Next Meeting - Tuesday, April 19. The week before Rose Day! Bring your orders to the meeting, if you haven't got them in already. BE SURE THE DELIVERY DIRECTIONS ARE SPECIFIC AND COMPLETE!!

Our District Governor GENE FRANCIS will be making his annual official visit that day, delayed by the civic upheavals last month, and we will hear what's going on at Lions International, State and District levels. Lionism has many dimensions - "We Serve" is not only what we say but what we do, and the DG will tell us some of the whats, whys, wheres and hows. As a Madison Central Lion YOU are the "who," and the helping hand you extend is sometimes at the end of a very long arm.

Vice Pres. PHIL INGWELL opened the last meeting, but the high note belonged to LINDA BERGREN, who led the song after one of our pitch battles at the beginning. It was an unequal fight - all of the sopranos were at one table - but unlike the politicians we adjust as we go along and end on a harmonious compromise. (There are so many things that would be done better if we were running things.) SCOTT GROVER gave one of his unique invocations - he attributed it to his grandmother, and the disclosure of the source was longer than the invocation. Brevity in prayer can be a good thing, though, and we hope former MCLC Lion DENNIS URECHE, who is reputed to read the Lions Tale on occasion, learns it in the seminary he is attending.

STEVE BRIGGS passed around a set of pictures from a Board meeting at JABO JABLONIC's house in 1995. A lot of old Lions in there. At one time we had a picnic at the end of June for the outgoing/incoming Board members, and JABO, and before that HENRY TURVILLE, had us at their homes. Always a good time, and a little business even got done.

JERRY HODDINOTT reminded us that Rose Day is almost here, and everyone needs to keep their sales effort going. He says to keep selling, even though you presumably have given him your estimated sales, because we always order some extra flowers to cover late sales and any needed replacements. We're going to put some greenery in with the rose bouquets which will make them more appealing but also raise our cost a bit. As always, he needs deliverers for that day, Monday, April 25. The warehouse will be the Edgewater lobby, as before.

We went into formal session to present the nominations for next year's officers and directors. Most of the incumbents are returning, fortunately - President JIM SCHUTZ, Vice Presidents LINDA BERGREN and PHIL INGWELL, Treasurer SCOTT GROVER, Secretary JOHN JENSON, Membership Director CRAIG BUTLER, Directors GAIL STIRR and JIM KEMMETER. JEFF SCHNEIDER joins the Board as a Director and JACK HEIM has volunteered to replace JERRY HODDINOTT as TailTwister, (bringing along "G" as an enforcer), so we have to find another director somewhere. The assembled membership passed a resolution for a unanimous ballot for the nominees, so that technicality has been met.

JACK HEIM is involved in the 3rd Annual Milwaukee Vision Walk on Sunday, May 11. It benefits the Foundation Fighting Blindness, which is a national organization supporting research into retinal disease. If you'd like to participate or contribute, talk to JACK.

SCOTT GROVER introduced our speaker, Chris Brockel from the Community Action Coalition, who told us about the programs the Coalition has to fight hunger in our area. They cover Dane, Jefferson and Waukesha Counties, and assist 49 agencies in the area who operate food pantries. In addition to conducting food drives, including the one at Copps which we are currently involved with, they help manage about 50 gardens where individuals can get a plot on which to raise their own veggies, provide nutritional and cooking information and family advocacy. Last year they provided 3.2 Million lbs of food to pantries that had about 132,000 visits, and the need is increasing. They use donated food from the public, leftovers from restaurants, bakeries, sports refreshment stands and farmers markets, and use donated money to buy food at cost. Their efforts and money are directed just to obtaining and distributing food, not to providing the buildings and people to actually deliver it. It's probably safe to say that there is a lot more need and a lot more activity going on than most of us are aware of.

In keeping with Chris' theme, we have a list of potential volunteer opportunities on our web site. Pick one (or several) that suit you!