Next Meeting: Tuesday, September 19 - LINDA BERGREN will introduce Mike George, of the Department Of Public Instruction. He was sent to China to exchange ideas on education with the Chinese, and has pictures and stories of his extensive travels there. Got to be interesting!

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$669

At our last meeting, Pres. SAL opened the meeting with the Pledge, LINDA BERGREN led the song, and “Archbishop” BOB BOHN gave a timely invocation. Pres. SAL reminded us that the Board meeting is on Sept. 19, and the Service Club luncheon on Nov. 15. He’d like to have a good delegation from our club at the lunch. He also noted that at the State Convention, the construction of a new health lodge at Lions Camp was approved, and fund raising for it has begun. WLF now has$180,000 in hand, but it’s going to cost a lot more than that.

Pres. SAL also gave us an overview of the new Sight First II project from Lions International. Those of us who’ve been around a while remember Project Sight First from the early ‘90s, when Lions around the world raised $143 million USD to reduce or eliminate preventable and reversible blindness around the world. If you’ve been paying attention, we’ve made wonderful progress, but that money will all be used in a year or two. The new goal for Sight First II is $150 million USD, and our Board has approved our contribution of $2,000 per year for five years, totaling a pledge of $10,000. Following his announced plan, Pres. SAL called for a vote of the entire Club in formal session to approve this action. PP CHUCK BASFORD made the motion, DALE MUELLER seconded it, and it passed unanimously.

Pres. SAL says the Diabetes Assn. needs volunteers to assist in registration, traffic, and handing out water to participants for their annual Walk fund-raiser. See him to find out how to help. It was also announced that SCOTT GROVER and OTTO FESTGE are both home, recuperating. Hope we’ll have both of them back with us soon.

LINDA BERGREN announced that our annual Awards Night social is set for Tuesday, Oct. 24, starting at 5:30 PM. There is no regular meeting that day. Spouses, significant others and prospective members are welcome as guests. MICHELLE VETTERKIND will lead the celebration of Lion Birthdays for September, October, and November at that party as well. Food, fun, birthday gift drawings - everyone should be there!

Pres. SAL announced a revised Awards Committee, made up of TERRY SCHAR, MICHELLE VETTERKIND, ROSS ROYSTER, STEVE BRIGGS, HAL OTTERBACK and ED NEESE. If there is someone you feel deserves special recognition, let one of the committee know so they can be considered for the Melvin Jones and Birch/Sturm Fellowships, or other awards.

CHUCK BASFORD said this is our month to be Transporters for the Lions Eye Bank. This service is vital to our goal of restoring vision, and if you can help on occasion, see CHUCK [Keep a watch on who's involved on the eye transport page of our web site]. He also said the concession stands at Camp Randall and the Kohl Center were going well - schedules and signup sheets are on the MCLC web site [all kinds of opportunities to be found on this page]. Workers need to arrive about 2 hours before the game starts, and he can always use more help. The more MCLC Lions that work shifts, the more money we raise for service.

STEVE BRIGGS says the Lions Bowling Team in the Civic League needs more bowlers. It’s a handicap league, so you don’t have to be a star to participate, and it’s fun to compete with members from other service clubs. If you can bowl even once a month, see STEVE. PHIL STOWITTS has this year’s Bucky Books. See him to get one or more. Everything we get for them this year is profit - we paid for them last year.

JODI BURMESTER introduced our speaker, West Lion DALE BRUHN. He told us a lot about the bane of old age - dementia. There are several kinds, Alzheimer’s being best known. Normal aging slows down our reaction time and our ability to process, concentration and multi-tasking (doing two or three things at once) become more difficult, and we need more aids and cues. (Pill sorters, for example.) A change from normal personality, interference with daily functions/routines, and forgetting entire past experiences may signal the onset of one of the diseases. Early diagnosis is very important, because treatment can slow the process, though so far not stop or reverse it. It is important to know that these are diseases that affect the person’s ability to function. They are, involuntarily, not the person they were. It helps to simplify their environment as much as possible - make small decisions for them, don’t ask. If you or someone you know are facing this problem, speak with DALE. He is a valuable counselor.