September 2017

Posted on September 25, 2017 by Sally Sibulkin

Who thought that the end of September would feel more like July, even with the leaves starting to change colors!!!

Anyway, thanks to our President and OKS Coordinator, Mark, September was a very busy month doing vision screening in the Lakes Region. On September 7, Mark and John screened 173 InterLakes Middle School students (with 24 referrals). On September 12, Mark, Don, Peter and Kathy, screened 170 students at Laconia Middle School with 25 referrals. Mark, Peter and Kathy were at Thornton Elementary on September 19 and screened 194 students with 27 referrals. And on the 22nd of September, Mark, Sally, Peter, and Don screened 226 students during picture day at Moultonborough Academy (with 17 referrals). Pretty amazing — that’s 763 area students who had their vision screened in four September days!

And of the helping but fun side, on Saturday September 9 Lions George and Carol Englehart, Bob and Betty Purdy, John Menken and Sandy Meskys donated their afternoon to helping Community Caregivers with their Mini-Golf annual Fundraiser. Dressing up in costume on one hole, using the handle side of the club on another, and putting with the incorrect hand were just some of the challenges and fun they faced.

And, of the very last day of September, four Lions (see below) went to do a fall cleaning of our bunkhouse at Camp Pride. Since it was raining we vacuumed, took down and cleaned the window screens, and took down the curtains. Removing the drain pipes and painting trip will have to wait until the spring. The new metal roof has been done!

August 2017

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Sally Sibulkin

First of all the meetings: the business and board meetings are Monday, August 7 at 7 pm and 6:30 respectively. The dinner meeting will be earlier than usual this month. Social hour will start at 5pm and the cook-out dinner with residents of the area nursing homes will begin at 6 pm on Monday, August 21.

On Sunday, August 6, three members, John Menken, Jeni Williams, and Sally Sibulkin, attended the 44 H Cabinet Meeting in Windham, NH. (There was a lot of information and paperwork on the tables!

Jeni was inducted as a Zone Chairperson

And John and Sally delivered 347 pairs of glasses (285 regular and 62 sunglasses) the Club has collected since the end of April at the various collection and drop-off spots in Moultonborough, Sandwich and Tuftonborough.

These glasses are then sent sent by the Hampton Lions Club to Roanoke, VA where the Lions maintain a national recycling center. The glasses are inspected (for a second time), checked by machine for exact magnification and prescription, cleaned, and then sorted by prescription. When a request from a clinic in one on many third world countries comes, the glasses are then shipped out for that individual to have a chance for clear vision.

The annual August dinner with the residents of three area nursing homes — Forest View, Golden View, and the Taylor Home — seemed to be a big success. Mike, Larry LaPointe, and Jack were the grill masters, preparing hot dogs and hamburgers. Sally, Christine, and Kathy were on the serving line, and several other Lions were waiters and waitresses. Special thanks to Peter Allen for selecting songs, printing out verses so all could sing along, and for his expert playing of the accordion to accompany the singing. Many of the Lions were most enthusiastically singing and encouraging the singing. And Eileen Zewski even serenaded her husband, Bob.

July 2017

Posted on July 8, 2017 by Sally Sibulkin

The annual Town of Moultonborough Fourth of July parade and “picnic” was held in perfect summer weather. Once again, the Moultonborough Lions ordered, set up the hall, cooked hot dogs and hamburgers, served food, and cleaned up afterwards. One of these years, we really need one of those clickers to find out how many people actually come through the line and get their free meal (the Town pays for the food and the Lions do the rest). We tried a new line set-up and managed to fit many more people inside on the line, away from the heat. Thanks to Mark, John, and Peter for the new traffic flow plan.

Special kudos for being jacks-of-all trades and tireless workers to: Peter and Kathy Allen, Dawn, Joanne, and Mark, and Mike and Kate Lancor from pre-start to finish moping !!!!! And to Jeni for not only coming back but for bringing such good-looking help. For our cooks Mike, Bob and Jack and our tireless runner Marion. And of course, we would be lost without the Strople clean-up crew. And thanks also to those with other, multiple responsibilities: Sally, Sandy, Christine, Pat Strickland and Joe. All in all 20 members of the Lions Club (plus some family and friends), put in a little over 55 hours to make this annual event a continued success.

Scholarship Dinner: On Monday evening, July 17, the Moultonborough Lions invited all 14 of the scholarship winners and their parents plus the winners of the Annie Up Fund scholarships and their parents to the dinner meeting (delicious pork roast, mashed potatoes, stuffing, beets, green beans and gravy). Afterwards, each of the nine Moultonborough Academy students who attended stood up and told us which college he/she would be attending and their possible college majors. We had 54 people at the dinner..

