Next Meeting, Tues. March 3. 2015. At our new home, the Coliseum Bar. Second floor, menu on the table at the entrance, pick your choice of lunch by color, you should know the drill by now. Hopefully everyone can make it through the promised snow, but come, whether by car, dogsled or snowshoes. The Lion fellowship is warm even if the weather isn't.

This will be our Business Meeting for March, and the Flower Sale is front and center. Order blanks are on the way, there will be one on the website (if you can find it), and we will talk about the nuts and bolts on Tuesday. KEVIN OLSEN has agreed to head up the operation, and he will need all of us to pitch in and help. We will probably have a rep from the flower company at this meeting, so product and prices will be displayed.

There are still a few items (Dark Choc. Almonds, Peanuts, Mixed Nuts) left from the Holiday Treat Sale, Presidents' Day Division. Pick'em up, move 'em out, and let's get this one done. A bunch of mixed nuts ought to be able to sell a few Mixed Nuts.

District and State (Multiple District, officially) Conventions are coming up. These are opportunities to get a wider view of Lionism in action. If you'd like to participate, Sec. JOHN JENSON is keeper of the lists. If you get on the list early enough, you can be an Official Delegate!

There are other things going on, or about to take place - Cycle For Sight, for one, and those will be reviewed as well. If anyone's thought up something else worthwhile for us to do, this is the time and place to bring it up. We've been asked if we want to participate in a children's vision screening on March 25. It may be a little soon for Highway Cleanup, though, unless somebody knows where we could get a few snowmobiles with plows and end loaders on them. There's an adult vision screening scheduled for May 8, at NESCO. And our fabulous golf outing is planned for May 18, you don't want to miss that.

MICHELLE VETTERKIND was the Program Host, and having had the opportunity to go on one of the Badger Honor Flights last May through their partnership with the Wisconsin Broadcasters Assn. which she heads, she brought Steve Bartlett, former PR chairman for Badger Honor Flight to tell us about how this organization is doing on its mission to take veterans to Washington to see the monuments that have been built in their honor. Like so many service opportunities, this one leaves an indelible impression on those who participate.

The Honor Flight concept has grown - there are now 6 of them from Wisconsin, and 137 hubs nationwide, serving veterans in 43 states. Badger covers primarily South Central - Southwest Wisconsin, the 11 counties surrounding Madison. It started with 11 pilots, who carried 127 vets in small planes, and now operates with chartered jets carrying about 90 vets, plus the volunteer guardians that accompany each vet, plus medical staff, plus other volunteers who help with the mechanics, at a cost of about $75,000 for each flight. Staff on the plane are augmented on arrival by a group of volunteers from the Washington DC area who serve as guardians and guides. Badger has carried out 17 flights so far, taking 1,514 vets, and has a waiting list of more than 500. They go 4 times a year, and are now concentrating on the ever-fewer number of WWII vets and those from the Korean Conflict. Vets from more recent wars may go with TLC (Their Last Chance) priority if their health dictates it. This year there will be flights in April, May, September and October.

There are slight differences in the operation of the various Honor Flights nationally, but they all are similar, and although each serves a particular area, there are exceptions to that concept when necessary. A Badger day starts at Dane County Airport at 5:30 AM, and there are usually a few vets already there at that hour. With good cooperation from the TSA security people, they load the plane in less than an hour and fly to DC, where they are greeted by military and civilians who are there to honor them, spend the day touring the War Memorials, and fly home in the evening. One of the most moving moments comes on the return, when they see the airport crowded with 3000-5000 people who are there to greet and applaud them. (That's something we could all do - check with BHF on where and when to show up. BHF has a Facebook page, too.)