The Jungle Jargon

MEETING SCHEDULE

December, 2009

December 1 - Board of Directors Meeting - 7:30PM, Boy Scout Room (Town Hall)

December 2 - Peace Poster Meeting - 7PM, Cranbury Station; Dinner: Steak Orleans

Program: President John & PDG Bob will present Awards to the Peace Poster Winners. In addition to the Peace Poster Winners, our special guests will be the Cranbury School Art Teacher, Mrs. Tamara Woronczuk and Chief School Administrator, Lion John Haney.

December 11 - Holiday Meeting - 7PM, Charley Brown's Restaurant, Kingston; Dinner: Choice

Program: Interactive Meeting; dancing in lieu of speaker - Secret Santa

January, 2009

January 5 - Board of Directors Meeting - 7:30PM, Boy Scout Room (Town Hall)

January 6 - Regular Meeting - 7PM, Cranbury Station; Dinner: Chicken Marsala

Program: TBA

January 20 - Regular Meeting - 7PM, Cranbury Station; Dinner: Broiled Swordfish (market conditions)

Program: Ms. Carmen Catanese and Mr. Jim Deneen on how Trenton is among the highest spending and lowest achieving high schools in New Jersey. The magnitude of this tragedy for students and taxpayers, its causes and suggested cures will be discussed.

Things To Know

For what appears to be the first time in 77 years, the Club's Annual Christmas Party has been cancelled. We needed at least 40 people to break even. Unfortunately, only 10 Lion couples signed up, and to be fair to the restaurant and the DJ, cancelations had to be made ASAP. In order to maintain the traditions of the Club, Lion Neile Wright and Lion Mike Kaiser have invited those members that signed up for the party to attend a Holiday Cocktail Party/Meeting at their home on North Main Street; additional information will be provided at the December 2 meeting, or may be obtained by calling Lion Neile at 860-1900.

In an effort to remain current and constant with the Lions Clubs International, changes have been recommended to our Constitution and By-Laws. The Board of Directors has approved certain changes to Article IV - Membership, Section 2 - Types of Membership, which are submitted herewith, and attached at the end of this newsletter, for review by the Membership. A vote will be taken at the January 6 meeting, in accordance with Articles VIII and X of the Constitution & By-Laws.

Our new LEO Club advisors have been talking to the School Administrator in an effort to get the new LEO Club started in the Cranbury School, and will be contacting the necessary administrators at Princeton HS, shortly. The Board of Directors asks that members - especially members with school age children - offer their assistance on this LEO Club project.

We began, what we hope will become a successful limited partnership with Habitat For Humanity, when a few of our Members helped out at Habitat's Wine Tasting Fundraiser at the Mercer Oak Country Club. Habitat for Humanity has thanked the Board of Directors and Members of the Cranbury Lions Club, especially Lions Bob Virgadamo, Christine Thompson, Dave Shaffer, Bobbie Marlowe and Frank Marlowe, for the Club's assistance at their fundraiser. Habitat plans on starting their build in Hightstown in the spring and look forward to any hands-on building help we can supply; As soon as we have more information about the project, we will let the membership know.

Since September the children in Mrs. Woronczuk's art classes had been busy creating poster art for the 2010 Peace Poster Contest. The theme was "The Power of Peace". The 30+ completed posters were juried by Lions Don Jo Swanagan and Bob V and narrowed them down to First, Second, Third, and three Honorable Mentions. The winning poster moved on to the District level competition, which was juried on November 30; Cranbury's winning poster, unfortunately, will not move forward to the International competition, but did take third place among the 9 posters submitted throughout the District. We will present awards to and host the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place winners, as well as Mrs. Woronczuk and School Administrator, Lion John Haney at our Annual Peace Poster Meeting on December 3. The winning posters were completed by: Catherine Keve, (1^st Prize), Ashley Cukier (2^nd Prize), and Miles Reinfelder (3^rd Prize); Honorable Mention goes to Lindsay Lim, Raakel Vuojolainen, and Sophia Duke. (See our website for other posters).

The Winter Coat Collection, our new Community Service Project is off to a running start! We have already had some publicity in the Cranbury Press, but Co-Chairs Lions Dave Shaffer and Alex Johnson would appreciate if the members of the Club can spread this project information by word of mouth. Coats should be "gently used"; they will be distributed to those in dire need through both TASK and "Jersey Cares" of Middlesex. There will be collection boxes at the Pancake Breakfast and in the Cranbury Library prior to the Pancake Breakfast. Members ONLY may bring their coat donations to the November 18 and December 2 meetings.

Our Annual Toys For Tots Drive, in association with the U.S. Marines, began in mid November. New, unwrapped toys are being collected at points around town, including the Post Office and the 1^st Constitution Bank branches; members may drop toys off at PDG Bob's house (front porch - please call to advise). There will also be a drop box at the Pancake Breakfast. Like everyone else, the Marines are low on donations, so our help will be invaluable to insure that needy children will have a toy for the holidays. Cash donations are also appropriate, acceptable and appreciated; checks may be made out to the Cranbury Lions (please put 'Toys for Tots' on the 'memo line' and may be mailed to our Post Office Box (POB 365), or dropped off to Lion Bob. All donations must be received no later than noon, December 17.

As we have on the first Sunday in December for the last 62 years, our Annual Pancake Breakfast will be December 6. By the time you read this, you will have undoubtedly received your tickets and work schedule. Lion Jerry Hanson will once again act as Chair, and if you need to "adjust" your schedule, please contact Jerry. As always, you are asked to take responsibility for the sale of at least 5 tickets; however, due to the "fundraising rainouts" we have experienced this year, you are asked to sell as many tickets as possible, to help make up shortfalls.

