket. The tree will be donated to a local family after the festival.

And traditions continue … On Friday, December 6 the Moultonborough Lions hosted Cookies and Caroling for the senior citizens from the various communities we serve (Community Caregiver neighbors and nursing home residents. Moultonborough Academy choral director, Harmony Markey, and her Select Chorus sang both traditional and different Christmas songs and their presence was much appreciated. There were door prizes, and Name-That-Tune prizes, sing-a-longs, and more than enough cookies, drinks, and cheer.

Also on December 4, Mark and Sarah went to two schools to do vision screening — Russell Elementary School in Rumney and Wentworth Elementary. On December 6, Mark and Stephanie did a vision screening at Holderness Elementary School. The very next day, Stephanie, Mark, and Peter spent four hours at the Moultonborough Central School Holiday Fair doing free vision screening for the community. All totaled, the Lions screened 300 children and 10 adults over three days.

Also on December 7 at the Holiday Fair we had our last raffle sales on the year. It was cold — with temperatures in the low 20’s –but our intrepid lion and four other warmly dressed Lions braved that weather to sell. And at one o’clock an elementary student volunteered to pick the winning ticket. The winner of the $5,000 prize is local this year.

The winners of the $5000 prize were Helen and Bob Watkinson. They attended our dinner meeting and received their check from President Peter Allen and Past President John Menken.

To round out the holiday month we donated $500 to each of the towns we service: Moultonborough, Center Harbor, Sandwich, and Tuftonboro to be used where it is most needed be that for food, fuel, clothing, or toys.

AND Lions Dawn and Joanne rung the Salvation Army bell and collected money for the kettle, wearing Santa hats and I-am-a-Lion-Bell-Ringer aprons at the Plymouth Walmart .

Happy Holidays to all and wishes for a healthy New Year 2020.

September 2019

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The air changes from warm to crisp; it is apple picking time; can the colorful leaves be far behind?

Our busy season(s) as a service club is kicking into high gear. In the first three weeks of the month we have done vision screening in four schools (Moultonborough Academy, Thornton Central, InterLake Middle School, and Laconia Middle School) with a total of 963 students being screened and almost 100 of them referred for a more complete eye exam. We have several more schools on our schedule to be done throughout the fall.

At our dinner meeting on the 16th of this month we had Jessamy Cornell, Diabetes Educator at Huggins hospital, give an information presentation on Type 2 Diabetes.

We are also busy collecting individual donations for the pediatric cancer wing at Dartmouth/Hitchcook. Our club has already donated 20 “game sheets” and will send the clothes, toys, stuffed animals, books, etc. to the CHAD after the October dinner meeting.

Plus, members continue to water and week Sutherland Park in Moultonborough — Look for the fall scarecrows to make an appearance soon. And bingo continues to provide entertainment and social opportunities for many on Tuesday evenings.

August 2019

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Halfway through the month and we have had one of two raffle ticket sales for this month, with Michelle, Don, Jeni and Sally raising $520 towards the prize and scholarships.

The next one is scheduled for Labor Day Weekend.

We have also been continuing to water and week Sutherland Park. This month that job fell to Pete Strople, Michelle Duddy, and Diane MacArthur. At least we have had a bit more rain this month.

Our August dinner once again included residents from Golden View, Forest View, and Mountain View — 26 Lions and 28 guests from the nursing homes. We had pre- and dinner entertainment provided by Katie Duddy and Harmony music. What fantastic voices!!!!! And a sing-along by all after the hot dog, hamburger, cole slaw, potato salad, pasta salad and ice cream. Great job by our grillers, servers, and “wait staff.”

Peter and John attended the District Cabinet Meeting and came back with a wonderful list of things to provide to CHAD and donated $50 worth of backpack supplies and 212 pairs of glasses to be “recycled.”

July 2019

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We started off the very first day of month with our monthly board and business meeting, followed by the Fourth of July celebration. This year we had 25 Lions plus some family members helping to feed the parade participants and onlookers — this year, we counted a bit more than 350 people who walked through the doors and were fed a traditional picnic cookout. Our grillers worked in smoke and heat to provide enough hot dogs and hamburgers. And we had plenty of help serving those as well as drinks, salads, watermelon and chips. Thanks to the persuasiveness of President Peter Allen we did our small part for the environment, using wooden, not plastic, utensils and pouring water and ice into large containers so that we could not only conserve the amount of water waste but recycle on our owp

We are also continuing to water and weed the upper part of Sutherland Park as part of the town Adopt-a-Spot. Each member(s) selects a week or two weeks that he/she/they are responsible for.

June 2019

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As the weather finally begins to warm up, so do our service projects and activities.

On June 12 we handed out 135 individual books to the students of Tuftonboro Central School …



That is Bill Haggerup in the Lion suit, along with John Menken, who started this program, and Susan Price.

And on June 5 we gave books to each student in grades Pre-K through Grade 6. All but three of the youngest students wanted to hug or high five the Lion (this time it was Pete Strople in the Lion costume.

We have also been working on our adopt-a-spot — Sutherland Park in Moultonborough. Thanks to the weeding, mulching, moving some of the perennials, and selecting new annuals done by Sarah C. and Chris M. the upper Park is all ready to receive visitors

On Saturday, June 22, we once again did the “Spring” cleaning of our adopted bunkhouse at Camp Pride. In addition to the new metal roof that was put on last year, the Moultonborough Club paid for new windows and three new doors. Lloyd was our Windex Man, John plied the Murphy’s Oil, Sally had bathroom duty with the help of Mark’s daughter, Helen. Dawn vacuumed everything and her husband helped and also got rid of some of the weeds outside, Jeni performed multiple tasks as well as Mark (who also moved some furniture. We made notes on improvements to be made next Spring.

