Dear Fellow Lions,
There is so much going on! Let’s look ahead before we review September.
Our first meeting is Charter Night at Dutch’s Daughter restaurant. Our guest speaker is our District 22-C Governor, Sandi Halterman. We are celebrating the completion of 64 years of service.
Next Friday night is our Basket Bingo fundraiser. Keep selling tickets!! It’s not too late to get another sponsor or two, either. Lions Mary Frances Gosnell and Tess Gladhill partner to make this such a successful fundraiser, but they need your help, too. Workers are needed at bingo and we all need to sell tickets and spread the word throughout the community to maximize our results. If everyone sells just 2 tickets, we’ll do well.
The following Saturday is our fall Pancake Breakfast at Damascus United Methodist Church. Many hands make light work and a whole lot of fun for a fall morning. We need kitchen help and dining room help. In conjunction with the breakfast fare, we have a bake table that does a brisk business, too. Tie on an apron and whip up something yummy for the bake table. Cakes are very popular and bring a good price. Again ticket sales make the difference, so carry some with you all the time. Lions Joy Schwab and Sue Suddath lead this function so very well.
Not to let a weekend go idle, we will be participating in the Clean Up Damascus Day on Saturday, the 23rd. We will do our Rte. 27 pick up on that morning. We should have lots of extra help for this one from members of the community. It will be a busy day around Damascus as the focus of the event is beautifying public areas. The Library, Community Center and schools will be the focus of the cleaning centers. Check-in will be at Damascus Chevrolet and crews will be sent to the different locations. As plans solidify, we will have a better vision of our role for the day. Please see me if you would like to take an active roll at this event.
Our board meeting for October will be at Gladhill Brothers on Tuesday, the 12th and our 2nd dinner meeting will be at Wesley Grove on the 19th. Our speaker topic at the dinner meeting is autism and should be very interesting and informative.
Kudos and congrats are in order for our September activities. We started the month with the Damascus Community Fair where Lions are very involved and busy. Lion Tess and her able crew registered all the fair entries with impressive efficiency. Thanks to all who lent her a hand on Thursday. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were filled with the tempting aroma of popcorn served up by Lion Mary Frances and helpers. Our poor old popper had trouble keeping up with demand and we need to consider replacing it in the very near future. Lions Tuck & Eloise man the history corner and the Grandparents program. Their costumes are so fun to see. Thanks to all the Lions who turned out to make it another wonderful fair this year!
Also in September, we participated in the Hospice Caring butterfly release, in memory of our members who have passed away this last year. The monarch butterflies were in a tent prior to the release and were a beautiful sight to see. They have platters of cut fruit for them to eat which attract them in groups. So pretty! We honored the 65th anniversary of Damascus American Legion Post #171. The Legion supports our veterans and is very active in youth and community functions. What a great community we live in.
Another successful blood drive was headed by Lion Charlie Hertel on the 20th. The changes made by the Red Cross in scheduling appointments have worked better than we had expected. Much thanks to the Lions who helped get the room ready. We are no longer making phone calls to our donors but your continued support is so needed. Our next blood drive will be on Monday, November 22. That’s the Monday of Thanksgiving. Lion Charlie will need help in the morning getting the room set up and in the afternoon at the check-in table and the recovery area. Plan now to come on up and lend a hand.
Lion Wayne Marr and his Daily Captains (sounds like a good name for a band, doesn’t it??) oversaw another amazing White Cane collection. In spite of the hard economic times, Damascus residents are still of a giving spirit. Each one of you who “Captained” for a day or worked a shift collecting donations get a big pat on the back. We have experienced an increase in the number of requests for assistance with eye exams and glasses and have already come close to our budget for such expenses this year. Successful White Cane collections allow us to expand our planned expense if necessary.
We set up a booth at the Heritage Day celebration at IWLA last month. Lion Tom Jackson and myself learned how to put up (and take down) the tent so graciously loaned by Lion Mary Frances. Lion Joy Schwab joined us to staff the booth for the afternoon. Although it was a beautiful day, attendance was down from past years. We were still able to let people know about Lions in Damascus and to promote our Bingo and Pancake fundraisers. Thanks Lions Tom & Joy!
In other club news, we are taking on a new project and partnering with the Didone family to help with a Skate Park to be built on the grounds of the Community Center. We are just in the beginning stages of this exciting project that will provide the youth of Damascus with a place to skate safely. Our role will include ongoing maintenance and upkeep of the park. It is a two-stage project. The first stage is a very simple skate area with plans for the second stage to offer a more aggressive and challenging skate course. A construction crew is already on board for the initial stage of the park which we hope will be completed this fall! The park is being built in memory of Ryan Didone, a Damascus boy who loved to skate and died in a fatal car accident two years ago here in town. We are excited to be a part of this project and will keep you informed as it develops.
I think that wraps it up for this month. If I left anyone or anything out, it sure wasn’t intentional. I try to keep a slip of paper running during the month of all the things that have happened, but sometimes I miss something. It’s an honor to be King Lion of the best club in the world!
Yours in Service,
King Lion Marcia