Charter
Night Memories
When the Emmitsburg Lion’s
Club celebrated our Annual Charter Night on
January 10th,
it was with many friends; two special people, in
particular. District Governor Rodney Welch
presented Lion Jim Wivell, Jr. with a
Distinguished Service Award for his years of
friendship with and service to the club. Lion
Jim joined in August 1984 and served in the
following capacities:
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- Director from 1985 – 1986
- Secretary from 1986 – 1992 & 1998
– 2001
- President for two terms, from 1992 –
1994
- Community Day Chair 1985 – 2002
- Co-chair White Cane Day 1997 – 2002
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Lion
Jim, left, shown at one of the recent chicken
barbecues, with Lion John Kile.
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The
District Governor also installed new
member Anne Kulceski (shown to the right
in the picture singing Steppenwolf’s Born
to be Wild with Lion Dianne
Walbrecker). |
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Left,
Clara Mae Shindledecker, was a special
guest of the Lions Club. She is shown
with Lion Dale Shields. |
District
Governor Visit
In
his second visit within a month, a surefire
validation of the delicious food served at the
Carriage House Inn, District Governor Rodney
Welch visited our club again on February 13th.
During his visit, he described the following as
his wish list for the District. "Remember,
this should never be a competition among
groups," he emphasized, "but a
striving to improve Lionism."
-
Promote
Liberty Day, maybe by bringing community
leaders to the schools and moderating a
discussion between the leader and the
students, especially those in the 5th,
6th, and 7th grades.
"It’s amazing how few amendments the
Bill of Rights has. It has held up
wonderfully through the years and we ought
to promote that kind of information about
our country."
-
Find a
common thread between all members of your
club
-
Implement
and promote pre-school vision screenings
(Thurmont Lion’s Club has done some of
this already with the Freedom District Lion’s
Club)
-
Create more
involvement with the past District leaders.
"Who better to ask a question than a
past District Governor?"
Lion’s
Leadership Institute
Lion
Dianne Walbrecker attended the Multiple District
22 Regional Lions Leadership Institute, held
February 21-23 at the National Emergency
Training Center. Although the seminar was held
less than one mile from her home, she stayed on
campus with the other 75 students. "Part of
the experience was attending meals and social
events with Lions from around the
District," she said. "Besides the
great ideas I got in the sessions, I picked up a
lot of wonderful advice and knowledge about
Lionism from the extra-curricular activities
during the weekend. As a new Lion, it was a
fantastic experience to learn what Lions do in
the national and international levels."
Picking
Up the Trash
Yes,
if you were driving slowly enough on April 16th,
you could tell which of our hard-working
Emmitsburg Lions were out picking up roadside
trash on Route 15 from Creamery Road to South
Seton Avenue. In case you were driving fast
enough to miss their faces, it was Lion’s
President Rich Kelly and Lions Jim Hahn, Willis
Johnson, Dave Martin, Dale Shields, John
Sanders, Mark Zurgable, and Joe Ritz. The
Emmitsburg Lions Club adopted the stretch of
road through the State Highway Department’s
Adopt a Road program and cleans it twice a year.
As Lion Mark reported after the event, "You
definitely get your exercise."
Health
Fair another Success!
The
Emmitsburg Lion’s Club served 251 people from
the Emmitsburg, Thurmont, and Fairfield areas at
its 20th Annual Health Club. In fact,
Chair Joe Ritz, reported that people also came
from as far away as Rockville. Next year, Thelma
Richardson will help Joe with some of the
planning and implementation tasks. Lion Joe
said, "This year, there were hardly any
bottle-necked lines as we've experienced in the
past. The exhibitors were wonderful and provided
a lot of useful information to the people who
came. It went well." A collage of photos
from the day are shown below.
New
Lion Thelma Richardson
New
Emmitsburg Lion Thelma Richardson, sponsored by
Lion Hope Mahony, was voted in at the March 31st
meeting and was sworn in on April 9th.
Thelma, a life-long resident of Silver Spring,
said she moved to Emmitsburg for "its
serenity and beauty." She is a printing
broker and works out of her home on West Main
Street. "I wanted to join the Lion’s Club
because I saw that they were involved in the
community and I wanted to be a part of
that."
