December 2021

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.

Jackie Rollins of Tuftonboro receiving the Christmas Check

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 2021

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 2021

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).

SEPTEMBER

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

August 2021

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:

July 2021

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).

Mike and Joanne Vidal selling raffle tickets (not Bubly)

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.

May 2021

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.


From Left to Right:  Agape President Kevin Sraughan, Lion Pete Strople, Lion John Menken, Pantry Coordinator Pamela Vaughn, and Janna Straughan, Secretary/Treasurer

March and April

We continue to have a combined Board and Business Meeting via Zoom, but are hoping to resume twice a month meetings in person in May. It will be so good to see people in person.

Towards the end of Reading Month (March) in the schools, the Moultonborough Lions Club donated 284 books to the children at Moultonborough Central School. Since we could not distribute a book to each student in person, the teachers were kind enough to send some photos of the children with their books.

In March, we also donated money to the Lions Camp Pride facility in New Durham (http://www.lionscamppride.org) for a new water heater for the kitchen and some money to go towards the building of the new Pavilion.

Also, part of our national mission is pediatric cancer. The District developed a money calendar, the proceeds of which will go to the Make A Wish Foundation. Our club donated two $50 squares on the calendar. The raffle calendars should be available soon.

You know the saying, March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb? Well, the winds certainly did roar in March … and this first full week of April has certainly been spring-like with the budding of leaves on the trees and the appearance of iris and daffodil shoots. That also means it is time to get out and clean up the sides of the roads. On April 7, five Lions (Mark, Sarah, Chris, Kay and Sally) spent 2 hours and collected 20 bags of trash from alongside Route 25 between the Moultonborough and Meredith town lines in Center Harbor.

February 2021

A short month and one with weather ups and downs. There were some beautiful days for walks outside. And I am sure that the people who plow driveways were very happy for all the snow we had. The temperatures even cooperated towards the end of the month and the tapping of the maple trees and the boiling process to make syrup have begun.

Things for the Lions Club have had some similar ups and downs in member health issues but many are getting vaccinated and hope that we as a Club will be able to get back to our service activities.

A few of the students to whom we gave scholarships in 2020 have sent us videos and described their lives as college students during a pandemic. And the new round of scholarship applications for the class of 2021 will soon begin.

We are still collecting pill bottles and eye glasses (please drop the later off at the blue box in from of the Moultonborough Function Hall, formerly the Moultonborough Lions Club. Once the weather improves, we will provide a plastic box for pill bottles there as well.

January

And we are still keeping social distance and trying to prevent the spread of Covid. We are missing our meetings and exchanging the highs and lows of our lives and being able to serve our community in person.

We continue to collect empty bill bottles and have sent out an additional two boxes to be processed and sent to third world countries.

In addition, we have purchased and donated over $300 worth of new underwear and socks to be delivered to Waypoint, which provides clothing and programs for runaway and homeless youth and those at risk who are between 12 and 23 years old.  The donations collected by all participating Lions Club in the state will be distributed at the end of this month.