Also at the meeting, Joe Keegan received a Treasurer’s Plaque for his years of dedication to keeping the Club finances straight

Roadside Trash Pick Up: On Tuesday morning (July 18), after quite the thunder, lightening, and pouring rain of the night before, seven Moultonborough Lions (Mark and Sarah Cotrupi, Michelle Duddy, John Menken, Jenni Williams, Sally Sibulkin, and John Menken) cleared the section of Route 25 from the Center Harbor Town Line sign to the Moultonborough Town Line sign.

June Book Donations

Posted on June 10, 2017 by Sally Sibulkin

On Thursday, June 8, Lions Club members Kathy, Peter, John and Sally distributed 267 hard-cover books to each Moultonborough Central School student in grades Pre-K through 6, their teachers and one copy of each book to the library.

It was so heartwarming to see the students immediately open their books and start looking at the pages or reading, including the kindergarten students who were pointing to all the words they already know how to read. The enthusiasm and smiles are why this is our second year in a row of doing this. Also of significance is passing on the love of books and reading to the next generation.

Look at the joy in the slideshow below…

Then on Monday, June 12 the Moultonborough Lions donated 138 hard cover books to all the students (K-6) in the Tuftonboro Central School. Mark, John, Peter and Kathy Allen and Sally talked about how the Lions serve — and many of the students remembered us doing the vision screening earlier in the school year. In the fourth grade classroom, the teacher, Mr. Bloomer,suggested that the students bring in no longer used eye glasses from home to school to be collected by the Lions.

The major credit for this year and last year’s book donations goes to John Menken for being the liaison with all three school, ordering the books, arranging for times to go to the schools, and for literally doing most of the heavy lifting — of boxes and boxes of books.

December 2016

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Sally Sibulkin

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.”

The 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.

What we are up to in September — and it’s quite a bit…

Posted on September 12, 2016 by Sally Sibulkin

Raffle sales: we are having two in September on the 3rd and the 24th. Let’s support this effort to fundraise for scholarships and other community service projects.

VISION SCREENING: President Mark has been busy contacting schools and creating a schedule for us to screen school children in the Lakes Region. On September 12, six Lions (Mark, John, Sally, Peter and Kathy Allen, and Don) spent the morning at Gilford Elementary School. We screened 339 children and four adults in two and a half hours with the fantastic spot screener shown below…

On Friday, September 23 Mark Cotrupi, Kathy Allen, and Don Trudeau once again performed vision screening at Moultonborough Academy during Picture Day.

On Saturday, September 10, twelve of us had a fun time playing mini-golf at the Community Caregivers Fundraiser event. Three Moultonborough Lions even got a hole-in-one each. Of course, we did not score well enough to win a trophy, but the important thing was contributing to a good cause and the camaraderie of our TWO TEAMS.

Fall cleaning of our newly adopted cabin at Camp Pride on

Saturday, September 17.

Four Lions — Lloyd Conery, Mark Cotrupi, Jeni Williams, and Dawn Law (with her husband, Steve) — spent the morning painting the exterior trim, cleaning out the gutters, polyurethaning half the floor, as well as cleaning the windows and screens. They also took down the curtains to replace them next spring. Dawn is pointing to the window cleaning can which was donated by Paul Atwell of WURTH.

At the Dinner Meeting on September 19th we enjoyed a delicious chicken parmesan meal. The speaker, Moultonborough Academy student, Matt Anderson, engaged us all by talking about his trip to Normandy and showing slides of his trip there with his history teacher and the week before, researching in DC. Matt researched a NH soldier who was buried in Normandy. HIs contest essay (relating why he loves history so much) was judged one of the top 15 in the US and was what earned him this honor and experience.

Giving Books to Young Students

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Sally Sibulkin

Thanks to the energetic pursuit of Reading is Fundamental as a source, Lion John Menken led the drive to put individual books in the hands of students in three school districts: Moultonborough Central School, Sandwich Central School, and Tuftonboro Central School. It was a lengthy process that involved much communication between John and the reading specialists and principals at the schools and putting up with a lot of computer difficulties and ordering snafus from the site we used to purchase the books. But finally, the orders for all three schools came in and had their “Gift from the Moultonborough Lions Club” sticker attached, and were ready to be distributed.

On Tuesday, June 7, President Jeni, John, and Sally went to Moultonborough Central School to hand out 158 books to students in Pre-K through grade 6, after posing for a photo op with the Principal, Kathleen D’Haene and the Reading Specialist, Carissa O’Gara (she is wearing the yellow shirt that is very similar to John’s Lion shirt).

Then on Tuesday, June 14, we traveled to Tuftonboro Central School where John, Mark, Kathy and Peter Allen, and Sally distributed 67 books to students in grades K through 3. In the photo with the rainbow and sun you will note (on the left next to John and going to the right): Diane Wheeler, Reading Specialist, Andrea Fournier, Principal, and Jane Meagher, Reading Associate.

