Jungle Jargon

A Monthly Broadcast to

THE LIONS CLUB OF CRANBURY, NEW JERSEY

Contact us at: http://cranburylions.org

“A Country Club Trying to Serve Its Country”

Ideals in Government		Mutual Helpfulness
Social Progress	Understanding	Civic Betterment	Fellowship

President	Alex Johnson	Directors – 1 year	Don Herr
1^st Vice President	Mike Kaiser		Doug Pearce
2^nd Vice President	David Cook		Jon Goldstein
3^rd Vice President	Andre Mento		Bob Virgadamo
Secretary	George Smith
Treasurer – Operating/Projects	Glenn Johnson	Directors – 2 Years	Frank Brennan, Jr.
Assistant Treasurer - Projects	Glenn Johnson		Jeff Grundy
			Paul Hayden
Immediate Past President	Walt Caldwell		John Kobland
Information Technology Chairman	Dave Shaffer	Publicity Chairman	Rick Cusworth
Lion Tamer	Rick Burke	Jargon Editor	Bob Virgadamo
Tail Twister	Peter Turner
Membership Chairman	Mike Kaiser

April, 2006

April 4 – Board of Directors Meeting – 7:30PM, Tom Gambino Library Room

April 5 – Regular Meeting – 7PM, Cranbury Station, Dinner: Chicken & Broccoli

Speaker: : Nancy Houston, Director of Marketing and Development for the Lions Eye Bank of Delaware Valley will talk about recent and current issues at the Lions Eye Bank.

April 19 – Lion of the Year Dinner – 7PM, East Brunswick Chateau, Dinner: Choice

This is a joint meeting with the other Clubs in our Zone: E. Brunswick, Milltown, North Brunswick, South Brunswick, and Spotswood-Monroe

Speaker: Lion of the Year Awards and Melvin Jones Fellowship Ceremonies in lieu of speaker.

May, 2006

May 2 – Board of Directors Meeting – 7:30PM, Tom Gambino Library Room

May 3 – Regular Meeting – 7PM, Cranbury Station, Dinner: Sliced London Broil

Speaker: Mike Casper of the Drug Enforcement Agency will talk about polygraph testing and give a demonstration with a real polygraph.

DATE TBA – Special Meeting – 7PM, Grape Escape in Dayton, Dinner: TBD

This “special” meeting will be the first of four meetings which will be held at the Grape Escape; in addition to regular business, the purpose of this meeting is to begin the “Club Project” of making wine for the 75^th Anniversary Celebration. Spouses are invited to attend. The actual date of this meeting will be dependent upon the date the grapes are received from Chile; Members will be advised of the date ASAP.

Things To Know

Even though we have begun sending a new “Calendar of Events” with the dues mailings, we’d like to remind all members to please, share the Jargon with your Spouse, so that our events may be better scheduled on your personal, or family, calendars for better attendance. Please Note that Spouses are invited to attend the “off-premises” meeting at the Grape Escape, to assist in the Club Project of making wine; the meeting date is tentative; see below.

Tail Twister’s Corner – Our Tail Twister advises that all members are to wear their name tags to all meetings and Lion functions; members without a name tag will be fined. Lion Peter asks that all members complete a “Member Bio”, and return it to him; these Bios will be used in a “Name That Member” segment at each meeting, so that all members can get to know about each other.

Lion Joe Carroll reported that the New Jersey Devils Hockey game was an incredible amount of fun, and recommends it to everyone for next year, especially since the cut price tickets help raise funds for the Club! Oh, and by the way, it was a sold out game and the Devils beat the Bruins 4 to 3

On Wednesday, March 8, The Cranbury Lions and the Cranbury Woman’s Club Co-Sponsored a talk and slideshow on “Maintaining the Health of Our Valuable Trees”, by Nicholas Polanin, a County Agriculture Agent from Rutgers Cooperative Research and Extension and one of the foremost tree experts in the State. The discussion was on general tree care but the focus was on the threat to New Jersey’s trees from the Asian Long-Horned Beetle and Bacterial Leaf Scorch, both of which have or will become a problem in Cranbury. If you missed the lecture and would like information, please contact Ms. Norma Swale for brochure information.

The Student Affairs Committee has advised that the cutoff for applications for the Doc Tudor and Todd Beamer Scholarships, the Stan Thomas Award, and the World Affairs Seminar is April 15^th. Any member who has a candidate – or knows of a candidate – for any of these awards should have the candidates apply by the deadline.

The Cranbury Lions will host the Annual Lion of the Year Dinner and Joint Zone Meeting on April 19^th at the East Brunswick Chateau. This is also our Spring Spouse Night, which makes it so much nicer as we honor our Lion of the Year. We will also announce our newest Melvin Jones Fellows, and present those awards at this meeting. A Sign-up sheet will circulate at the first April meeting; members who don’t make the meeting may make reservations through Lion Bob Virgadamo before April 12.Dinner choices are Roast Beef, Chicken Francaise, or Broiled; meal charges are $20 per guest.

