Lions Celebrate
Happy New Year With Charter Night
The
Emmitsburg Lions Club will
celebrate the beginning of 2003
with its Charter Night on January
10 at Joanne's Ballroom at the
Carriage House Inn. Clara
Mae Shindledecker, who has served
our club as a waitress at
Carriage House Inn so ably over
the years, will be a special
guest of the club. District
22-W Governor Rodney Welch and
his wife, Carol, Vice District
Governor Carl Welch and his wife,
Anna, Region Chair, Buck Fisher,
and Zone Chair Debbie Fisher will
all be special guests from the
district. Denny and Elaine
Ebaugh of Classic Karaoke
Entertainment will provide
dancing and listening
music.
Emmitsburg
Lions were disappointed to hear
the news that Lion Jim Wivell is
retiring after 18 years as a
Lion. Business is good for
him, bad for the club.
According to Lion Herb Gingell,
Jim reported that his business
was keeping him too busy to
devote the time he wanted.
"Jim epitomized being a
Lion. He will be a loss to
me and I appreciate his presence
as well as all his hard
work," said Lion President
Rich Kelley as he made the
announcement to the club this
fall. Lion Jim will be
honored at the Charter Night.
New
Emmitsburg Lion Anne Kulceski
will be installed. Anne,
who has lived in Emmitsburg for
11 years and with both a
bachelors and masters degree, teaches elementary
school art. Her son, Sam,
is a freshman at the University
of Maryland in College
Park. Lions Dianne
Walbrecker and Willis Johnson
introduced Anne to the Emmitsburg
Lions Club.
Mason-Dixon Line
Stone
Emmitsburg
Lions turned out in force to help
more than 700 history buffs and
land surveyors from across the
US, and as far away as Great
Britain, park their cars to
attend the placing of a 525-pound
full size replica of the missing
original stone, Crownstone 75.
The new Mason-Dixon Stone was
dedicated to the memory of Robert
F. Gauss Sr., a great Mason-Dixon
Line enthusiast and well-known
member of the Emmitsburg Lions
Club who died May 21, 2000.
Lions Dave Martin, Marty
Grzesiak, Hope Mahoney, and
Dianne guided cars into the
limited parking area. Lion
Herb used his van for at least
20 trips to shuttle those
who found it a challenge to walk
the distance to the ceremony
through the muddy
field.
It was a
beautiful day and an impressive
ceremony to mark Bob's dedication
to the Mason-Dixon
line.
Halloween Games
on October 31st
In an
annual tradition that makes us
all feel like kids again, the
Emmitsburg Lions Club ran the
games at the Ambulance Building
following the Halloween Parade on
Thursday, October
31st.
Lions
(and budding Lions) were
everywhere. President Rich
was running one game, his
daughter Kathy handled the spider
game, and his son was setting the
mousetraps for that game.
Setting the mousetraps, of
course, was something the rest of
us were not jumping in line to
take over from him!. Lions
Dale Shields, Jim Hahn, Marty,
Dave, and Dianne helped during
the apple dunking. Holding
their hair back while they dunked
for apples and handing them
towels was a breeze next to all
the effort some kids went through
for a juicy apple. Lions
Hope and Willis Johnson cleaned
up. Click here for
several pictures of the
festivities.
Christmas
Activities
Christmas
is always a busy time of year for
the Emmitsburg Lions Club.
After Thanksgiving, Lion Hope
began her list-making, meetings,
and phone calls for the massive
effort necessary to collect food,
locate local families in need,
and organize the food
drive. Lions Marty, Dianne,
and Willis served as elves,
helping to collect the food and
pack the boxes.
Lions
Dale, John, Mark, Marty and
Lion-to-be Anne turned out in
force on December 21 to load
their trucks and cars with the
packed boxes and deliver the food
to the families.
Realtor
Don Briggs and his wife Libby
donated use of his office
building to store all the
collected food. Their help
this year (and last) is
appreciated greatly.
The Lions
also adopted a local family for
Christmas. Rather than
providing items to the family
that they may not be able to use,
Lion Hope took the parent
shopping in order to select the
appropriate clothes.
Our Lions
once again had fantastic fun
organizing another holiday
tradition, the Annual Children's
Christmas party. Lion Jim
Hahn's wife, Connie, and
Lion-to-be Anne helped children
make ornaments to serve the
double duty of feeding birds
outside. Anne said, "I
remember being down here with Sam
when he was small. This is
always a great party."
Maggie the clown entertained
young and old alike.
Finally, Santa Claus, with a
beard that didn't pull off, put
each child on his lap and
listened to their giggling,
whispers of Christmas
wishes. Each child received
a Polaroid picture (taken by
Kevin Kelley, son of Lion
President Rich) showing him or
her with Santa and a tangerine
and stocking filled with
candy. Lions Marty and Herb
cooked the hot dogs and served
the hot cocoa.
Plans Underway
for 21st Annual Community Day!
It's hard to
believe, but the plans for the
best and biggest summer
celebration in Emmitsburg begins
right after Thanksgiving.
As snow lays on the ground, Lion
Dave Martin starts planning the
Independence Day
celebration.
Upcoming Events
Miscellaneous
Lion
Hope was honored at the
December 12 meeting with
a membership Key for
bringing in two new
members last year, Lions
Dianne and Willis.
District
22-W President Rodney
Welch has recommended
Lion Joe Ritz as a
Webmaster to other clubs
considering hosting a web
page
The
Emmitsburg Vigilant Hose
Company donated an
American and Maryland
flag to the Lions Club.
The
club made its usual
donation to the Maryland
Food Bank
1st
quarter membership dues
and dinners will be due
in January. Any Lion who
has an outstanding
balance from the previous
quarter should pay in
full by that time.
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