On Wednesday, June 15, John, Peter and Sally arrived at the Sandwich Central School to deliver 79 books to each of the students in the school (grades K through 6). The panoramic photo is of all the Sandwich students in the gym after they selected their books.

The very best thing about giving the books to the young students was their appreciation. Upon getting their book, each one immediately opened in and began to read (or in the case of the younger students) or to look at the animal pictures. The theme for all the books at Moultonborough was animals and that was particularly appropriate for the third graders who were just finishing up a unit on endangered animals. It was a joy to see their joy and to continue to promote reading as a life-long pleasure. A similar giving out of books in Tuftonboro was done by a certain book for each student in a specific grade. In Sandwich the classroom teachers attempted to personalize book choices for each student (as much as we could do with the ups and downs of the computer ordering process).

A VERY Active May

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Sally Sibulkin

Moultonborough Lions have been and will continue to be busy this month. Lions Mark and John screened another 50 or so individuals with the OKS (Operation Kid Sight) vision screener. Lion Dawn and her husband sanded and varnished the picnic table and benches at Sutherland Park. And Lion Marion Powers spent hours weeding and then planting new annuals.

Lions Pat Strickland, Jeni Williams, and John Menken attended the State Spring Convention. And so far this month over 150 people have enjoyed playing Bingo on Tuesday evenings.

And six Lions (John, Marion, Sandy, Dawn, Jeni and Sally) with some family members went to Camp Pride for the first time to do some Spring clean up. The weather was not that promising so we got bathroom and bunk cleaning duty. On May 21 and 22, more Lions added their cleaning and painting skills to get the camp ready for summer: Lloyd, Larry (and his wife), Peter and Kathy Allen, Peter and Judy Strople, and Don Trudeau. Very worthwhile service!!!!

Also at the May dinner meeting we hosted the Board of the Annie Forts Up Syndrome Foundation. Lynn Leighton, president of the Board, gave a brief talk about how the Foundation funds scholarships for students majoring in Special Education, leadership/self-advocacy programs for families with Downs Syndrome children, and therapeutic riding for handicapped individuals.

Then Mike Lancor talked about Annie Forts and her family and the start of this Foundation. Unfortunately, neither Lion Annie nor her parents were able to attend, but her sister and brother-in-law were at the dinner.

And then there was more reading to elementary students at Moultonborough Central School. Over three days, Lions Don, Sally, Joe, Pat, Peter and Kathy Allen, Christine, Jeni, Dawn, Mark and Eileen spent quality time in the school library reading to students in grades K-2.

Finally we collected $900 for the blind on our date of choice White Cane day, Saturday, May 28 thanks to the organization and care of Pete Strople, (not only did he provide sunscreen and water and set up both Heath’s Hardware and Supermarket, he worked four hours/two shifts — and collected carts from the parking lot). Other Lions involved were Joanne Lau, Don Trudeau, Ed and Sandy Meskys, Judy Strople, Peter and Kathy Allen, Carole and George Englehart, and Sally Sibulkin. The Scouts that worked were absolutely fantastic. We could not have raised as much money without them.

Doesn’t the new sign look great!

And what happened in March besides the earliest ice out ever????

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Sally Sibulkin

Saint Patrick’s Day, of course, and other events.

Our speakers for the March dinner meeting were Camp Pride President Peter La Pointe and Camp Administrator Ted La Liberte. They provided an update of all the recent improvements made to the camp that was established in 1989 by Lions District 44 – H. Lions Camp Pride is a three season fully handicapped accessible facility for children and adults with special needs, located in New Durham, New Hampshire on scenic Merrimeeting Lake.

The work list for spring 2016 includes painting, raking water front, trimming around cabins, cleaning bunkhouses, screen repair and window and door trim replacement.

Camp Pride has set aside two Saturdays May 14, and 21^st, and two Sundays May 15 and 22^nd for friends and family of Moultonborough Lions Club to help with the clean-up starting at 9:00am each day. Camp Pride will provide a free lunch to all volunteers. You can make it a family affair. Bring your kids or grandchildren. All are thankfully welcome. Many hands make light work! Let Jeni or Sally know.

And then there was the reading at MCS ….

I don’t know who had more fun this week – the elementary school children or the members of the Moultonborough Lions Club. March is Reading Month and to celebrate, Carissa O’Gara, the reading specialist at Moultonborough Central School, set up a three-day schedule (March 22-24) for Lions to read in the Kindergarten, First and Second grade classrooms. Carissa chose wonderful books for us to read, and we tried hard to read as close to upside-down as we could in order to have the illustrations face the children. The young students were wonderful, predicting what might be next, helping with sound effects, and being totally engaged in the stories. The best thing is that we have been asked to come back and do this again.

Winter is here…but not the snow — yet

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Sally Sibulkin

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

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!)

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).

Moultonborough Lions Club

Serving the Towns of Moultonborough, Center Harbor, Tuftonboro, and Sandwich

Category Archives: Service Projects