Next Meeting - Tuesday, August 5, noon at the Sheraton as usual. Our monthly business meeting, and Pres. JACK HEIM will preside. Among other things, he is going to talk about volunteer opportunities (that usually translates into “there is work to be done”, but we're not afraid of that, right?) and upcoming projects. Apparently there is something in the works for a special “thank you” to members who have been active lately, provided they are at the meeting.

Remains to be seen whether our new TailTwister will be on hand this time. He is approaching his new job in an open-minded manner, which means he will take most any suggestion on how to levy additional fines. Is this a great free enterprise society, or what?

We turned out in pretty good numbers on July 17 to help the Salvation Army remember Christmas in July. Our Bell Ringers were SCOTT GROVER, JACK HEIM, DALE MUELLER, JODI BURMESTER, LINDA BERGREN and granddaughter Sydney, STEVE BRIGGS, TERRY SCHAR and JEFF SCHNEIDER. Some of us discovered that wishing donors “Merry Christmas” makes them smile even at this time of year. Some even laughed when the editor did that - they must have been extra happy, or else they thought the editor was nuts. We inform - you decide.

There was a pretty good crowd at the last meeting, spurred on, no doubt, by the prospect of a large number of birthday drawing winners. (Not true, of course - they came for the Lion inspiration). Speaking of Lion inspiration, PHIL INGWELL reported on the International Convention in Toronto. An impressive convocation, as usual, with no earth-shaking changes in Lionism. Apparently the traffic and road construction demons are present there as well as here. The new International President is Joe Preston, a Ford dealer from Arizona, and next year's International Convention will be in Honolulu, Hawai'i. That's in our PP RICH MATZELLE'S back yard, sort of - he has returned to his retirement home on the Big Island after a7000+ mile auto circuit of the mainland a month or so ago, celebrating the graduation of a granddaughter and criss-crossing the country visiting old friends. He actually passed close by Madison, but our reduced meeting schedule didn't match with his, so we didn't get to see him. Report is, though, that he left the mustache in Hawai'i. The auto trip was actually an excuse to get his money's worth out of a new car - long road trips are not easy to do in Hawai'i.

Our “Stuff the Bus” project is next Saturday, Aug. 9, at Wal-Mart. We are getting some nice mention on Channel 15 for our part in this project, and of course donations and volunteers are still welcome. JODI BURMESTER can tell you anything you want to know, including where you can help.

We did have a big Lion Birthday Party at the last meeting. Lion celebrants present in person or by proxy included JIM RUNDELL, SCOTT GROVER, ROSS ROYSTER, TERRY SCHAR, SPARKY WATTS, LINDA BERGREN, TOM STEVENS, STEVE BRIGGS, MICHELLE VETTERKIND, RICH MATZELLE, DAN STOUDT (accompanied by Bernie), PHIL INGWELL, JACK HEIM and JIM SCHUTZ. The gift exchange went so fast the Editor had no chance of keeping up, especially since as a participant he drew DALE MUELLER's name for probably the third year in a row, but as JIM RUNDELL'S representative this time. SPARKY got the Editor's prize, and the Editor won MICHELLE VETTERKIND'S.

Our speaker was Carissa Ubersox, head of the Dane County Chapter of the Blind, who talked about her own experience, both with the organization and the personal challenges that come with the condition. No amount of simulation can provide the actual difficulties, but you get a sense of what it's like by listening to some one who's dealt with it. From Carissa's perspective, building confidence in yourself is a big part of life, and she's obviously done that. There are a lot of “assists” along the way, but the reward is great when the individual builds up the self-confidence necessary to, as Nike used to say, “Just Do It.”