The Annual White Cane Days are coming! As always, generous participation is expected from members for this “Signature Lions Fundraiser”. The White Cane Days will be on Friday April 28 and Saturday April 29.  This year’s White Cane Co-Chairs, Lions Mahlon Thompson, Jeff Grundy, and Andre Mento, are looking for volunteers to fill available time periods. A sign-up sheet will be available at the April meetings, or Members can contact either Lion Mahlon at 609-655-3925 or Lion Jeff at 609-655-4999. Collection locations are being determined. Volunteers will be advised of their location closer to April 28 and 29.

As with any celebratory or fundraising dinner, guests will be given a favor at our 75^th Anniversary Dinner. Instead of providing a trinket that will ultimately find its way to the trash basket, we will give splits of wine with our own label, as favors to each ticket holder. The wine, a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, will be made by the Members of the Cranbury Lions in four installments over the course of 9 months, at the Grape Escape in Dayton as a Club Project. All members and their spouses are invited and encouraged to attend the “working meetings” which will be held at the Grape Escape. The first “working meeting” for this project will be in May. This May event will be considered our second regular May meeting, but may not occur on the third Wednesday of May, as this will be the “Grape Crushing” meeting, and the crushing must occur within 5 days of the arrival of the grapes; the exact date of the arrival of the grapes is not yet known. Although more information will follow, you can be assured that you will not have to remove your shoes to crush the grapes… Because we are having the meeting catered (by Cranbury Station Restaurant), we will need a head count; a sign-up sheet will be circulating beginning with the first April meeting.

The 8^th Annual Golf Outing will be held at the Peddie Golf Course on Monday, May 15, 2006.As in past years, we have held the price to $125 per player, which includes cart and greens fees, lunch and dinner, team and individual prizes for play, door prizes, auction items and a registration gift. The event starts with lunch at 11:30, followed by a 1PM Shotgun Start. Spouses and non-golfing Lions may attend the dinner for $30; both lunch and dinner includes choice of beer or wine at the open bar. Beverages will be sold, at a nominal charge, from a cart on the course throughout the day. As this is one of our biggest fundraisers, all members are encouraged to recruit as many Hole Sponsors, as possible; the hole sponsorships are $100 and $125, which, in addition to a sign on a hole, includes a business card ad or full page ad, respectively, in the program book

We hope to have our Super 50/50 Spring Raffle tickets by the end of this month, and all members will be receiving tickets in the mail. As one of our largest (and oldest) fundraisers, each member is asked to sell every ticket they receive, and make every possible effort to sell additional tickets. Volunteers will be needed, by the Raffle Committee, to sell tickets along Main Street during the Memorial Day Parade. A sign-up sheet will be circulating at the meetings during May.

The Memorial Day Parade will be upon us soon, and as a reminder, the Parade Committee will need volunteers for the day. A sign up sheet will be available at the meetings shortly.

The State Convention will be held May 18 – 20, 2006, at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center on Davidson Avenue in Somerset. We are entitled to send 8 delegates and 8 Alternates to the Convention. The resolution nominating Lion Bob Virgadamo as Vice District Governor will be read, and voted upon at this convention, and an ‘eight-vote-block’ could be quite helpful. Only Delegates may vote; alternates are listed in case an approved Delegate can not be present for a vote. Any Member that wishes to attend the Convention as a Delegate or Alternate should speak to President Alex or Club Secretary George Smith, ASAP

May 20 turned out to be a “big day” for Lionism in and around Cranbury. In addition to the State Convention, The Club will need volunteers to man our game booth at the Cranbury Drug Free Fair. The Club would like to thank Lion Ray Dickey who has stepped up as Chairperson for this event. Further thanks to Lion Richard Stannard, who has chaired the event for the last few years. A sign-up sheet will begin circulating for volunteers at the Drug Free Fair at the beginning of April.

Due to the tragedy of Katrina, the International Convention, originally scheduled to be in New Orleans, will be held in Boston this year – June 30 through July 4 – this would be a good opportunity for members to attend an International Convention at a limited cost. Applications are available from our Club Secretary, Lion George Smith, or on line at http://www.lionsclubs.org/EN/content/news_conv_register.shtml. PDG Earl Groendyke has advised there will be a golf outing associated with the convention. It will be $40 per player, and held at the Bunker Hill Golf Course nearby the convention sites in Boston. The Cranbury Lions is entitled to send three Delegates to the International Convention; members who plan on attending and wish to vote on LCIF issues (District Governor elections, Constitutional Amendments, etc.) should get a Delegate application from Lion George.

