Next Meeting - Tuesday, Feb. 19, at NOON. And at the Sheraton, as usual. CRAIG BUTLER is the Program Host, and he will introduce Megen Bessett, from the Badger-Hawkeye Chapter of the American Red Cross. She will tell us about blood donation programs in general, and platelet donation in particular. Like most everything else, blood donation has been refined and improved over the years, so this life-saving program can serve more people. Come and find out what they do now and how they do it, and another way you can serve your community.

Our last meeting began at 7:00 with LINDA BERGREN presiding and about a dozen Lions attending. JIM SCHUTZ and CRAIG BUTLER talked about our Vision Screening Program, and demonstrated how it is done with a Polaroid type camera. JEFF SCHNEIDER was the subject for the demonstration. From the photo of the eyes, a trained observer can detect anomalies which warrant further examination by a professional. It is crucial to detect some of these things in children because they can be fixed if caught in time, but there are still benefits to screening adults. This is one of the best Lion projects there is - you can directly and personally participate in improving someone's life. It's best if you have the training so you can do the technical stuff, but even without it you can be an important part - somebody has to set up, take down, keep records, manage the lines of people and kids, etc. etc. See JIM or CRAIG to find out how you can help.

Memo from Fitchburg Lion ALICE JENSON - “Hi, The Fitchburg Lions are having their chili supper on Saturday night at the Fitchburg Senior Center from 5 to 7 p.m. You get a bowl of chili, toppings, bread, beverage, and dessert for only $5.00!”

There will be a lot of things to do at our next meeting. March is Diabetes Awareness Month, and we need a committee and some ideas on what we can do. March is also one of the months in which our Club does Eye Tissue Transport. The Cycle For Sight event is coming up - we have a team, and you can help make up another team or sponsor the one(s) we have, there are still basketball games at the Kohl and we need workers for the Concession Stand, and we need the member survey forms from JODI filled out and returned so that we can match Lion skills and desires to the opportunities for service which are available. Whether you work directly on a project or do the things that keep the Club going, everything you do contributes to Lion service. Without a Club, there would be no transport network ,no one to work the concession stand or sell flowers to raise funds, no money to send help to tsunami/earthquake victims, no one to do Vision Screening - you get the idea.

See you next Tuesday noon!

Gems from the internet:

Light travels faster than sound. That is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

A day without sunshine is like, well, night.

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.