Next Meeting - Tuesday, July 5, at the Coliseum Bar & Restaurant, or Restaurant & Bar, if you have prejudices. This will be a Business Meeting, and we will hear about everything that's coming up on the calendar, and maybe something about recent events. We have a raffle coming up, Concert In The Park is on Monday, July 18, and although it seems that the last set of taillights on a school bus have just faded from sight, we have a Bus to Stuff. Since the time for fireworks will have passed there shouldn't be any, but you will have to be there to get the details, and to find out what else is going on. This is our first meeting in the Lions Clubs International Centennial Year. Don't miss it.

At our last meeting, Pres. MIKE rang the bell, and PID PHIL INGWELL gave the invocation. In relation to LCI's Centennial year, PHIL noted that our Club was founded in 1922, making us 94 years old and one of the earliest Clubs. R. L. HOPKINS was our first President, and we were instrumental in the founding of Neighborhood House, which was started in South Madison to help in integrating the new immigrants of that day into American society, and still exists today. PHIL also noted the importance of the leadership provided by Past Presidents TED HERFURTH and LEO KEHL.

We have our Bags Tournament scheduled for July 30, with the considerable help of the Coliseum Bar, and volunteers to run it will be needed. KEVIN OLSEN seems to be in charge.

ADAM GROSSNICKLE reintroduced his guest, Abram Smith, whom he first met at Lions Camp. That one came full circle as PID PHIL inducted Lion ABRAM SMITH as our newest member. Among other things, he got one of the first Centennial pins that we have seen.

GAIL STIRR introduced our speaker, Loretta Himmelsbach, of the Wisconsin Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired. Our Club has a long history of cooperation with the Council, including PP DICK POMO and former Lion Marshall Flax. Ms. Himmelsbach told us about their current work, including informational seminars, programs and presentations, distribution of white canes, legislative advocacy, low vision assistance, and the operation of the Sharper Vision Store. Every Lion should be familiar with these last two, because many of us encounter friends or acquaintances whose vision is failing in some way. They may be receiving help from medical specialists for their condition, but the Council offers valuable assistance for “things as they are” - information and devices to assist whatever level of vision the client still has. The goal is to get as much as possible out of the person's vision as it is, and they can help a lot of people see better for now. All sorts of lights, magnifiers, common tools with uncommonly large letters and numbers, and stuff you never would think of or find on your own. Even if it's just the print in the crossword puzzle, they can help.

Legal blindness is less than 20/200 acuity or less than 20% of the normal field of vision. There are about 85,000 people in Wisconsin that fit that definition, slightly more women than men. Most common causes are Glaucoma and Retinitis Pigmentosa, Cataracts, Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Diabetic Retinopathy. Great strides are being made in the medical treatment of these conditions, but there is much still to be done.