Our next meeting is JULY 11, because of the 4th of July holiday and the Lions International Convention. We will have meetings two Tuesdays in a row, July 11 and July 18. At the first one, July 11, our speaker will be someone we know well, Past President DICK POMO. He will tell us about blind golf. At first glance, that sounds next to impossible, but considering how most sighted people play, how could they do much worse? At any rate, DICK will explain it, and he needs no introduction, especially after this last week, when he was featured on Channel 15 Sports several times.

TaleTwister's Jackpot
still
$548

At our last meeting, Pres. CHUCK opened as usual, with OTTO FESTGE leading the song and Archbishop BOB gave the invocation. The only guest was Lion JERRY RABACH, representing the Lions Eye Bank, and Pres. CHUCK presented him with a check for $1,500 USD, the balance of the $3,000 we had allocated for the Eye Bank this year. You may have seen the Eye Bank’s donor commercial on TV, with our Lion logo prominently featured. Pres. CHUCK also reported the receipt of $1068.32, the bequest from the estate of Anna Marie Blum. It was “TailTwister Coronation Day,” and ROSS ROYSTER celebrated his reelection in royal fashion, with steak and champagne. The rest of us got “mystery meat”, but it tasted OK. JIM SCHUTZ donated two Brewer tickets, and PHIL STOWITTS was the high bidder, getting the TT off to a good start.

We got an outstanding report from MELISSA NOVINSKI on the results of our Rose Day sale. We sold about 20% less product, but thanks to the lower costs negotiated by chairman DON NEVIASER, we made almost as much money as last year, and if all the money still out there comes in, we will end up ahead. ART TAGGART led all sales with $2386, ROSS ROYSTER sold $2012, DAN STOUDT, $1312; DON NEVIASER $1040; DAVE MIES $902; followed by STEVE BRIGGS, CRAIG BUTLER, SAL AL ASHKAR, MELISSA NOVINSKI, JIM SCHUTZ, CHUCK BASFORD and CHRIS WILZ. These are all familiar names on the leader board, and together those 12 sold almost 75% of our total. We can’t thank the committee - DON, ROSS, DAN, CHRIS, MELISSA and ART -enough. Talk about leading by example! Others who sold flowers: MELISSA ABBOTT, LINDA BERGREN, JIM BRADLEY, THAYER BURNHAM, OTTO FESTGE, AL GOLDSTEIN, SCOTT GROVER, JERRY HODDINOTT, PHIL INGWELL, JOHN JENSON, DAWN JOHANKNECHT, JIM KEMMETER, CHARLIE LIBERTY, GREG MILLER, DALE MUELLER, ED NEESE, HAL OTTERBACK, DICK POMO, WALT PRIDHAM, WARREN RANDY, DALE ST. JOHN, TERRY SCHAR, MARILYN STAUTER, TOM STEVENS, PHIL STOWITTS, MICHELLE VETTERKIND, and DICK WATTS.

We had some good committee reports. SCOTT GROVER said that the Sight Conservation program had been revamped to better qualify recipients, 79% of requests received were approved, and we helped people from age 14 to 82. The new guidelines did substantially reduce the number and cost of requests. HAL OTTERBACK reported that the Eyeglass Sorting program was continuing, but needed more workers. Part of the problem is that the space we have is available only during normal working hours. STEVE BRIGGS said that Community Service was attempting to provide jerseys for a youth sports team, and looking into the possibility of providing passes to the new Goodman Pool. Treasurer MELISSA ABBOTT distributed reports which showed that our General Fund was solidly in the black again and that we had made some substantial donations from our Foundation.

PRES. CHUCK summarized our Lion year, noting that with the new meeting schedule we had a gain in our Operating Fund, and although we had lost a substantial number of members our attendance had stayed about the same. We had some new fundraising opportunities at the Kohl Center and Ink Cartridge Recycling, and were considering a program by the Harlem Ambassadors which would be both service and fundraiser. CHUCK noted that we had continued to support the Lions Eye Bank, Leader Dog, and the Wisconsin Lions Foundation, all important sight-related projects, and added a $10,000 gift to the Lions Pediatric Eye Clinic at UW Hospitals and $2,000 to the Lions Pride Campaign to support Lions Camp. We also supported the District CARE (Philippines) Project, Youth Exchange and Diabetes Awareness. We are “Knights of The Blind”, but that’s not all we do. He thanked the outgoing officers and all who come to meetings and work on projects for their support, and SCOTT GROVER in particular for his work on the web site. We need everyone, to keep our commitment to serve.

The new officer team, headed by Pres. SAL AL-ASHKAR, was installed and is ready to go. See you all at regular meetings on July 11 and July 18. MICHELLE VETTERKIND will lead Lion Birthdays July 11 - six members, 140 years of service! Four of the six are, or were, Club Presidents.