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Lions Tale November 19, 2013
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Next Meeting - Tuesday, Dec. 3 - At the Sheraton - At noon. First Tuesday of the month signals a “Business Meeting.” Not that there won't be time for conversation, Thanksgiving Holiday stories, TailTwister machinations, and all that. But we will have a review of what we've done for someone lately, and some plans, predictions and “Request For Proposals” about what we can do in the coming months. (Or days, weeks and years. Think big. But also think possible, practical and useful.) Probably reports on the Bellringing and Vision Screening special projects as well.
At the last meeting, opened by Pres. LINDA, we had a Pledge - “We Serve”, and a reflection on how lucky we are to live here, with all of the good things that that entails. With all of the disasters, natural and man-made, occurring all over our planet, we are fortunate beyond words that we are the senders of aid, and not the requesters. The Lions Club International Foundation has been very busy lately, particularly in response to the typhoons in the Pacific.
Our Holiday Treat Sale continues, with the help of LINDA's rolling goody warehouse. We still have a variety of product available, even though she and MICHELLE VETTERKIND have run a sales booth at a local women's meeting, with some success. Let's get this stuff on someone's table and out of LINDA's car!
JIM SCHUTZ directed another local Vision Screening a few days ago (assisted by LINDA, SCOTT, DEBBIE, DAVE HINELINE from Waunakee Lions, and CHARLINE HINELINE from Waunakee Lioness), and we should hear more about this vitally important “Hands On” project. Apparently there are multiple new pieces of equipment and protocols for conducting screening - see JIM if you want to get in on one of these. Along with our eye tissue couriers, these screenings are a direct personal benefit to people, many of them children, in our own communities who need help, even if they don't know that until we get there. And we not only uncover problems, we can direct people to places that can solve them. We Serve!
JOHN JENSON donned his PDG hat again at the last meeting, making the formal presentation of the plaque, pin and recognition letter for the Melvin Jones Fellowship recently awarded to SCOTT GROVER by Lions Clubs International Foundation upon the nomination by our Club. This is LCIF's highest recognition for dedication to humanitarian service, and carries with it the gratitude of the multitude of people worldwide who were helped by LCIF. Congratulations, SCOTT!
GAIL STIRR was to introduce the program speaker, but he came down with the flu the day before, and so she became the program speaker. She told us about the McPherson Eye Research Institute (MERI) at UW-Madison, of which she is the Administrative Director. There are several new Institutes on the UW campus, all of them designed to encourage cooperation from multiple disciplines and specialties on a particular problem area. The mission statement for MERI says “The McPherson Eye Research Institute is a multidisciplinary community of scholars working to gain critical knowledge about the science and art of vision and apply it to the prevention of blindness.” It has 123 members + associate and alumni members in the community and beyond, from 34 departments and 9 schools at UW-Madison plus 3 other Wis. campuses. They get about $13M annually for research, and have 8 endowed research chairs and fellowships. That is an unbelievable amount of brain power applied to one goal! One obvious possibility is collaboration between the Veterinary School and the Medical School, particularly since the vets are working on glaucoma in cats, with potential benefits both ways. There are infinite possibilities for crossover applications - your editor recalls hearing the story of a chance conversation in which a doctor was wishing for some miniaturized devices and a mechanical engineer nearby who overheard the discussion said “I might be able to help you on that” because he was working on miniature instruments for industrial use. Long-term studies for genetic purposes offer opportunities to study the transmission of problems in families. And there are many possibilities in working with cells, the basic structures of life, in repairing and replacing them. GAIL sort of has a front-row seat on all sorts of fantastic possibilities!
We hope everyone was able to celebrate Thanksgiving and Hanukkah in the proper spirit! Let's hope we can all await the Christmas season in similar fashion!