Temple Beth El is where we meet next Tuesday noon, Election Day. Arbor Drive and Knickerbocker Street, just off Monroe. Not only a special place, but it's their Food Fair, so we'll get a great meal, and all MCLC members are guests of AL GOLDSTEIN for lunch. It's AL's way of sharing his raffle good fortune with all of us. Goodies are available for purchase at the Food Fair, too. Make sure you get there. Not much parking on Arbor - try Monroe Street, or the streets leading north across Monroe, or maybe the parking lot by the boat launch at the end of Knickerbocker. Don't park in the store parking lots.

MICHELLE VETTERKIND is the Program Host, and she will introduce Jeff Mayers, President and Editor of WisPolitics.com, an online political and government news service in Madison. Jeff is a former political writer for the Wisconsin State Journal, and maybe he can clear away some of the smoke, mirrors and mud and tell us what's going on in politics. He is an author, too, but many of his writings are about golf and fishing, so maybe he can come up with more understandable information on those subjects as well.

Our last meeting started before the meeting (Yogi would be proud!) as Ross Royster, Membership Director, and DAN STOUDT shared some thoughts on membership with us. ROSS said it's everyone's job to find new members - if not you, then who will do it? He suggested talking to CEOs to find representatives of that business that would represent it in the community through membership in our club. DAN noted some of the downtown differences in recent years - not many storefronts to walk in, but the people are still there, in offices on upper floors. You need to make face-to-face contact with managers and directors, to generate interest in joining us, and stress the fact that ours is a service club, not a check-writing club.

President LINDA BERGREN then began the formal meeting, with OTTO FESTGE leading the song and ROSS ROYSTER giving the invocation. Brief, but to the point. There were no guests. JODI BURMESTER announced a meeting of the Program Committee, in two weeks on Nov. 9, at 11:30 prior to our meeting, in the Edgewater bar. The committee would appreciate suggestions, both individual programs and "themes" for a series.

GEORGE ALBRIGHT reported on our Sports Spree raffle. We sold 1120 tickets (out of 1250) for $3,860 and had expenses of about $600, more than making the $3K that the Budget hoped for. A good thing - we need the money. One main reason we did so well is that all the noncash prizes were donated. PADDHE HEINEN gave the Woldenbergs certificate, JIM SCHUTZ the Packer tickets, and DAVE MIES arranged for the Badger tickets. Big round of applause for these generous Lions! Top ticket seller was DON NEVIASER, who sold 213 tickets!! MELISSA NOVINSKI was next in line with 85, DAN STOUDT with 82, ROSS ROYSTER 70, DAVE MIES 60, DICK POMO 52, followed by MARK LARSON, CRAIG BUTLER, PHIL INGWELL, JOHN JENSON and JODI BURMESTER. 38 Club members sold at least one ticket, which is good but could be improved upon. The 11 top sellers, 14% of the Club membership, sold 80% of the tickets. We have some great stars, but we could use more foot soldiers. GEORGE and MELISSA NOVINSKI did most of the work on this important project.

AL GOLDSTEIN claimed he had just turned 80, and read a poem in honor of the occasion. You had to be there - we're not printing that one, but everybody laughed. AL then flashed his old sales talent in auctioning off a prize box which supposedly contained a shirt and tie from Woldenbergs. JOHN JENSON came thru with the high bid after AL's spirited pitch. AL then invited all Club members to attend the next meeting at the Temple as his guests - he's footing the lunch bill! Be there.

JODI BURMESTER introduced our speaker, Deb Archer of the Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau. Originally part of the Chamber of Commerce and now independent, the Bureau's job is to promote Madison as a meeting place and a destination for tourists. She noted that 70% of their budget comes from tax money, primarily the City tax on hotel rooms, and they also have 600 dues-paying members. They seek conventions/conferences/meetings of 400 to 4000 people. The addition of the Overture Center is a tremendous boost, giving visitors an outstanding place to go, and at the same time the resident groups such as the Madison Symphony, Madison Ballet, and Madison Opera need bigger audiences and higher ticket prices to fund their operating costs. It adds to the energy and breadth of activity in Madison, so that visitors have more things they can do. In Wisconsin, 7 million more people attended arts events than went to athletics, so the interest is there. It also helps to attract future residents. In addition to promotion, the Bureau is working to improve airline service, and helping train workers who provide service to visitors.