“A Country Club Trying to Serve Its Country”

 

April, 2003

April 1– Board of Directors Meeting – 7:30PM, Library Conference Room

April 2 – Regular Meeting – 7PM, Cranbury Station, Dinner: Chicken Cordon Bleu

                     Speaker: Carol Malouf, Cranbury School Administrator, will speak about the school

         Expansion (tentative)

April 16 – Lion of the Year Meeting – 6PM Cocktails; 7PM, Dinner – East Brunswick Chateau

                     Joint Meeting with Region 4, Zone 1 Clubs. Speaker: Lions of the Year

 

May, 2003

May 6 – Board of Directors Meeting – 7:30PM, Library Conference Room

May 7– Regular Meeting – 7PM, Cranbury Station, Dinner: Beef and Mushroom Marsala

                     Speaker: TBA

May 21– Regular Meeting – 7PM, Cranbury Station, Dinner: Chicken Parmigiana

                     Speaker: TBA

 

Things To Know

 

Using 5 year increments, only, we have tried to acknowledge our Fellow Lions who have, or will have during this Lion year, contributed to the community as Cranbury Lions for five years or more. At this time we would like to congratulate the last of the list for this Lion Year…

 

Henry Behnke – 5 years (2/98); Monty Hagerty – 35 years (5/68); Art Hasselbach (Sr.) – 25 years (3/78); Art Hasselbach (Jr.) – 5 years (1/78); John Jackson – 10 years (2/93); Ed Lawson – 30 Years (4/73); Frank Marlowe – 10 years (2/93); David Nissen – 10 years (2/93); Wayne Stahl – 65 years (6/38); Richard Stannard – 5 years (1/98); Bob Virgadamo – 5 years (1/98)

 

With the Memorial Day Parade coming up, the Board would appreciate every member wearing a Lions hat and/or vest. The Club has a supply of baseball caps and vests available; hats are @$8, vests are @ $38. Please place your order by contacting Lion George Smith. And speaking of George Smith…George is going into “semi-retirement” as Chairperson for the Spring Raffle, turning the reins over to Lion Henry Behnke. The tickets have been printed and will be distributed at the meeting on April 2. Don’t worry – if you can’t make the meeting, they’ll be mailed out to you. This is one of our best fundraisers, so please sell every ticket which you are allotted; additional tickets are available from Lion Henry for when you sell your first allotment.

 

District 16-D has a new Charter Club: the Harmony Township Lions Club. The Cranbury Lions have placed a half-page ad in their Charter Night Souvenir Program, and we have been invited to attend their Charter Night Banquet on Saturday, April 12, at the Almond Tree Manor, in Alpha, NJ. Business Casual is requested at this event, which will begin with a Reception and Cocktails at 5PM, dinner to follow. Music provided by “The Joes”. $40 per person. Please notify Lion Bob Virgadamo if you plan to attend.

 

Our Lion of the Year Dinner will be a joint meeting with the other Clubs in our Zone. It will be held at the East Brunswick Chateau. This event has also been designated our Annual Spring Spouse Night, so all members are encouraged to bring their significant other to the meeting. A choice of meal will be available and a sign-up sheet will begin at our next meeting. The cost of this dinner will be $5 per member and $20 per guest.

 

On May 31, 2003, the South Brunswick Lions Club will celebrate their 50^th Anniversary with a dinner dance held at the East Brunswick Chateau. Cranbury Lions are strongly encouraged to attend this milestone event. Music will be provided by the Gladys Bryant Orchestra; those of you who went to PDG Debbie Hackworth’s Testimonial last year, will remember this orchestra as very much worth “the price of admission”. [This will be one of the orchestras we will consider for our 75^th Anniversary celebration, so this is a good opportunity for the general membership to “audition” this group.] This event will also feature a seafood cocktail hour, choice of entrée (chicken, salmon, or prime rib), and a Viennese Table. Price per person is $45. A sign-up sheet is being circulated, or contact Lion Bob Virgadamo.

 

National Volunteer Week is April 27^th through May 3^rd. This would be an excellent time to bring in new members. The Club has a new membership pamphlet, which is available from both Membership Chair Greg Overstreet and President Bob. The pamphlet will also be available on the website.

 

Camp Marcella, located in Rockaway Township, is a Lions operated camp for blind children in New Jersey. As many of you may know, Camp Marcella opens it’s gates to all New Jersey Lions for two Sundays in May during their appeal to help prepare the camp for the summer. This Year’s ‘Work Days’ are May 4^th and May 18^th. There is a list of chores that need to be done – from cleaning the barbeque grills to scraping and painting the cabins to plumbing maintenance on the swimming pool, to liming the baseball fields. A barbeque lunch will be served each day in front of the Main Lodge. Each Club is assigned a project from the needs list. If we can gather up enough volunteers, we can participate as a Club; if we can only get a few volunteers, those members can represent the Cranbury Lions. In any event, there is a sign-up sheet for all members wishing to volunteer to help with the repair and clean up of Camp Marcella. If you cannot be at a meeting to sign-up, please contact Lion Bob Virgadamo or Lion Tom Reilly.

