Next Meeting - Tuesday, April 17 - At the venerable Edgewater. JEFF SCHNEIDER is the Program Host, and he will present Tom Meyer, a career Madison area Real Estate Broker, who started Aaron's House at 850 E Gorham St. Seven years ago this spring, Tom's oldest son Aaron was 18 months into recovery from substance use addiction when his life was tragically lost in a car accident. Two months from graduation, Aaron had told Tom of his plan for post high school life. That idea became Aaron's House. Tom will talk about Aaron's House, a substance use recovery housing option for young men ready for higher education, meaningful employment, improving relationships, and healthy living.

At our last meeting, Pres. JIM opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, LINDA BERGREN led the song, in a generally-accepted mid-range, and ROSS ROYSTER gave the invocation. JIM said that some of the heavy hitters -ROSS and DAN STOUDT- already had flower orders in, and everyone should get them to him ASAP, or possibly sooner. Sales line of the week - “Who can you give flowers to?” Think of places and people that have been helpful, and remind your customers to do likewise. Order blanks (they show the wrong year, but the right day and month) and flyers are available and all orders should be in by April 17. MELISSA NOVINSKI will once again manage the paperwork and the collections, and delivery help is needed on sale day, Monday, April 23. The depot will again be at the Edgewater. JIM KEMMETER will take replacement calls. Sell all you can, and make sure the order blanks ARE COMPLETELY FILLED OUT, WITH EXPLICIT DELIVERY DIRECTIONS! Just because you've heard that before doesn't mean you don't still have to do it.

SCOTT GROVER says the East Club will be running a Vision Screening on May 11 at Warner Park, and they can always use help. This is one of our most satisfying “hands on” projects, and a chance for you to take a direct part in Lion service. You can literally save a child's eyesight, if you are part of the team that catches a problem while it can still be handled. And if you're looking for another “hands on” project, the East Club has their Spring highway cleanup on Saturday, April 14.

JIM KEMMETER reported that our Eye Transport month went well, although the number of missions was down somewhat from previous months.

JOHN JENSON reminded us that the State Convention will be May 18-19 in Green Bay. See JOHN if you'd like to go - the Club helps out with the registration expense. JOHN also said that the Golf Outing run by our Club for the Eye Bank, will be on June 11, and as usual there is a need for prize donations. CRAIG BUTLER is in charge of the event.

We will celebrate Lion Birthdays at our next meeting. Lions to be honored for their service are: SCOTT GROVER, 12 years; LINDA BERGREN; 16 years; SPARKY WATTS, 17 years; JODI BURMESTER, 19 years; PHIL STOWITTS, 25 years; ROSS ROYSTER, 31 years; JERRY MILLER 32 years (23 with us and 9 in Lake Geneva); JIM BRADLEY, 35 years; RICH MATZELLE, (Aloha!) 41 years; PHIL INGWELL, 45 years; JIM RUNDELL, 50 years; and TERRY SCHAR, 53 years. That's a lot of gifts for the drawing - let's have everyone there to celebrate these years of Lion service (and share in the loot.)

GAIL STIRR introduced the speaker, Dr. Richard Dubielzig, a veterinary ophthalmologist at UW, and member of the Eye Institute, who told us about his work with ocular disease in animals in general and cats in particular. They have built up an archive of 36,000 cases in 571 species, from dogs, cats and horses to sea lions and whales, which allow incredibly detailed research at the cell level on the cause, effect and treatment, particularly on cancer which develops after injury. In the process they can help some animal patients, and hopefully the knowledge gained on what can happen following eye injury can be translated to help humans as well. It was another demonstration of the complexity of research, and the range over which study and inquiry take place. The Eye Institute, like Institutes at UW, is intended to bring together specialists in different fields to collaborate and share knowledge which can further each others' research efforts.