August certainly started with a bang — literally — we have had thunderstorms both loud and somewhat destructive. And then there is the heat — the ending two weeks of the “dog days of summer.

Speaking of days and dogs… while we did have our first raffle sales on the Fourth of July, we followed that up with one of five selling dates in front of E.M. Heath’s. On July 23, we not only sold tickets, we also dog sat for a very nice dog while her owner went in and shopped. After all, our motto is, “We Serve!”

We will be selling raffle tickets on two dates in August: Sunday, August 14 and Saturday, August 27. Stop by while you are shopping and purchase your chance to win $5,000 and help out the communities we serve.

We have also place some yellow signs around town with an important message:

Hopefully, you have seen them as you are driving about the area.

District 44H (to which the Moultonborough Lions belong) is having its meeting at Camp Pride. In addition to bringing eyeglasses (We really appreciate all the donations of no longer needed eyeglasses in the baskets placed around the communities we serve), we will be collecting boxes of cereal which we will bring to the meeting and which will be donated to the food bank.

We are almost at the end of watering and weeding at Sutherland Park. September will see the purchase of some mums to bring in the autumn season.

At our August dinner meeting, the principal of Sandwich Central School, Jeremy Hillger, spoke to us about the effects of Covid on students and learning both locally and globally. He also thanked the Club for our continual purchase over the years of individual books for all the students.

The new Lion’s Year started with a band both literally and figuratively. After a two-year hiatus due to Covid, Moultonborough hosted its Fourth of July parade and the Moultonborough Lions Club hosed the event, serving hot dogs, steak burgers, pasta salad, potato salad, coleslaw, chips, watermelon and drinks to a little over 200 people — both parade participants and spectators. We also used wooden utensils and biodegradable plates.

At our July 18 dinner meeting we hosted 4 of our scholarship recipients. This year we gave seven scholarships, totaling $11,000.

We will have our first raffle ticket sales in front of EM Heath’s for a $5,000 prize on Saturday, July 23.

The Moultonborough Lions distributed books at all three elementary schools in our service district: Moultonborough Central School, Sandwich Central School and Tuftonboro Central School. All in all, 515 books were given to individual students. This is one of our service activities that bring the most smiles — to us and to the students.

Things are warming up — not only the weather, but our activities. In addition to selecting our scholarship winners for the 2022-23 academic year and having five Tuesdays of Bingo in May, we went to Camp Pride (on one of the hottest days so far) to do our adopted bunkhouse’s spring cleaning.

Then we collected money for the blind on Saturday, May 28 and Sunday, May 29. Thanks to help from our local cub scouts and the kindness of people stopping by EM Heath’s and Ace Hardware, the Club collected $1,200.

After our May dinner meeting, President Mark Cotrupi let the Helen Keller induction ceremony for three of our newest members (unfortunately Vicki and Gina were unable to attend).  This version of the induction ceremony is the one where the newest members are blindfolded and led up by their sponsors. 

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).