December 2019

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The Christmas Festivities started promptly on December 1 with five Lions, one son, and two grandchildren (almost sounds like that Christmas carol, doesn’t it) decking the hall (and the tree) for the holidays.

The day after this decorating, Lions Dawn, Michelle, Joanne and Sally put up the Lions tree for the Altrusa Festival of Trees. Before that day, we got together on three occasions to make the ornaments. Our theme was Holiday Tree of Warmth: the tree was hung with hats, socks, and scarfs for garlands … and decorated with paper mugs filled with cocoa, cider, cinnamon, and candy canes, and home-made ornaments of stockings, sweaters, and mittens. At the bottom was a hand knotted blanket. The tree will be donated to a local family after the festival.

And traditions continue … On Friday, December 6 the Moultonborough Lions hosted Cookies and Caroling for the senior citizens from the various communities we serve (Community Caregiver neighbors and nursing home residents. Moultonborough Academy choral director, Harmony Markey, and her Select Chorus sang both traditional and different Christmas songs and their presence was much appreciated. There were door prizes, and Name-That-Tune prizes, sing-a-longs, and more than enough cookies, drinks, and cheer.

Also on December 4, Mark and Sarah went to two schools to do vision screening — Russell Elementary School in Rumney and Wentworth Elementary. On December 6, Mark and Stephanie did a vision screening at Holderness Elementary School. The very next day, Stephanie, Mark, and Peter spent four hours at the Moultonborough Central School Holiday Fair doing free vision screening for the community. All totaled, the Lions screened 300 children and 10 adults over three days.

Also on December 7 at the Holiday Fair we had our last raffle sales on the year. It was cold — with temperatures in the low 20’s –but our intrepid lion and four other warmly dressed Lions braved that weather to sell. And at one o’clock an elementary student volunteered to pick the winning ticket. The winner of the $5,000 prize is local this year.

The winners of the $5000 prize were Helen and Bob Watkinson. They attended our dinner meeting and received their check from President Peter Allen and Past President John Menken.

To round out the holiday month we donated $500 to each of the towns we service: Moultonborough, Center Harbor, Sandwich, and Tuftonboro to be used where it is most needed be that for food, fuel, clothing, or toys.

AND Lions Dawn and Joanne rung the Salvation Army bell and collected money for the kettle, wearing Santa hats and I-am-a-Lion-Bell-Ringer aprons at the Plymouth Walmart .

Happy Holidays to all and wishes for a healthy New Year 2020.

November 2019

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Ah, November, the weather is getting chillier and as I write this it is snowing.

To date we have done two vision screenings. One on November 1 at Ashland Elementary where Mark and Sarah screened 156 students. And the second at Sandwich Central School where 70 students were screened by Mark, Don and Sally.

At the business meeting we discussed a possible future (March) service project. More news about that as we look into its feasibility.

Bingo continues on Tuesday evenings with its loyal followers and steadfast crew of Lions. Why not stop by and try your luck. Even if you don’t win, it is a fun evening. Calling starts at 6:30, but you want to get there early enough to get all your “cards” and find a good set.



October 2019

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Halfway through the month and the foliage colors have been spectacular, especially during the Columbus Day weekend. Then we had strong winds and our lawns looked golden with all the fallen leaves.

We have done a lot of vision screening in just over two weeks. Four schools (Gilmanton, Gilford, Interlakes Elementary, and Tuftonboro netted 1,073 students screened with 83 referrals to see an eye doctor. Then at the Sandwich Fair, eight Lions screened 388 people with 70 referrals.

And speaking of the Sandwich Fair, we had a new vision screening shed donated by the Fair, complete with electrical wiring. We wish to thank the Fair for this. We bought a new vision screening banner to complement the new shed.

We had our last raffle sales at Heath’s for the year and the last Friday of the month we will be stuffing envelopes and mailing letters and raffle tickets out to people. Final (in-person) sales will occur at Moultonborough Central School on Saturday, December 7, up until the 1 pm drawing for the $5000 prize.

Speaking of the raffle, ten members spent 25 hours, stamping envelopes, stapling tickets, and putting address labels on envelopes getting ready for the large mailing which occurred this Friday (10/25). At that time eleven Moultonborough Lions spent an incredibly fast two hours, stuffing over 1,000 envelopes.

The large Bingo jackpot of just over $1,100 was won on Tuesday, October 15 with three individuals sharing the pot. But don’t despair, it will build up again and Bingo provides a fun and entertaining weekend.

At the October dinner meeting, we had as our guests the District Governor (Steve Middlemass) and District Secretary (Valencia Williams) and District Treasurer (Scott Williams). The DG spoke of his visions for NH Lions for this year as well as those of the International Present. He also initiated a new Moultonborough Lion, Marilyn Indelicato (who in the past belonged to both a Lioness and Lions Club). Those of you who play Bingo have probably seen Marilyn there.

Also the dinner meeting was when we finalized the collection of gifts for the residents of the pediatric cancer wing at Dartmouth/Hitchcock. Individual members purchased approximately $800 of books, toys, stuffed animals, gift cards, and clothes which will be taken to the hospital in the next week or so.

And lastly, on the 30th of October, we had a little Christmas in October as Dawn, Michelle, Joanne, and Sally made ornaments to put on our Festival of Lights tree which will be on display at the very beginning of December and then given to a local family. We decided on a theme of Warmth of Christmas and plan to have real and home-made “decorations” of scarves, sweaters, socks, hats, and mittens.

