Next time — Tuesday, March 20, at the Edgewater, our speaker will be David Edwards, Environmental Enforcement Specialist for the Wis. Dept. Of Natural Resources. Not sure what his subject will be, but the environment can use all the help it can get.

TaleTwister's Jackpot
$1,052

At our last meeting TT ROSS was back, and with the “pot” over $1000, he had everyone’'s (well, almost) attention. DON NEVIASER won the first-round drawing, got two cards by mistake, but neither one was the joker, so the scheme rolls on. Nearly as exciting as the big East Coast lottery this week.

Pres. SAL was not available, so 1st VP DON NEVIASER presided, and got the job done. LINDA BERGREN led the song and when no invocator appeared, ROSS ROYSTER stepped in and did it. JODI BURMESTER said she still needed some more volunteers to man the phones for Wis. Public Television on the evening of March 15, so call her if you can help. And LINDA had another “last chance” sale of our famous Fruit Cakes. Hopefully, they are all gone now.

Past Pres CHUCK BASFORD noted that March is one of our months to serve as transporters for the Eye Bank. If you’d like to help out on this vital mission, speak to CHUCK (see our Transporter web page). Most trips are only as far as Beaver Dam or Johnson Creek, so it’'s easy to do. Our own HAL OTTERBACK received a corneal transplant a month or so back, and it most likely was delivered by a Lion relay. You never know, but, as our current DG said, “because of what I do tonight, someone will see tomorrow!” CHUCK also reported that our staffing of the Kohl Center and Camp Randall concession stands brought us $3,400 for our service funds, and more than $6,000 more divided among the other Lions Clubs who served with us. Our Club put in about 33% of the hours, and realized about $8.00 per hour for the effort (see our results web page).

JOHN JENSON announced that he is retiring from MG&E this month, and there will be a party at the Essen Haus on March 29, to which we are invited. Note that one of our Past Presidents said of the Essen Haus “Because they have good bier!,” so we want to send JOHN off in style. Not known yet whether the lights will go out the next day, but welcome to the leisure class, JOHN. Not for long, though- he is going to be Vice District Governor next year and DG the year after.

ROSE DAY IS APRIL 23! Chairman DON NEVIASER gave us some sample sales material, the order forms are here, and the prices - $24/doz. for roses, $18 for mixed flower bouquets and $4 for vases - are the same as last year. New this year is an option for a dozen “mixed color” roses, as well as the traditional red ones. We only have about 5 weeks to sell, so we need to get right at it. E-mail, snail mail or call your friends, neighbors and co-workers, and ask them to support Lions projects and do something nice for someone at the same time. DON also needs your estimate of what you think you will sell, so that he can order the right amount. We don’t want to be short, but we don’t want to have to give away our profits at the end by having too many, either, so be sure to give him your best numbers. It is just like looking for new members - just ASK SOMEBODY. People enjoy the flowers, and they are willing to help us out. Remember that we sell AND DELIVER top quality blooms, and guarantee them. (See our Rose Day web page.)

Our speaker needed no introduction. DICK POMO has been a member since 1993, was our President a couple years ago, and is shortly leaving us to move to Arizona, where the golf season is year-round. He told us about “Living With Blindness”, but he’s been showing us how it is done for years. He said, among other things, “blindness is not darkness” and it is “a fact of life, not a way of life.” He went to a special school for the blind for 13 years as a child. It was 50 miles away from home, and so he spent 5 days a week there. He says that’s where he learned to laugh at himself (and others) and we all know that his wonderful sense of humor is one of his greatest strengths. He attended a camp with others who were losing their sight, and while apprehensive at first, in a day or two was OK in the company of others in the same situation. (Incidentally, that’s what we hear from the kids who attend Lions Camp now - they are comfortable knowing that they are all “in the same boat” and not all by themselves.) He went to a physical education college, pursuing the same opportunities as others, learning the rules more than the play, altho they did play some baseball with an oversized ball. He stressed how important it is to be active and participate in as many things as possible with friends. He’s considering a guide dog - it is a big commitment by the owner to the dog, but it is helpful to maintaining independence, which is most important. It develops confidence, not being afraid of failing, through training by professionals. Two things showed through everything he said - his sense of humor and his determination to do absolutely anything and everything, just like everyone else. He was also showing us how important it was for us to provide these opportunities to the sight-impaired. Thanks, DICK, for that and for all you’ve done for us.