Reminder…Hold the date for the Cranbury Lions 75^th Anniversary Celebration – Saturday, June 23, 2007. Committees are being formed for this historic event; Co-Chairs Andre Mento and Bob Virgadamo are seeking Chairs for the sub-committees that will be necessary to make this project a success, including advertising, promotions, marketing, donations, printing, ticket sales, entertainment, program, etc. All Past Presidents are encouraged to act as a Sub-Committee Chair; but ALL interested Lions should contact either Lion Andre or Lion Bob. Open discussions about the Anniversary Celebration are encouraged at ALL meetings.

The 2006 USA-Canada Leadership Forum will be in Columbus, OH, September 14 –16, 2006. The Forum is an excellent learning tool, and can have enormous benefit to the Club if a number of Members attended. As 2006 District Chairman for the Forum, Lion Bob V. will place Forum information in the Jargon over the next few months. All Club members, especially Board members, should consider attending this highly effective learning seminar.

Membership – Membership – Membership

As always we are looking for new members. With so many new homes in Cranbury, there are many opportunities for new members. We ask all Cranbury Lions to try to bring in New Members. Membership applications can be obtained from Secretary George Smith or from membership Chairman Mike Kaiser. Let’s try to keep our Lions Club from being Cranbury’s “best kept secret”.

On the flip side of the membership coin, we also seem to have a problem with attendance. Over the last couple of years meeting attendance has diminished from an average of 45+ members per meeting to an average of less than 29 members per meeting. Our core volunteers have always come from sign-ups at the meetings, and with meeting attendance down, so are the number of volunteers. While we would love to see “a packed house” at every meeting, it is understandable that many of our Members can’t make every meeting due to the demands and obligations to their jobs and families, however, the Board of Directors is asking every member to try to attend at least one meeting per month.

What’s Happening In Other Clubs

The North Brunswick Lions Club will hold a Pancake Breakfast on May 14, 2006 (Mother’s Day).

The South Brunswick Lions Club will hold a Tricky Tray Auction on April 7, 2006 at South Brunswick High School; a talent show June 2, 2006 at South Brunswick Middle School South; and are making plans for their Annual Cole Beatty Circus Fundraiser. More information on this event will be forthcoming.

Anyone interested in attending these events can contact Regional Chair Tom Reilly or Zone Chair Bob V.

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 meetings each month. 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 .

Even though we have a few new fundraisers, the Cranbury Lions Club is still in search of additional new fund raisers – different, entertaining, and fun. Any member who has a fundraising idea should share the idea with President Alex. The list of potential fundraisers, and the input from interested Lions, will be discussed at a Board of Directors meeting, and presented to the general membership at a regular meeting.

While it is important that we increase our fundraising capability, it is equally important that we do it without continually requesting donations from our small community on a too frequent basis. 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 new advertiser per year. Refer all advertising leads to Lions John Kobland, Ray Dickey, or Dave Shaffer.

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 Frank Marlowe (Chair, H&W) and/or Lion Dave Cook to activate the “phone tree”, so that all members may be notified.

Member Pick-Up

Ed Lawson (5 S. Main)

Lion George Smith will be the “permanent” pick up driver for Lion Ed

Lion Frank Marlowe has volunteered to be the “permanent” back-up driver.

Drivers: if you cannot make your pick-up, or need to switch, please notify Rick Cusworth as soon as possible. Riders: please notify the assigned driver if you’re not going to make a meeting.