 

The State Convention will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Somerset on May 16 & 17, 2003. This year, the Cranbury Lions are eligible to send eight delegates and eight alternates, which, by the way, is currently the largest delegation in 16D. The Friday Evening Hospitality Rooms are usually Party Central, and are a good way to meet and mingle with the other Clubs in the State.; all official business is done on the Convention Floor on Saturday. As always, the Club will pay for the Convention entrance fee. There will be a sign-up sheet circulating for delegates and alternates. There are different levels of attendance, ranging from $6 to $97, as follows – all fees are per person:

            Plan 1 – $97: inc. Badge, Friday Night LCIF Awards Dinner, Saturday Breakfast, Saturday

Night Reception, and Saturday Dinner & Banquet;

Plan 2 – $63: inc. same as Plan 1, less Friday Night Awards Dinner.

            Friday LCIF Dinner, only – $35

            Saturday Breakfast, only – $18

            Saturday Reception, only - $10

Saturday Banquet, only – $45

            Convention Badge, only – $6

 

We have obtained a game date for our 4^th Annual Trenton Thunder Baseball Outing. The Double A League has undergone a few changes, and the Trenton Thunder is now the AA Affiliate of the New York Yankees. This year, on August 23, at 7:05 PM the Thunder will play the Binghamton Mets. Tickets are $10 each and are available to all Cranbury residents and guests. We have recently been advised that the game is almost completely sold out. It is NOT too early to reserve tickets. Seating is limited, so reserve your tickets now!

 

The USA/Canada Forum is being held in Portland, OR from September 18-20, 2003. Now is the time to book the better room choices and still get an early bird discount on the Forum fee. Any member with interest attending the Forum and in visiting Portland (the microbrewery capital of the world) should see Lion Bob Virgadamo.

 

The Club has finally been told by the U.S. Postal Service that we will be getting an old mailbox for eyeglass pick-up. This project has been in the works for nearly two years, but was severely delayed due to the anthrax problem. We have been told to expect the box by or before the end of April. We are currently working on a location, and will report that to you as soon as it is known.

 

The Club has a new project! The Lions of New Jersey have received the necessary approvals for a state-wide, project - - - collecting manufacturer’s coupons to be sent to military families overseas. These families don’t get the “Sunday supplements” and could certainly use the cents-off help in the commissary.  This project is being done with the help of Troop 52, and may be used as an Eagle Project by Scout Erik Cokely. There will be drop boxes placed in the area markets and other locations within the next month, for coupon collection. Expired coupons are eligible for this project. All Lions are encouraged to collect all coupons from the Sunday supplements, and bring them to meetings or drop them in the appropriate boxes; Coupons should be neatly clipped.

 

The Nominating Committee has made the appropriate nominations for the Board of Directors for the up-coming Lion Year. The Nominations have been seconded by the Board, and will be read at the next two meetings. Incumbent Members shall remain the same; new Board Member Nominees are as follows: 3^rd VP – David Stout ; 2-Year Board Members – Joe Addonizio, David Cook, Andre Mento, Peter Turner.

 

The Board of Directors has voted to give a $100 donation to the Annual Princeton High School Post Prom Party, which is an after prom party that promotes a safe and entertaining outlet for late night socializing in a drug and alcohol free environment.

 

Reminders

 

Frank Marlowe has been our Program Chair for a few years now, and has done quite an excellent job lining up speakers for our bi-monthly meetings. You can all imagine how difficult it can be, finding 20 speakers per year that will be of relative interest to all our Members!  We all come in contact with someone interesting on a regular basis. When you do, or if you have any suggestions for speakers, please give Frank a call, or e-mail him at marlowe@cranburynj.com .

 

It is important that we increase our fundraising capability without requesting money from our small community over and over again. With over 300 commercial locations in our immediate area, the website is one of the easiest and best fundraisers we have. We ask every member to please try to bring in at least one advertiser per year. Refer all advertising leads to Lions Gene Buckley, Dave Shaffer or Bob Virgadamo.

 

Any member who learns of the sickness or death of another member, or in a member’s family, or any other similar incident or emergency, should contact Lion Dave Cook to activate the “phone tree”, so that all members may be notified.

Member Pick-Up

Ed Lawson (5 S. Main)

4/2 – George Smith; 4/16 – Dave Shaffer; 5/7 – Greg Overstreet; 5/21 - TBD

If you cannot make your pick-up, and/or if you switch (or need to switch) with someone else, please notify Rick Cusworth as soon as possible. Riders: please notify the assigned driver if you’re not going to make a meeting.