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

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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.

 

November came in like a Lion…literally

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Reading in the Schools with a tail twist:  On October 2, Dawn Law (in the Lion costume) and Christine Woodland represented the Lions during Mystery Reader Day in the Kindergarten classrooms at Moultonborough Central School.  I am not sure who had more fun — the readers or the children who were fascinated by the lion.

We also found out that we received an award for First Place Adopt a Spot for our work on upper Sutherland Park.  Pete went to the Selectmen’s meeting to receive the award …

We think the Police and Fire Scarecrows were the clinchers — so thanks to Sarah and Chris.  But also thanks to all the other members of the committee who weeded, watered and planted the area!

Our dinner meeting on the 19th was quite exciting.  CANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE came to give us a wonderful and informative presentation.  Starting with being fostered by volunteers and their families, these dogs, as early as 9 weeks old are socialized in all sorts of environments.  When ready, they are sent to Long Island, New York for very specific training.  The last two weeks of this training is done with the new owner of the dog.  These specific dogs — Labs, Golden Retrievers or a mix of the two — are not sight dogs for the blind.  Instead they are skilled companions or service dogs for adults or children with disabilities.  The largest dog pictured below with his owner can fetch the phone or many other items, turn the lights on and off, and even pull the wheelchair.  Other dogs are facility dogs, dogs who help with PTSD owners, and dogs who assist the deaf.  For more information go online at http://www.cci.org.

July of a new Lion “Year”

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What an unbelievably hot start to the month of July…temperatures in the 90’s !!!!  We were concerned that we might not have the amount of people at the annual Fourth of July bar-b-que because the walkers in the parade were to end their part of the town parade at the Fire Safety building.  But the crowds lined up, and the bus brought the walkers to the club house, and we served about 300 people IN ONE HOUR.  The day also kicked off our annual raffle sale.

Furthermore, not only are we starting the year with four new Lions Club members, we had the help of three friends to cook, serve, and clean up afterwards.  Thanks so much to the Town for providing the food and the Lions and friends for serving the community.

At the July dinner meeting we hosted some of the 10 Lions Club scholarship recipients and some of the the  10 Annie “Up Fund” scholarship recipients. Pictured below are Jake, Elizabeth and Connor from Moultonborough Academy

and Emily, Kelsey, and Kate who received Up Fund scholarships:

Doug Griffin from Youth Services District 44H spoke to the scholarship students, parents, and Lions about the importance of establishing Leo groups in schools.

April and May 2018

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Believe it or not, we had to cancel another dinner meeting because of bad weather.  This must be a record for weather cancelations for meetings and for Bingo for the ’17-’18 year.

Plus, these are months for meetings beyond the local.  On the 14th of April, Peter Allen and Sally Sibulkin attended the April Forum in Concord.  And on Saturday, the 5th of May, Sally, Peter, and John Menken attended the 44H Spring Convention in North Conway.

On a service note — Five Lions — Mark, Sarah, Sandy, Joanne, and Christine did the roadside clean up along Route 25 in Center Harbor from the Moultonborough town line to the Meredith town line.  They gathered 24 trash bags, plus a tire and computer monitor!

And, on Saturday, May 12 we had a work crew to spring clean our adopted bunkhouse at Camp Pride.  Peter, Kathy, Jeni, John and Sally cleaned bathrooms, wiped down mattresses, cleaned windows and polished dressers.  On May 17, Dawn and Steve will finish with the poly on the floors.  Please notice in the photos below who has curtain detail and who is moving bunks.

At our dinner meeting on Monday, May 21, the speaker was Ann Sprague, Executive Director of InterLakes Community Caregivers.  Ann gave us an excellent overview of the services provided to the “neighbors” of Moultonborough, Sandwich, Center Harbor, and Meredith with volunteers providing rides, friendly visits, and other actions to support individual members in these communities.  The number of people serviced has grown considerably over the 20 years since the organization began and Caregivers is always looking for caring volunteers.

Please look for fellow Lions on Saturday, May 26 in front of Heath’s Hardware and Heath’s Supermarket.  We, along with some Cub Scouts, will be collecting money for the blind.  Stop by and make a donation to White Cane Day.  Here are the photos.  And, by the way, we raised $771 on Saturday.

Also in May (it really was a busy month), the club gave nine college scholarships to area students, totally $11,000.  Below is a photo of Dawn Law and Christine Woodland with the five recipients from Moultonborough Academy.  The other four scholarships were given to Sandwich students attending Inter Lakes High School.

March 2018

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I believe we had 23 inches of snow in March…and some rather long icicles.

But that did not deter us from our business meeting or our dinner meeting, where those of us not in sunnier, warmer climates dressed in green …. 

(and yes one person was daring enough to wear yellow pants!)

March is also National Reading Month and the Lions responded in kind.  At Sandwich Central School, Mark, John, and Susan handed out a new book to each of the 74 students in the school AND read books in some of the classes.

The next day, Lions John, Mark, Susan, Sally, Pat, Joe, Dawn, and Christine read to the students in both the classrooms and on stage in the Reading Roost at Moultonborough Central School.  The day was presented in a western theme (as you might guess from some of the photos below) — a Reading Round-up.  We enjoyed it every bit as much as the students and donned our props and joined in saying, “Yee Haw” when it was group photo time.