July 2019

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.

End of Year Awards

Moultonborough Lion, Betty Wasson president over the first half of the June Dinner meeting to swear in the new officers for the 2019-20 fiscal year. : President Peter Allen, 1st Vice President John Menken, 2nd Vice President Susan Price, Secretary Sally Silbulkin, Treasurer Dawn Law, Immediate Past President Mark Cotrupi, Tail Twister Pat Keegan, Lion Tamer Michelle Duddy, and Board Member(s) Don Trudeau, Pete Strople, Joe Keegan, Joanne Lau and Karen Baron.

President Peter Allen then gave membership chevrons, for years of service with the Moultonborough Lions Club to: Betty Wasson 40 yrs., Sandy Meskys 25 yrs., Kate & Mike Lancor and Joe & Pat Keegan 20 yrs. and Lloyd Connery 10 yrs.

After giving certificates to those members who had attended at least twelve meetings and performed a minimum of 20 hours of service to the community (himself, Mark Cotrupi, Michelle Duddy, Pat Keegan, Joe Keegan, Joanne Lau, Dawn Law, John Menken, Sally Sibulkin, Pete Strople and Don Trudeau) — by the way, one should note that many of these people put in over 100 hours of service — Peter came to the three large awards of the year:

Melvin Jones Fellowship Award, Mark Cotrupi
Lion of the Year, Sally Sibulkin
Granite State Award, Pete Strople

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.

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.

September 2017

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!

 

February into March 2017

In spite of all the snow at the beginning of February, we managed to hold both our February meetings and all but one of the Tuesday night Bingo events.

In case people have not heard, on January 24, Governor Chris Sununu proclaimed 2017 to be the Year of the Lion in NH, recognizing the many services provided by Lions Clubs across the state.

READING IN THE SCHOOLS:  On four separate days in February, the following Lions read to students in grades K-2 at Moultonborough Central School:  Joe and Pat Keegan, John Menken, Mark Cotrupi, Peter and Kathy Allen, Dawn Law and Sally Sibulkin.  In March, we will have a special treat in store for us — on four Wednesdays in a row we will be read TO by the Kindergarten students.

The February dinner meeting, started at 6:30 with a social half hour followed by a Pot Luck dinner. There was more food than even double the number of members who attended could consume. Everything was delicious, but from what I heard, the favorite dish was the minestrone soup created by Larry LaPoint’s wife. The appetizers prepared by Don Trudeau’s wife were also a hit as well as three decadent desserts.  Actually, everything was delicious!!!

Unfortunately, we lost a fellow Lion in February — William Schultz.  Bill had been a Lion for 29 years and served on many committees, was president of the club, and exemplified the Lion Motto: We Serve.

We also finally purchased a new raffle wheel for our raffle sales.  The old one finally broke down.  The new one is gold —  like the pot of goldIMG_2820

at the end of the rainbow

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which leads us into more March happenings:

March 5: Meet the Candidate Night at the Lions Club, beginning at 6:30

March 6: Board and Business Meetings. Board starts at 6:30; business meeting at 7:00

March 9: Vision Screening in Thornton  and Distributing new books to all the students at Sandwich Central School

March 10: Remembering Annie Forts – UP Fund-raising celebration. This will be at Church Landing from 7-10pm. Tickets are $25/person or $45 for two and can be purchased online, at George’s Diner or from Don Trudeau.

Sunday, March 12: District 44H Cabinet Meeting in Nashua.

March 20: Dinner Meeting (back to the regular 6-7 social hour time)

March 24: Blood Drive at the Lions Club (9 am – 2 pm)..

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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August with the Lions

Almost 90 individuals—Lions and guests, 13 members of the Sandwich Dog Club (plus 7 dogs and a lop-eared bunny), and 38 guests from three of the area nursing homes (Mountain View, Golden View, and Forest View) had a great evening at Monday’s August dinner meeting.

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Rainbow colored tables were filled with people enjoying appetizers and song during the social hour. Special thanks to Lion Peter Allen for the idea of the sing-a-long, for getting printed copies of the songs, and for playing the piano so masterfully.

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After the dinner (hot dogs and hamburgers cooked by Lions Mike, Jack, and Sam and the food line manned by Lion Christine and her daughter and Lion Kathy), masterfully served by many of the Lions, the Sandwich Dog Club walked around with a bunny to pet and then performed with their dogs both indoors and out.

 

For additional entertainment, Pat Keegan asked us all to wear “crazy” hats. Below is a group photo, followed by a slide show of our August parade of hats (while we did parade for our judges from the nursing homes, these photos are of individuals).  Check out the slide show following the group photo.

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Also, three Lions:  Jeni Williams, Patricia Strickland, and John Menken attended the August 16 District 44H Cabinet meeting.  Pat brought the glasses we have collected to donate:  160 pairs of glasses plus 48 pairs of sunglasses.

Giving Books to Young Students

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).