Lion Rick Burke is heading up the Poinsettia Sales again this year. You may recall that the poinsettias we had last year were as full and beautiful as the plants we once received from Hagerty The Florist. He has arranged to obtain the same fantastic, top quality poinsettia plants that we had last year, from a local grower, and will have them for sale - as we have for decades - at the Pancake Breakfast. Lions who wish to pre-order their poinsettias, may contact Rick with that information.

The Lions of New Jersey have been invited to participate in the Lions Clubs International Photo Contest. If you take pictures, enter your best. You can enter Black & White or Color Photos, unaltered (No Photo Shop, etc), with no people in the photo(s), in any of the following categories:
• Animal Life • Landscape (Urban or Natural) • Plant Life • Weather Phenomenon • This year's "Special Category": "Lions Move to Grow Green" - photos of Lions in action implementing a Lions environment project. Despite the rule regarding "no people in the photo", it is believed that this does not apply to the "Special Category". For more information, check the LCI Web Site.
Although all winners in each category (in MD-16) will be listed in the District Newsletter, only one photo per Multiple District will be sent to International. All entries must be 8" x 10", on photo paper with the Official Entry Form, which can be downloaded from the International Web Site. Deadline for all submissions is the Council Meeting at the East Brunswick Chateau on Tuesday, January 19, 2010. Those who cannot make the Council Meetings may give their completed entries President John or PDG Bob Virgadamo.

The Lions Eye Bank of Delaware Valley (LEBDV) is holding their annual "Calendar Raffle". Starting February 1, 2010, and everyday until June 30, they will draw a number; All tickets are continuously eligible to win from February 1 through the last drawing on June 30; the pay out is $100 per day, except on 5 monthly "holidays", when the daily payout is $1000. A ticket to help support LEBDV is $30, of which $5 will be returned to the Club as a donation; any interested party may contact President John or Secretary Bob.

With regard to our Club Wine Making Club Project, "the Racking" will take place on Thursday, January 7, 2010; this is NOT an official Business meeting; the bottling and labeling is scheduled for June 2, however we are attempting to reschedule that last date.

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 and participation. Please Note that Spouses are not only invited to attend all meetings, but to become Members under the Family Membership Initiative. In any event, Spouses are wholly encouraged to attend our quarterly "Spouse Night" meetings. Our next Spouse Night is our Christmas Party, on December 11, at Charlie Brown's in Kingston.

Coming Soon...

The Cranbury Lions are planning to hold a new and exciting fundraising event that we hope will be able to be repeated every year - or at least every other year, for years to come. Our new Casino Night Fundraiser is being planned for February 2010. Details will be available shortly. However, as time and MANPOWER are of the essence here, interested volunteers should contact PDG Bob or IPP Mike Kaiser, ASAP.

Mark your Calendars:
The Annual Trenton Thunder Super 50/50 will be held Saturday, June 12, 2010; the Thunder will be playing the Binghamton Mets which usually insures a packed house and better sales.

We have also made arrangements for the 11^th Annual Trenton Thunder Baseball Outing on Saturday, August 7, 2010; the Thunder will be playing the Mets. Tickets will be $10 and will be available in January.

Finally, the date for the New Jersey Lions Night at Prudential Arena with the Jersey Devils is Saturday, March 20, 2010; the Devils will be playing the Penguins; information will be available shortly from State Event Chair, Lion Joe Carroll. Reserve your tickets today!

Membership - Membership - Membership

As we've said so often, membership is the key to our survival! New members will rejuvenate existing members and help to keep us ALL young-at-heart, active, and viable! President John is asking ALL members to assist Membership Chair Jon Goldstein in attracting and bringing in new members. Some of our members have said that the reason it took so long to become Lions was that no one asked! Ask your friends and neighbors if they would like to give a little of their time to serve and to give back to the community, while having a good time doing it with new friends. If every one of our 66 members asked just one person to join and only 25% of those people joined this year, we would increase our membership by 17 people! To get information about membership options or to obtain membership applications contact Membership Chair Jon, Secretary Bob, or President John. In any event, we MUST begin a proactive campaign to bring in new Members and keep our Lions Club from being Cranbury's "best kept secret".

...And Attendance...

President John is asking EVERY Cranbury Lion to provide suggestions on how we might be able to make the meetings more appealing to a broader range of the membership, in an effort to build a stronger Cranbury Lions Club. Since attendance is such a problem, there must be a reason or reasons; please provide your suggestions to President John directly. We can't fix it until we know what's broken!

Reminders

As a reminder, the Club requires that all Members wear a Lion Vest when we are at a fundraiser or Service Project. If you do not have a vest please contact Club Secretary Bob to obtain a vest. You may also order a baseball cap; these items are at "cost" to our members. Vests @$40 (S-M-L) or $45 (XL, 2X); larger size vests (to 6X) are available as a special order; hats are $12. Ladies Cut for vests are available, same pricing.

Do you know of an interesting speaker? You may be an interesting speaker! Please advise Program Chair Frank Marlowe with any and all suggestions for speakers at our meetings.

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 Lions Frank Marlowe (Chair, H&W) and/or Dave Cook ("phone tree"), and/or Bob Virgadamo (e-mail notifications) so that all members may be notified as soon as possible.

Member Pick-Up - Ed Lawson (5 S. Main)

Lion George Smith has volunteered to 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, please notify President John as soon as possible. Riders: please notify the assigned driver if you cannot make a meeting.