Still waiting for Spring-like weather to appear, but the snow is just about all gone.

Bingo has been happening Tuesday evenings.  We have begun to schedule vision screening in area schools, and we have purchased books for the elementary students in Moultonborough, Sandwich, and Tuftonboro and are waiting to hear back on dates to deliver them.
We continue to collect no-longer-needed eyeglasses as well as used and prescription pill bottles (with no names on them).  And our scholarship applications for high school seniors are in the guidance offices at Moultonborough Academy, InterLakes High School, and Kingswood Regional High School. The deadline for these applications is “received by April 23.”

SAVE THE DATE: On Saturday, April 9, 2022, we hold our first Penny Sale fundraiser (all monies collected to go back into helping people in need).  We have been collecting some wonderful donations as well as gift certificates from local businesses.  Ticket sales will begin at 3pm and the first drawings will start at 5pm.  There will also be a silent auction for gift certificates and some of the more expensive baskets and items.  Food will be available for sale.  We hope to see many people there to enjoy some fun and bring home some great find

April showers/downpours did not deter the Penny Sale. While we did not get as many people as predicted, we believe a good time was had by all and many people went home with quite a few items each. Wish we had counted the items, but our guess is well over 200, not including the silent auction items and the gift certificate bags.

A special thanks go out to the Lions and non-Lions who helped set up for the Penny Sale. And especially large thanks go out to the individuals and businesses who donated items, baskets, and gift cards. We appreciate the support for us and for the services to the community we preform. We were able to raise a bit more than $3,000.

Roadside cleanup

Spring is the time to clean up after winter and on April 10 — before the rains came Lions Mark and Sarah gathered 28 bags of roadside trash along Route 25 in Moultonborough. Next in line are our roads in Center Harbor and Sandwich.

Vision Screening

Two Lions braved some stormy winter condition in April to drive to Kenneth A. Brett school to do vision screening for the elementary students. 136 students were screened and 6 were referred to a vision specialists.

The weather remained cold for the most part and we continued to get snow which was great for the Sled Dog Races in Laconia and the Ice Fishing Derby in Meredith.

Since February had four of every day of the week, we had four Bingo games. Attendance has been low which has been a positive for the winners, but we are hoping to see more players as the daylight hours lengthen and the weather gets warmer.

Between January and February’s meetings, the Club donated almost three thousand dollars to various community organizations and we have paid out $9,000 in scholarships to the class of 2021 scholarship recipients.

Speaking of scholarship applications, this year’s application deadline for high school seniors who reside in Moultonborough, Sandwich, Center Harbor and Tuftonboro is April 23, 2020.

Thanks to people donating empty prescription pill bottles at Bingo, the Center Harbor Congregational Church, and the Moultonborough School District (as well as individuals giving them to Lions), we have collected another 400-500 bottles to be eventually distributed to third world countries.

SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, April 9, the Moultonborough Lions will be holding their first Penny Sale at the Moultonborough Function Hall (formerly know as the Lions Club). You are welcome to drop off items on Tuesdays between four and nine pm, or email Karen Baron (nahant56@gmail.com) who is in charge of the fundraiser. Ticket sales will be from 3pm-5pm when the drawings begin. Food will be available.

The Moultonborough Lions will be offering two COVID vaccination clinics at the Moultonborough Function Hall (formerly the Lions Club on Old Route 109) on January 14 and January 28. Both clinics will run from 9 am to 6pm and are open to all citizens  on a first come, first served basis. Persons wishing to be immunized with first, second or booster doses need only to bring ID, their covid shot record (if they have one) and a mask. The state will be able to able to accommodate 450 vaccinations on each day (any formulation). PLEASE NOTE THAT THE HOURS HAVE CHANGED FOR THE JANUARY 28 DATE. THE CLINIC WILL RUN FROM 10 AM TO 2 PM

We started off the month with our last raffle sale at the Holiday Fair. It was a bit cold to be selling tickets outside, but the Lion was warm. At 1 pm on Saturday, December 4, we drew the winning raffle ticket. The five thousand dollar cash prize went to a woman who lives in Freedom, NH and who bought her ticket at one of our Tuesday night Bingo games.

President Mark Cotrupi deliver the four $500 checks to each of the towns that the Moultonborough Lions provide services for:  Moultonborough, Tuftonboro, Center Harbor and Sandwich.  The money is used to help families with gifts for children (toys and clothing), food certificates and sometimes help with fuel.

We personalized 268 Christmas cards which were given to the nursing home residents of Golden View, Mountain View, and Forest View. 

We donated $4,000 to some of the tornado victims in Kentucky. Specifically we wired the money to a Lions Club in the affected area. The money will stay in the community and will be used to purchase Christmas toys, gift cards for food and clothes, and shower units to name a few uses. We also sent $1,000 to the International Lions Club disaster relief fund to help additional people.

With the help of three Moultonborough Lions and three friends/spouse, $500 was raised by ringing the Salvation Army – Laconia bell in December. The Club donated an addition $600 dollars.

Our Christmas party was held on December 20 and it was nice to be able to do it in person this year even though attendance was down at the dinner. All had a good time with a Yankee Swap and a guess-the-Christmas-carol rebus puzzle cards.

November came in with some mild weather, but is ending with cold temperatures, gusty winds, and lots of turkeys strutting around.

The District 44H Governor, Bob Gustafson and the District Secretary/Treasurer, Al Goldstein attended our monthly dinner meeting and filled us in on what is happening both in the district and in the State.