September 2019

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The air changes from warm to crisp; it is apple picking time; can the colorful leaves be far behind?

Our busy season(s) as a service club is kicking into high gear. In the first three weeks of the month we have done vision screening in four schools (Moultonborough Academy, Thornton Central, InterLake Middle School, and Laconia Middle School) with a total of 963 students being screened and almost 100 of them referred for a more complete eye exam. We have several more schools on our schedule to be done throughout the fall.

At our dinner meeting on the 16th of this month we had Jessamy Cornell, Diabetes Educator at Huggins hospital, give an information presentation on Type 2 Diabetes.

We are also busy collecting individual donations for the pediatric cancer wing at Dartmouth/Hitchcook. Our club has already donated 20 “game sheets” and will send the clothes, toys, stuffed animals, books, etc. to the CHAD after the October dinner meeting.

Plus, members continue to water and week Sutherland Park in Moultonborough — Look for the fall scarecrows to make an appearance soon. And bingo continues to provide entertainment and social opportunities for many on Tuesday evenings.

August 2019

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Halfway through the month and we have had one of two raffle ticket sales for this month, with Michelle, Don, Jeni and Sally raising $520 towards the prize and scholarships.

The next one is scheduled for Labor Day Weekend.

We have also been continuing to water and week Sutherland Park. This month that job fell to Pete Strople, Michelle Duddy, and Diane MacArthur. At least we have had a bit more rain this month.

Our August dinner once again included residents from Golden View, Forest View, and Mountain View — 26 Lions and 28 guests from the nursing homes. We had pre- and dinner entertainment provided by Katie Duddy and Harmony music. What fantastic voices!!!!! And a sing-along by all after the hot dog, hamburger, cole slaw, potato salad, pasta salad and ice cream. Great job by our grillers, servers, and “wait staff.”

Peter and John attended the District Cabinet Meeting and came back with a wonderful list of things to provide to CHAD and donated $50 worth of backpack supplies and 212 pairs of glasses to be “recycled.”

July 2019

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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

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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

June 2019

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As the weather finally begins to warm up, so do our service projects and activities.

On June 12 we handed out 135 individual books to the students of Tuftonboro Central School …



That is Bill Haggerup in the Lion suit, along with John Menken, who started this program, and Susan Price.

And on June 5 we gave books to each student in grades Pre-K through Grade 6. All but three of the youngest students wanted to hug or high five the Lion (this time it was Pete Strople in the Lion costume.

We have also been working on our adopt-a-spot — Sutherland Park in Moultonborough. Thanks to the weeding, mulching, moving some of the perennials, and selecting new annuals done by Sarah C. and Chris M. the upper Park is all ready to receive visitors

On Saturday, June 22, we once again did the “Spring” cleaning of our adopted bunkhouse at Camp Pride. In addition to the new metal roof that was put on last year, the Moultonborough Club paid for new windows and three new doors. Lloyd was our Windex Man, John plied the Murphy’s Oil, Sally had bathroom duty with the help of Mark’s daughter, Helen. Dawn vacuumed everything and her husband helped and also got rid of some of the weeds outside, Jeni performed multiple tasks as well as Mark (who also moved some furniture. We made notes on improvements to be made next Spring.

April and May

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Yes, these are the Spring months and we have begun most recently to see sun and warmer temperatures.

We have elected our new officers for the 2019-20 Lion Year which will begin July 1. And we have made nominations for Awards which will be presented at the June dinner meeting.

Spring was a bit sluggish in coming and it did have an effect on our service activities. But we (and the bears) have come alive, and the number of Bingo players is increasing each week.

In early May we took the second of our donations of goods and gift cards to David’s House in Hanover to help the families of pediatic cancer patients.

Sarah and Mark Cotrupi and five other Lions spearheaded the roadside clean-up of our new site in Sandwich. Now we have two different sites — the other being Route 25 from the Moultonborough Town Line to the Center Harbor Town Line.

At the Lions District Meeting in North Conway on Saturday, May 11, John Menken and Jeni Williams were proud to accept a patch for being selected at the Best Large Club in the District for the year. We were recognized for not only the growth in membership but for the number of activities and depth of commitment to the communities we serve.

Also, on the note of service, we will be collecting funds for the blind at both Ace Hardware in Center Harbor and E.M. Heath’s Supermarket on Saturday, May 25.




Upcoming events include the book distribution at MCS and Tuftonboro Elementary school, spring cleaning our adopted bunkhouse at Camp Pride, weeding and planting at Sutherland Park (our adopt-a-spot location) and presenting local scholarships to high school seniors — all in June.

March

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The first few days of March were busy ones for the Moultonborough Lions. In addition to the Board and Business meetings on Monday, March 4 and Bingo on Tuesday, we performed two service activities on Tuesday, March 5.

Mark and Mike went to Russell Elementary School in Rumney, NH and did vision screening for 71 students.

Also on the 5th, Lions John, Bill, Sally and Pete (in his Lion’s outfit) helped Sandwich Elementary School celebrate Dr. Seuss week. Bill read On Mulberry Street to the 1/2 classroom. And all four Lions gave newly purchased books to each of the 79 students in grades K – 6 as part of our Reading in the Schools/RIF service activity.