Next Up — Our Annual Picnic, on Tuesday, June 15 at Ahuska Park on Broadway in Monona. (Same place as last year). Festivities will begin around 5 PM. The Club will provide the burgers, brats and hot dogs, and those attending are asked to bring something to supplement the menu - salad, appetizers, munchies, or dessert. If you aren't already signed up, call JODI. She needs a number to order food. There will be NO regular noon meeting that day - the picnic replaces it. However, the Board of Directors (both outgoing and incoming new members) will meet at the Edgewater that noon.

Correction to the Directory information for our newest member, JEFF SCHNEIDER. His office phone number is 256-9046. Oops.

Last time, Pres. JODI, visibly relaxed at the prospect of her term ending, opened the meeting without any teleprompters, JIM SCHUTZ led the singing of "America" at an easy pace, and MICHELLE VETTERKIND offered the invocation. We welcomed back PP SAL and KAREN AL-ASHKAR, who had fled the AZ heat for a more variable climate. Finally, Lions International came thru, and JODI presented their permanent meeting name badges to Lions JACK HEIM and GAIL STIRR.

Those receiving the print version of the Tale will note that the Lion logo is back. Without going into the details, which he doesn't understand anyway, the Editor will say that he has found one thing at which Microsoft Word is better than Word Perfect. Only one, so far.

The TailTwister, having resorted to the time-honored involuntary raffle, conducting a drawing from which DALE MUELLER had the winning ticket, and went home with two Lion mugs from the State Convention. It was not clear how the TT had acquired the mugs in the first place.

PHIL INGWELL reported that DALE ST. JOHN and his wife Betty were injured in a serious car accident on the Interstate north of Madison. Both were hospitalized. DALE was to return home, but Betty was slated for a stretch of rehab at Oak Park Place. We'd just gotten DALE back after a long recuperation, and we hope that both of them will be up and running again soon.

MELISSA NOVINSKI said we made a little over $7,100 on our Flower Sale. About $900 is still out, and since that's all profit, please gather in your collections and get the money in! Great job by JERRY HODDINOTT and all the Lions who worked on this major fundraiser.

The Salvation Army has more people that need help these days, and they have scheduled a Kettle Drive in July. DALE MUELLER is our chairman for this event, and he is signing up Lions for spots at Macy's Hilldale on Thursday, July 15. Hours are from 8 AM to 8 PM, 2-hour shifts. Sign up to help out. The Salvation Army doesn't send somebody to help, they go themselves, and they can use help.

This was JIM BRADLEY Day at MCLC. Scheduled as the day's program, he also was in the Lion Spotlight for the week. We found out, among other things, that he joined when the Club was meeting at the Campus Howard Johnson's, that he and his family are avid Badger fans, but his kids went to Iowa and Minnesota and Wisconsin. He has always been a runner, but hung up his spikes a couple years ago because of a back injury and now covers ground on a bike. He's still active with UW Athletics and running, though, because he's worked on the CrazyLegs Run for years and is the Director this year.

Switching to program mode, JIM told us about his trip to Europe with the Mayor and the County Exec to study bicycling. He showed some video from Amsterdam, the world's best bike city, and it showed the cyclists riding the flat terrain more upright, without helmets, and more slowly, without the speed mania which seems to afflict most Americans on wheels, whether two or four. Madison already has 50 miles of bike lanes and 40 of bike paths, which your editor has observed being plowed and heavily salted daily in winter, whether it has snowed or not. The goal is to have 20% of the population on bikes by 2020. There are 4 major bike events here this year. The US Sec. of Transportation was quoted as saying "this is the end of favoring cars over bikes." We can all remember that one. JIM also noted that 50% of children don't exercise enough, and 22% are obese. Presumably biking would help both. Davis, CA, Portland OR and Minneapolis are the American cities ranked higher than Madison by bike enthusiasts.