THE LIONS CLUB, CRANBURY, NEW JERSEY Asks that you PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS
A&A COMPUTER PRODUCTS Joe Addonizio Hardware/Software – Sales/Service aaproductscc@hotmail.com 409-0226 409- 0223 (M)	1^ST CONSTITUTION BANK Main Branch 2650 Route 130,North Cranbury, NJ 08512	JOE’S CHEESECAKES 20 Different Flavors – We Deliver 104 Plainsboro Road Cranbury, N.J. 08512 409-0226 409-0223 (M)
ALLEN & STULTS Charles Stults, III Main Street Hightstown, NJ 08520 609-448-0110	BETA CRAFTS, INC. Art Hasselbach, Proprietor Rte 130 Cranbury, NJ 08512 609-655-1940 (M)	LAW OFFICES OF FRANCIS J. BRENNAN III,P.C. 73 North Main St. Cranbury, NJ 08512 609-395-5533/FAX 395-0999 (M)
CMI PLASTICS Custom Thermo-Forming Art Hasselbach & Steve Hasselbach Rte 130 Cranbury, NJ 08512 609-395-1920 (M)	A. S. COLE & SON & COMPANY Mahlon M Thompson, Director Emeritus Christine Thompson, Manager “Your Golden Rule Funeral Home” 609-655-3600 (M)	GEORGE CONLEY , IV Electrical Contractor All Types of Work 47-H Station Rd. Cranbury, NJ 08512 609-395-0513
DANSER & BLOOM Alan Danser & Arthur Danser 190 Plainsboro Rd. Cranbury, NJ 08512 (M)	THE ELMS OF CRANBURY 61 Maplewood Ave Cranbury, NJ 08512	1^ST CONSTITUTION BANK Elaine Homoky, Br. Mgr. 74 North Main St Cranbury, NJ 0851 395-0605 (M)
1^ST CONSTITUTION BANK Elaine Homoky, Br. Mgr. 74 North Main St Cranbury, NJ 08512 (M)	HAGERTY THE FLORIST PLANT & GARDEN CENTER Judson Hagerty & Monty Hagerty Cranbury, NJ 08512 609-0660 (M)	SUSAN M. HAGERTY Attorney at Law 101 North Main St. Cranbury, NJ 08512 609-655-2181
HERR’S PLUMBING & HEATING SERVICES, INC. Donald Herr Cranbury, NJ 08512 609-395-0638 (M)	HUFF, MORAN AND ORRON Attorneys at Law Wills, Estates & Real Estate 1246 South River Rd. Cranbury, NJ 08512 (M)	JAMIESON, MOORE, PESKIN & SPICER, ATTORNEYS 300 Alexander Rd Princeton, NJ 08540
KAISER BUILDING CO. Michael Kaiser 1260 South River Rd. Cranbury, NJ 08512 860-1900 www.kaiser-building.com	PRINCETON BALLET Official School of the American Repertory Ballet 29 North Main St. Cranbury, NJ 08512 655-2420/FAX 655-4377 www.arballet.org	CRANBURY PIZZA Main St. Cranbury, NJ 08512 409-9930/409-9980FAX
RICHARD A. PAPE Certified Public Accountant 142 Plainsboro Rd. Cranbury, NJ 08512 609-395-0467	PAT’S DÉCOR 50 North Main St. Cranbury, NJ 08512	PNC BANK, N.A. Cranbury Office 32 North Main St. Cranbury, NJ 08512 609-860-1283
SIECK-WRIGHT FLORAL PRODUCTS 15 Bunker Hill Cranbury, NJ 08512 609-395-0395	SHANGLE & HUNT Complete Line of Building Materials, Hardware & Paint 133 Broad St. Hightstown, NJ 08620 609-448-1212	STULTS REALTY Gordon Stults 37 North Main St. Cranbury, NJ 08512 609-395-0444 (M)
TEDDY’S RESTAURANT 49 North Main St. Cranbury, NJ 08512 609-395-3120	DENNIS WHITE, D.M.D. 41 North Main St. Cranbury, NJ 08512 609-395-0764 (M)	WRIGHT TRAVEL 30 North Main St. Cranbury, NJ 08512 609-655-4900 (M)
CRANBURY SERVICE CENTER 24-Hour Towing & Recovery Full Service Repairs on Cars, Ttucks, Tractors & Trailers 2734 Route 130 Cranbury, NJ 08512 448-2002	THE CRANBURY INN Fine American Cuisine Tom & Gay Ingegneri 21 South Main St. Cranbury, NJ 08512 655-5595	CRANBURY STATION RESTAURANT Seafood, Steaks & Pasta 2625 Rote 130, South Cranbury, NJ 08512 655-5550
GEORGE’S GARAGE & TOWING Complete Auto Repair & 24-Hour Service George Nobile Rte 130 @ Half Acre Rd. Cranbury, NJ 08512 655-3334	CRANBURY MANOR EXXON George Smudin, ASE Certified Technician Route 130 Cranbury, NJ 08512 448-6429	CROCKADELLI Patti & Nick Riggi 137 Old Cranbury Rd. Cranbury, NJ 08512 443-8988
CRANBURY PAINT& HARDWARE Rocco D’ArmientoIII 33 North Main St. Cranbury, NJ 08512 395-0632	M. DAVID DEMARCO FUNERAL HOME Family Owned and Operated 205 Rhode Hall Rd. Monroe Twp, NJ 08831 (732) 521-0555 (M)	R&H LANDSCAPING Complete Landscaping Services Roy Reinhardt P.O. Box 647 Cranbury, NJ 08512 395-1441 (M)
MAIN STREET INTERIORS Distinctive Interior Design Beth G. Brennan 57 South Main St Cranbury, NJ 08512 395-0125	RUE INSURANCE William M. Rue, CPCU, ARM, AIS 3812 Quakerbridge Rd. PO Box 3006 Trenton, NJ 08619-0006 (800) 272-4RUE 586-7474

(M) = Member