In the advent of the Christmas phase of the Holiday Giving Project, Lion and Leo Elves were making preparations in many ways; some were shopping for clothes, some were gathering and moving foods, some were looking for mittens and socks, while others were finding the right stocking stuffers; others were contacting their families, wrapping the gifts, packing the foods, stuffing stockings, and checking their lists to make sure every family had all of their deliveries readied to go! And then the Christmas Giving Project was ready to deliver to 30 families of 80 children and 63 adults on Saturday, Dec. 17.  Ten teams of Lions, family and friends, 30 in all, gathered at the Elf Shop to finalize the project.  After getting some warm coffee and buns, the “chariots and sleighs” were packed in short order, and “away, away” they flew, only to find we were missing a ham, milk, eggs and butter for one family.  Oops, someone goofed!  “Goofed” showed up carrying in the missing items with head held low saying ‘Do you need these!”  Immediately, Goofed was sent “away” to meet up with the other sleigh that didn’t have a complete load!  WHEW!  What a great project!  The sleighs carried 4 boxes of perishable and nonperishable foods and two large trash bags of gifts!  One sleigh had two  bikes included and as they approached the homes along with Santa in his red suit, one elf would took the bike around back of the house while the others entertained the family at the front door.  Wonderment of the surprise gift was an answer to a child’s wish, for sure! Other Elves found the families very receptive to their visits. Oh to be a child again! Or maybe, even an Elf – a Lion Elf!

To round out the project, 55 Lions, family members and friends tolled for 200 hours and spent $4000 to make the project a complete one.  Each child had an outfit of clothing, 2 toys, mittens, gloves and socks and more. Each family had a box of tissues, a stocking filled with useful items, 2 towels and washcloths and miscellaneous items.

Many, Many Elves partnered with the Lions to make this project a most enjoyable one.  The Tradesmen Motorcycle Club of the Damascus area donated some 160 toys from a Jingle Bell Run to the project. The boxes to pack the foods in were donated by Lion Peg and Dave Stone; The dinner rolls were donated by Huang Distributors; The festive homemade cookie filled boxes were made and prepared by the Goldstein Family; Gladhill Brothers donated Gift Bags and 3 toys for the babies; Richard Schoeb, LLC donated a tooth brush and toothpaste for every family member; Lions donated stocking stuffers, mittens, hats, socks and Chris Fletcher donated a last minute toy!

In addition the Holiday Fund Lions have been scouting the Damascus businesses and friends of Lions to help fund the project!  Thanks to all Lions who helped fill “Lion Albert’s” Christmas Fund jar!  What a tradition!

The Holiday Giving Project was truly a partnership this year!  Again, we have served the families of our Damascus Community in hopes of an enjoyable Christmastime this year for them.  Thank you to all the Lions, family and friends who assisted in making this project a great one! You helped make a child and parent smile this Christmas!    Happy New Year!

Thursday, December 2, twenty-five Seniors gathered at the Senior Center for the Lions Party.  Lion Sue Suddath had games and prizes for them to participate in.  She had homemade sugar cookies made for them and asked them to decorate the cookie with tubes of icing.  What a great job they did.  She had other Christmas games that they all played as well.  Lion George Hibbard helped with a sing-a-long while Lions Joy Schwab and Mary Frances Gosnell helped the Seniors with their projects.  Four Seniors were honored for having birthdays in December.  Lions Sue prepared refreshments of three homemade delicious cakes, ice cream and drink.  As each Senior left, they were given a gift bag.  Oh, what a Holiday Treat for them.  The Lions are most welcomed at the center with their parties!

Thank you to all of you who worked with the Thanksgiving food and delivery to make it another successful project. I am amazed with the energies and cooperation that you put forth! You are a great group of folks to work with. Ya git in thar an’ ya gitter dun! No fooling around!

Seriously, Lion Chris profiled all the families and obtained so much info for us – some corrections as well as some incite into the family situation.

Lion Bob Newlin again coordinated the School Food Drives with Rocky Hill Middle School coming thru with approximately 2500 items and Damascus High School with approximately 1200 items. We take half of the DHS Food Drive while the Legion receives the other half. Thanks to all the “food movers”.

Lion Joy coordinated the sorting of food and packing it into the boxes with the help of 8 other Lions – there was no socializing, you all kept your hands busy and had completely filled all the food boxes in 2 and half hours.

Lions Warren and Rusty made up the boxes, bagged the apples and kept the cardboard under control.  Lion Bob Snapp assigned all the boxes to the families.  Lion Warren went with me to Safeway to get the non-perishables on Friday.  Lion Ray met me at Safeway on Saturday to get the perishable items.

And then to make it all happen, 9 teams of Lions, family and friends loaded up their vehicles and made the deliveries on Saturday AM.

We were finished Saturday by 9:30.