Joint
Emmitsburg / Thurmont Lion’s Club Events
Empty
Bowls Banquet. The
two local clubs teamed up to set up an
information table at the Empty Bowls Banquet
held at Catoctin High School on March 19th.
Members from each of the clubs discussed
services offered by Lions locally, nationally,
and internationally and answered questions.
The Empty Bowls
Banquet is held each year to illustrate hunger
and need that exists, even in our own
communities, to collect canned food and
donations for Catoctin Community Agency School
Service (CASS), and to distribute Service
Learning Awards to deserving students. All the
elementary and middle schools whose students
will eventually attend Catoctin High School
participated in various ways to make the event a
success. Following the dinner was the Art and
Choral Festival.
CASS is a
community-based interagency program that
provides services to families and children in
the local area. The program, located in the
Emmitsburg Community Center, includes
counseling, health care, parenting workshops,
academic support, and recreational programs.
Donations and collections from the Empty Bowls
program will be used by the Catoctin CASS
program to assist local families with emergency
needs.
Joint
Meeting, also known as Lion Herb and the Bird. "We
have a great speaker for our Joint Meeting with
the Thurmont Club for March 27th.
Lion Dale invited a man from Thurmont to talk
about the birds of prey he raises. But don’t
worry," Lion Herb Gingell broadly assured
the rest of the members, "he’s not
bringing the bird, just the slides. Can you
imagine a huge bird at the Carriage House
Inn," he said as he chuckled.
Well, perhaps
Lion Dale Shields, who had arranged for the
guest speaker, did not give Herb ALL the
details, because Paul did bring the bird. Mitzy,
a Peregrine Falcon (meaning the wanderer) came
as a living example, while Paul and Collin told
the fascinated crowd of more than 60 Lions how
falcons can dive at speeds up to 300 feet per
minute and fly 60 miles per hour. Mitzy, and her
kind, can see a mouse or sparrow up to two miles
away. He explained how he trains falcons and
then offered to let anyone hold her.
Never afraid to
make a fool of herself, Lion Dianne stood up as
the first volunteer. "I was nervous at
first, but it was interesting to hold her. The
glove is heavier than I initially thought."
President Rich
Kelley and other members of the capacity crowd,
29 guests, also warmed up to Mitzy.
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Left,
Lion President Rich Kelley tries out his hand
with Mitzy as Falconer Paul holds the rope. |
Right,
Master Class Falconer Paul DuBois and his son
Collin pose with Mitzy at the joint Thurmont,
Emmitsburg Lion’s Club Meeting held at the
Carriage House Inn. |
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Plans Underway
for 21st Annual Community Day! July 5th
This year’s theme,
"Support Our Troops – Freedom for All,"
expresses a hope that people worldwide will one day
be able to enjoy all the freedoms that we do. The
Lions have been running the event for so many years
that the day runs smoothly without organizational
charts and massive lists of tasks. Everyone just
knows their place and handles their jobs. So come
one and all and join us for games, music, food, and
the fabulous fireworks.
Busy April
- April 23,
several members of the Lion’s Club attended
the Leader Dog dinner at the New Midway fire
hall hosted by Middletown
- April 27th,
members of the Lions Club visited local churches
soliciting funds to be provided to the Wilmer
Eye Institute
Upcoming Events
-
Support
Our Troops – Freedom for All on July 5th
-
May
17th – Deadline for Scholarships
(Interested high school students may check with
their Guidance Counselors or apply through the
Community Foundation Fund of Frederick)
-
May
31st – Chicken Barbecue across from
Getty’s and Yard Sale at 17212 Mountain View
Road; All money from the Yard Sale will be
contributed to support of the Vision Program
-
August
28th – Family picnic
Miscellaneous
- Lion Hope was
honored at the December 12th meeting with a
membership Key for bringing in two new members
last year, Lions Dianne and Willis
- The new officers
were voted in - Joe Ritz will serve as the
President, Herb Gingell as Secretary, Hope
Mahony as Treasurer, and Dave Martin as
Membership Chair; New terms become effective in
July.
- Several eye
exams were arranged, as well as transportation
to the appointments
- 50 pair of
eyeglasses were collected in the last quarter
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