June 2019

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

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

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.

October and the changing leaves

The colors of the leaves were a bit slow to emerge from their green summer hues, but by the middle of the month, they were vivid orange, yellow, and red.  It is a beautiful reminder of why we live in New England.

We spent three days at the Sandwich Fair, from 9 am to 3 pm offering free vision screening to individuals from 8 months old and up.  All together, we screened 373 people, 57 of whom were given the results and referred to see an eye doctor.

Governor Sununu even stopped by our “shed” to say hello and to add how much he appreciates the work and service of the Lions all over the State.

Mark, Peter, Kathy and Don also went to Gilford Elementary School on October 5 and screened 342 students.  That brings the October total of vision screenings to 715 individuals!

We had our last raffle sales for the season at EM Heath’s on Saturday, October 6 and are getting ready for the big mailing morning (where we put raffle tickets and letters in envelopes and take them to the post office) on October 26.  The final sales day — and the drawing of the winner of the $5,000 prize will be at the Moultonborough PTA Holiday Fair on December 1.

This month, the Moultonborough Lions celebrated 55 years as a Club.  Susan Price donated the “birthday cake” and we had the newest member of the club (Bill Hagerup) and the club member with the most years of service (Bob Purdy) do the honors and cut the first slices of the cake.

Look at all the red jackets on some our past presidents!

District Governor of 44 H was our dinner speaker and he inducted TEN NEW CLUB Members.  Two of the members have been working as Lions for some time now, but had not had the formal candlelight ceremony.  The other 8 new members have been brought in since June 2018.  The photo below shows nine of the ten (missing is new Lion, Jeff Burton).  

From left to right:  Susan Price, Bill Hagerup, Susan Burton, Sarah Cotrupi, Chris Milanovich, Stephanie Pigott, Diane Mac Arthur, Mary Philips, and Joe Adams.

We are so excited to have each and every one of these individuals who are willing to serve their communities!

Ending the Centennial on a safe note

Under the leadership of Mark Cotrupi, the Moultonborough Lions decided to focus its effort on PUBLIC SAFETY for its Centennial Project in two key areas:  the opioid crisis and school safety.

Working with the district, school administrators, and safety personnel, the Moultonborough Lions recently donated 10 door locking devices to the Tuftonboro Central School (see picture of Mark with Tuftonboro Central School Principal Andrea Fournier ).  The Lions have similarly reached out to the Moultonborough schools and Sandwich Elementary to ascertain their need for such safety devices.

The Lions also recently funded the acquisition and installation of a drug “take back” box located in the Center Harbor Police Department.  Center Harbor citizens, as well as those of the surrounding communities, are welcomed to dispose of their outdated or unused prescription medicines in a safe and legal manner. Photo of Mark and Center Harbor Police Department project lead Bob Donnelly Jr.

June 2018 — the end of the Lion Year

Although I was gone for the first half of the month, the Moultonborough Lions Club continued its service work and I am proud to record what happened this month.

For the third year in a row, we purchased new books and distributed them to each student in the three elementary schools in our service area.  In March, during Dr. Seuss Week, we gave books to students at Sandwich Central School.  On June 11, Lions Mark, John, and Pete (in the Lion suit), gave out 74 hardcover books to the students at Tuftonboro Elementary School.

A few days later we repeated the process at Moultonborough Central School when Lions John, Don, Kathy, Peter, Joe, Pete, and Pat delivered 276 hardcover books to students in Pre L through grade 6.  This event brought the total of new books given to elementary students to 479.

In addition, major awards were presented and new officers (for the 2018-19 Lion Year) were inducted by outgoing District Governor, Sam Longbrook.

Lion of the Year Lloyd Conery 

The Fidelco Loyal Shepherd Fellow (given to Lions dedicated service in all aspect of assistance for the blind) was present to Joe and Pat Keegan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Granite State Award for exceptional service to his NH Community at the local and state level was presented  to Peter Allen.

And the Highest Award in Lionism, the Melvin Jones Award to Sandy Meskys.  The recipient of this award is a model of exemplary service to her club and the community which it serves.

Also the photo below is of most of the newly elected and inducted officers and board of directors (left to right: Don Trudeau, Board; Joe Keegan, Board; Pat Keegan, Tail Twister;, Karen Barron, Board; Sam Longbrook, District Governor; Peter Allen, President, John Menken, first vice-president; Dawn Law, Treasurer; Mark Cotrupi, Immediate Past President and Membership Chairman).  Not present were Pete Strople, second vice-president; Sally Sibulkin, Secretary, Michelle Duddy, Lion Tamer, and Joanne Lau, Board

April and May 2018

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

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.

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.