We clocked over 150 hours on this project, with approximately 40 people involved and spent $1,471.00 on food. Butler’s Orchard donated the apples, Huang Distributors donated 2 dozen dinner rolls and the Goldstein Family baked and elegantly prepared a special pumpkin loaf package for each family. Hyatt Building and Supply, namely Phil Green, graciously let us use the room, used their pallets and loader to move the food for us and have stored the non perishables that we did not use until Christmas. When you see any and all of these donors, please express our appreciation.

Again – Thank you to all of you! It sure makes a project so satisfying when all of us put our efforts forth to serve! I am so grateful for all of you and the Lions Club!

By Lion Tony Barry

Lions Del Mayhew, John Washington, Tony Barry and Barbara Barry installed 46 Christmas wreaths and bows on the light poles in Damascus on Friday November 25, 2011.  The lions were assisted with the task by friends of Lion Charlie Hertel; CJ Muise, Ryan Muise, Michael Blatzhein, Rob Golden and Lion Tony’s Son, John Barry.  The weather was warm which made the task enjoyable for all.  The wreaths look nice and add a festive atmosphere to the town.

Over the course of two drives in November, we collected 63 units of whole blood and performed a total of 57 hours of service. The November 1st blood drive collected 35 units with 20 hours of service and November 21st collected 28 units with 37 hours. I would like to thank Lions Charlie Hertel, Joy Schwab, Warren Schwab, Bill Mahylis, Julie Sain, Tom Jackson and Marcia Holpuch for making these drives a success. With the multiple medical crises in my family over the last few months, I was not able to devote sufficient time to the November 1st drive and want to give a special thank you to Lion Charlie Hertel for taking the lead on that drive in my absence.

I have spoken with our INOVA representative about our recent donor turnout and, we are both becoming increasingly concerned that some donors are faithful to the American Red Cross and not giving INOVA a chance. It has been suggested by the INOVA rep that if the turnout continues its downward slide, that we may have to go back to the American Red Cross to satisfy those donors who are loyal to the Amercan Red Cross. I am puzzled by this because I have received nothing but positive feedback on INOVA versus the American Red Cross.

Our next blood drive is January 16th and I hope to bring the numbers up. Beginning in July of next year, we are adding a summer blood drive at the Izaak Walton League on Mullinix Mill Road.

The Fall Pancake Breakfast and Bake/Craft Table event was held Saturday, October 15, 2011 in the Dining Room at Damascus United Methodist Church from 7-11 a.m.  On Friday, October 14^th the setup helpers made the Dining Room ready.  Those, who helped, were Lions Bob Newlin, George Hibbard, Bill Mahylis, Warren Schwab, Tom Jackson, Mary Frances Gosnell, Joy Schwab.  Kathy Thornett also helped.  In the Kitchen were Lions Sue Suddath, Warren and Joy Schwab and Joann Woodson.

Early Saturday morning the food and drinks were prepared.  Bake Sale/Craft Table items were accepted. Helpers during the day were Lions Dennis Babb, Barbara and Tony Barry, Fran Burlas, Vicki Dotterer, Bernie Duplan, Chris Fletcher, Mary Frances Gosnell, Tammy Hertel, George Hibbard, Su-Ling Huang, Tom Jackson, Bill Mahylis, Ray Molesworth, Bob Newlin, Jack Peters, Ken Phillips, Dee and Rusty Reichmeider, Gary Rogers, Julie Sain, Joy and Warren Schwab, Lee Sellers, Bob Snapp, Roy Stanley, Carol and Charlie Stone, and Sue Suddath.  Lion Family helpers were Stephanie Huang, Cody and Corbin Sander. Damascus High Leos were Casey Brown, Michael Huang, Macey Murdock, Natalee and Roseryn Sarintra, and Kelsey Turner.  We served 225 with a profit of $1,495.40.   Special thanks to those who bought and sold tickets.

The Bake/Craft Table received item and/or donations from Lions and Partners in Service were Lions Barbara Barry, Tess Gladhill, Mary Frances Gosnell, Su Huang, George and Vi Hibbard, Helen Mahylis, Ray Molesworth, and Jack & Frann Peters, Ken & Sue Phillips, Dee Reichmeider, and Joy Schwab.   Bake/Craft Table profit was $271.63.

Total Profit for 2011 Spring Breakfast and Bake/Craft Sale is $1,767.03.  Lions Joy and Sue thank all for whatever you did to help make this be a successful day.

(Photos courtesy of Gary Rogers)

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Basket Bingo benefits the Damascus Lions Scholarship Program. Our bingo on September 30^th will again be sufficient enough to support the scholarships that were issued in July. Thanks to all the Lions and businesses who sponsored a basket as well as those who purchased tickets and took part in the evening’s games.

The ticket sales reflected the economy – 92 tickets were sold. We collected 64 pairs of glasses and 3 hearing aids. The Damascus Community Fair Queen, Susan Hilton, was on hand to help the Lions with the bingo winners. The fireman had some tasty food for sale and helped us set up as well as clean up.