We welcome three new members this month which is wonderful.

Eyeglasses and socks for Waypoint were delivered at the District meeting on Sunday, November 14.

The raffle will come to an end on Saturday, December 4 at the Holiday Fair at Moultonborough Central School. The winning ticket will be drawn at 1 pm and we will sell tickets — outside and inside the building — right up to five minutes before the drawing. We also want to thank all the people who have previously bought tickets either through the mailing or at one of the dates we were selling in front of Heath’s.

Several Lions have been busy this month, personalizing Christmas cards to be delivered to the nursing home residents of Golden View, Mountain View, and Forest View.

October was a busy month for the Moultonborough Lions.

We did one last roadside cleanup before the “snow flies.” Doing the stretch of road in Sandwich much used by Fairgoers. And on that same date, October 23, we stuffed, sealed, and stamped 888 letters with information about what the club does and raffle tickets. We had earlier had the last in-person sales of raffle tickets in front of Heath’s.

We did the fall cleaning at our adopted bunkhouse at Camp Pride, which included sanitizing the mattresses ….

We voted to purchase $500 worth of food for the Meals on Wheels annual Harvest Dinner. And individual members bought new socks which we will donate to homeless teenagers through Waypoint. The socks will be brought to the District 44H meeting in November and then distributed to Waypoints from all the Clubs in the District.

Peter Allen has already ordered and received the books for the Moultonborough Central School and is waiting to hear from Tuftonboro and Sandwich. The books will be distributed when each school selects a date.

And of course, Bingo continues. Because of all the new rules and changes made by the NH Gaming Commission, we are one of the few Bingo games left in the area. We would love to see even more people attend. Doors open at 5 pm on Tuesday nights at the Moultonborough Function Hall (formerly known as the Moultonborough Lions Club).

The leaves are starting to turn — very slowly — but I think it will be at least October before we see some good color. The squirrels are pruning the oak trees trying to get the acorns and with all the acorns there are, the squirrels should be huge next year.

SUTHERLAND PARK: We ended the month and the season of weeding and watering and should be all set until spring planting next year. All in all 16 Lions spent almost 90 hours since the beginning of July of this environmental project.

We had a live business and a live dinner meeting again this month and are keeping our fingers crossed that we can continue meeting indoor.

BINGO: Bingo games were held three times this month and there will be some changes in the games and cost in the coming months.

ROADSIDE CLEANUPS – we did both stretches of road in September — Route 25 in Center Harbor and Quimby Field Road in Center Harbor the weekend of September 18.

RAFFLE: We had one Saturday in September, selling raffle tickets in front of EM Heath’s and will have one more in October (on the 9th). Then we will start the mailing towards the end of October with the big drawing to be held on December 4.

Happy Autumn

Bingo is Back

Starting this Tuesday, August 3 (and until further notice) the Lions Club will be holding Bingo on Tuesday evenings, beginning at 6:30 but opening the doors to ticket purchases at 5:30 pm. Bingo is held at the Moultonborough Function Hall (formerly called the Lions Club) on Old Route 109. Please bring your own food and beverages (as least for the time being). Thanks to all who have have been supporters of bingo and patiently waiting for the games to begin. Welcome back.

And we continue to sell RAFFLE TICKETS in front of E.M. Heath’s. We were there for five hours on July 31, August 15, and you will see some Lions there this coming Saturday, August 28.

Our ticket sellers are coming up with different ways to attract people in addition to having some great, in quick, conversations with the people who pass by. Joe and Mary decided to try on different hats on the 15 — maybe some of you saw them:

We were able to have our business meeting and our dinner meeting (some delicious fried chicken with many side salads) in person this month and it was good to reconnect in person.

Raffle sales also resumed in front of EM Heath’s. It was quite cool on July 3 and started out cool but became sunny, breezy and beautiful in the afternoon on July 31. Thanks to so many people for purchasing raffle tickets for the $5,000 prize and more importantly for helping us to support the communities we serve. We will have two more sale dates in August, one is September and one in October (Columbus Day weekend).

Membership: We gained two new members in June and July (a husband and wife who have moved to Moultonborough from Connecticut. And, sadly, we lost a valued member, Ed Meskys, who died on July 25 and who actively served on many committees, served as president and was a true “Knight of the Blind”

While selling raffle tickets, the Vidals also spoke with two residents who are interested in finding out more about joining our Lions Club. If anyone reading this is also interested, you can contact our Membership Chairperson, Mark Cotrupi or the webmaster Sally Sibulkin (sarlene98@roadrunner.com). Applications for membership are also available on this website on the Membership page.

Things are starting to open up and get busy this month. While we still had our meeting via zoom, we are hoping that we will be able to meet live next month. However, not meeting in person, does not mean we have been inactive.

On Saturday, May 22 a group of eight Lions spent the morning at our “adopted” bunkhouse at Camp Pride. Curtains were hung, mattresses were cleaned, walls were painted and bathrooms were readied for campers. Camp Pride was closed last summer and many renovations were able to be done during the quarantine period. They are looking forward to welcoming all the campers soon.

And on Saturday, May 29 in the rain and cold. Moultonborough Lions collected money for White Cane Day outside of Heath’s Super Market and Hardware Store. A little over $900 was collected for the blind.

We have also donated $1,000 to the Agape Ministries Food Pantry in Moultonborough to purchase personal hygiene and cleaning items for the people who come to the pantry. These items are not available with food stamps and are certainly necessary items.