The speaker for our next meeting, January 25, will be our own Dr. TOM STEVENS. He participated in a Friendship Force visit to Poland, and we will hear about the experience. Poland has the misfortune to be stranded between two historically great powers, and as a result has been fought over for centuries. The Poles are among the most courageous and resilient people on earth, and we will hear about what conditions are like there now. Presumably TOM will be his own Program Host, unless we can get LINDA to introduce him. She does everything else for the meetings but light the heaters under the food.

ROSS ROYSTER stood forth once again as interim TailTwister, and in a particularly evil move, decreed that each table must sing a song to avoid a fine. The Editor's table agreed they'd rather pay than hear him sing, but the table made up of LINDA BERGREN, TOM STEVENS, ART TAGGART, JIM BRADLEY, JIM KEMMETER and DAN STOUDT took a shot at it. Somewhere Fred Waring is groaning, but they did avoid a fine. A second table, made up of CHUCK BASFORD, CHRIS WILZ, WALT PRIDHAM, HAL OTTERBACK, PHIL STOWITTS, THAYER BURNHAM and visitor Karen Lanter offered a different version. Suffice it to say that there was little to choose between them, but you have to admire the effort!

President LINDA BERGREN opened the meeting, OTTO FESTGE was back to lead the song, and DALE MUELLER gave the invocation.

The lone guest introduced was Judy Warnke of Target Commercial Interiors, with MELISSA NOVINSKI. CHRIS WILZ of M&I Bank on Monona Drive, who has been accepted but not yet formally inducted as our newest member, was present, but we didn't hear his sponsor DON NEVIASER, so he must not have been there.

President LINDA announced that our Club will be among several applicants to sponsor the new Madison-based version of Monopoly which has been proposed as a fund raiser. In other communities it has realized as much as $100,000 for the sponsor. If we get it we would sell sponsorship of board spaces and/or playing pieces to local businesses, and then help with the distribution and sale of the game in the community. Along with all the houses and hotels, the Editor wonders if we'd have to have bike paths and spaces for street vendors.

Our "Christmas Quasimodo", BOB BOHN, read a "thank you" note from the Salvation Army, for our assistance in ringing the bell for one of their kettles. It said in part, "your precious gift of time......brings hope." That's what Lions try to do. Bob accumulates titles the way some people do Lion pins, but it's Lions like him, who do the "nuts and bolts"" work, that make it possible for the Club to do the service that it does. Now, if he could just understand the BULLetin,.............. but we suppose we can't have everything.

MICHELLE VETTERKIND conducted a Lion Birthday party for Lions who joined in January. We had a distinguished group - THAYER BURNHAM, 57 years, OTTO FESTGE, 52 years, AL GOLDSTEIN, 44 years, and PP DICK POMO, 12 years. That's a total of 165 years of service!! THAYER and OTTO were present with presents, and drawing winners were ROSS ROYSTER and WALT PRIDHAM. Coincidence - both winners joined in 1981. That's about 48 more years of service. OTTO remarked that he probably had the Club record for the length of time in one job - he was asked to lead the song shortly after he joined in 1953 and he's been doing it ever since! Obviously one of life's few perfect fits.

CHUCK BASFORD, who not coincidentally is our Club Diabetes Awareness Chairman, introduced the speaker, Karen Lanter of the local branch of the American Diabetes Association. Karen told us a great deal about this disease in a short time. There are two types: Type 1 (Juvenile) is when the pancreas does not produce insulin and the patient must be injected, and Type 2, in which insulin is present but not properly used by cells, and which can sometimes be treated by medication. She noted that diagnosed cases increased by 49% in 10 years and is expected to more than triple in the next 50, partly because of the spread of obesity. Diabetes changes everything - those who have it are at risk for heart disease, stroke, vision loss (it is the #1 cause, which is where Lions come in), healing problems, circulatory problems. Symptoms are thirst, unexplained weight loss, frequent urination, vision and healing problems. Exercise and weight loss can delay or prevent the onset of Type 2. The ADA fights it through education for the public and health professionals, advocacy, and research. They partner with Wis. Lions in having a two-week session for diabetic children at Lions Camp. Karen gave us a lot of sobering but useful information.