There were 15 Lions who helped with the bingo, 10 friends of Lions helped and Partners-in-service, Jennifer Molesworth and Irene Hardy helped with the organization of the bingo game sheets (saving us an expense of about $125.00) and the mailing of the flyers. Thanks ladies! Also a huge vote of thanks to Lion Tess Gladhill for donating the items to fill the baskets. The baskets were overflowing!

Thanks to all who supported the project in any way. We will realize a profit of $3,025.00.

Thank you, all Lions who participated in our Fall 2011 White Cane fundraiser. We raised $1,529.96, which is pretty good considering the weather. This collection will fund about 15 eye appointments and new glasses for needy Damascus-area citizens. Thirty-five Damascus Lions contributed to White Cane week this time, which is an excellent participation level. Please put “Lion” in front of every name in this article. I still can’t afford the fines.
Special Recognitions:
Two Over-$100-in-One-Shift Club Recognitions go to:

• Barbara Barry, who collected $109.98 at Safeway on Thursday afternoon; and
• Bill Mahylis, who collected $108.02 at CVS on Friday afternoon.

The Bert Lahr Special Award for Most Courageous Lion goes to Tom Jackson and George Hibbard who braved the infestation of wasps and bees at the entrance Tom and Rays Restaurant during their lunchtime shifts.

Here are the fabulous Damascus Lions who gave unselfishly of their time for one or more storefront collection shifts (multiple shifts in parentheses): Babb, B. Barry, Burlas, Carr, K. Cook, Davidson, Davis, Fletcher, Gladhill, Gosnell, C. Hertel(2), Hibbard(2), Jackson(2), C. Holpuch, M. Holpuch, Mahylis, Mallack, Molesworth, Peters, Poland, Rogers, Sain, J. Schwab, W. Schwab, C. Stone, Ch. Stone, Suddath, Thornett, and Wyatt. Special thanks go to our reliable Managers of the Day: Bill Mahylis, Ken Phillips, and Del Mayhew…and to our ever-meticulous Money Counters: George Hibbard, Chris Fletcher, Tom Jackson, and Vi Hibbard.
As always, when patronizing the Damascus establishments which support White Cane (CVS, Safeway, Tom & Ray’s, & Red Rooster), please express your gratitude to the management for allowing White Cane Lions to do our work there.
Thanks, Lions.

The rains continued into Thursday and Friday to make for a muddy, wet, muggy and busy time working at the Damascus Community Fair. Made ruts in the grounds to get the popcorn popper and paraphernalia to the pole barn only to find no table. Returned with the load on Friday AM cutting more ruts and spinning into the pole barn. The night watchmen came to my rescue and unloaded everything. They even help set up and assisted hooking up the popcorn machine. What a blessing!
Turned the new popcorn popper on at 6:45 AM on Friday and it did not stop until 7 PM except for times when it needed to cool down. A couple of school classes canceled but more came than was expected. By noon, we had given out over 400 bags of popcorn. Fair attendees started coming in around 4 pm after the rains had stopped and we continued to serve 300 more guests. There were a goodly number of Lions who came to help but if you looked at us all; our hair was wet, our shoes were muddy, our clothes were muddy and we all looked alike!
Saturday was nice and sunny; the crowd was very good as by 7 pm they had devoured 950 bags of popcorn. Could have made more but —- ran out of popcorn! Again a goodly number of Lions came to help.
Had some popcorn kernels in inventory but needed seasoning and butter – went to Sam’s first thing Sunday AM only to find they were out of Seasoning, so purchased the butter. Tried using Season All but that had too much pepper in it and regular salt would not work. Thus Sunday’s popcorn was without seasoning. In 3 hours, we had given out 300 bags of popcorn and again, ran out. We shut down!
If you have calculated up to this point, we put popcorn in the hands of 1950 people. In doing so, we used 5 plus cases of prepackaged popcorn and another gallon of kernels. We had inquires about used eye glasses box locations, eye exams info from a school nurse, blood drive inquiries and membership discussions. Our give away was a Longaberger Americana Flower Door Basket won by Peggy Ray of Damascus.
Much appreciation goes to Lions Joy and Warren Schwab, Ray Molesworth Alice Denell, Bob Snapp, Ken Phillips, Mike Thornett, Chris Fletcher, Fran Burlas, Marcia Holpuch, Jerry Mallack, Wayne Marr, Midge Tench, Dennis Babb, Ken and Carol Cook, Partner-In-Service Jennifer Molesworth and Sue Suddath’s Grandsons. Should I have not included any Lion who helped, please forgive me and tell me so I can include you in my records. These Lions and family members clocked over 130 hours of time for this event. The cost to the Lions Club was approximately $200. “WE SERVE”

September saw two blood drives held and, they collected 64 units of blood and saw 55.5 volunteer hours. I would like to thank Lions Charlier Hertel, Carol Stone, Ken Phillips, Warren Schwab, Joy Schwab, Tom Jackson, Alice Denell, Carol Cook and Cheryl Wyatt for the efforts in making this a successful drive.