Next Up - Tuesday, June 1 at the comfortable old Edgewater. Wonder if they'll put a Tower Room on the top of the new one (if there ever is a new one) for us to meet in? But for now, the usual place, and the speaker will be Lion JIM BRADLEY, who recently accompanied the Mayor and County Executive on a trip to Europe. They got stuck in Amsterdam, due to the volcano, but we will hear why they went, what they saw, how they got out of it and what will happen here as a result. The newspaper says we'll have "bike boxes" - already controversial. So we may find out what it was really all about.

Last time, Pres. JODI returned to preside, but, lacking musical leadership talent among the Lions present, abolished the opening song. (The editor did not volunteer. No music is currently published for the monotone part.) We stuck with the Pledge and the Invocation (by SCOTT GROVER, who always seems to have new material in his pocket.) We were really happy to have DALE ST. JOHN back, a little leaner, maybe, but on his own two feet, with his wife Betty as a guest. We had a brief remembrance of HAL OTTERBACK, presented by PHIL INGWELL and TERRY SCHAR. Timely, because DALE and HAL sorted more glasses and delivered more roses together than anybody else.

We were introduced to our newest member - JEFFREY R. "JEFF" SCHNEIDER. He's an attorney with Lee, Kilkelly, Paulson & Younger at One W. Main St. , Madison, having moved back to the homeland in Madison from a job in mortgage banking in New York City. For those maintaining a real (as opposed to virtual) Directory, he lives at 5619 Lake Mendota Drive 53705 with his wife, Sara Ensign, home phone 238-7465. Work phone 256-9016. Welcome, JEFF!

(It's a small world after all. Your editor's office used to be at 1 W. Main and his phone 256-9015. But JEFF and his firm have the top floor, and my office window was on an airshaft overlooking a roof.)

The cutoff for Early Bird registration for the USA-Canada Leadership Forum in Milwaukee this Sept. is almost here. Our Club will pay $50 of the fee for any member who attends, and as anyone who has been to one will attest , you get a lot out of it that will be helpful in all aspects of your life. It is by no means all Lion-specific, although there is a lot of Lion info available. If you haven't been to one, you should go. All of our members who have attended come back saying it was worthwhile.

Sign up for your committee service for the next Lion year. JODI has printed forms, and there's one on the web site for the computer geeks. Either way, get the job of your choice. They all contribute to our Lion service, which is the main reason we are here.

We were told that a Lions auto license plate had been approved - more info to follow. The Summer Picnic will be at the park in Monona as before, on June 15, starting around 5:00 PM. No regular noon meeting on that day, but the Board will meet. The Transplant Games will be held on July 31, and we will sponsor the Finish Line. The Eye Bank Golf Outing will be on Aug. 23 at the Oaks Golf Club.

The East Lions are presently a Branch Club of ours, until they reach 20 members. They meet at the HyVee on E. Washington on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, at 7:30 AM. Our members are welcome, and if you can come up with a prospective member whose schedule doesn't fit ours, suggest the East Club to them and let JODI or SCOTT know. As Guiding Lions for the East Club, they will help recruit.

JOHN JENSON says we have a joint Eyeglass Collection with the Rotary coming up. He has space for lots of glasses, and he may need help with the collecting. We need to do more of this - if you can think of a place for a collection box, get one from JOHN. We also need to train a few more "readers" to process the collected glasses using the Lensometer and package them for distribution.

Turn in your money from flower sales to MELISSA NOVINSKI. Soon, please.

Pun Jabs of the week:

Two silkworms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.