Jungle Jargon
A Monthly Broadcast to
THE
LIONS CLUB OF CRANBURY, NEW
Contact us at: http://cranburylions.org
“A Country Club Trying to Serve Its Country”
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Ideals in
Government |
Mutual
Helpfulness |
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Social Progress |
Understanding |
Civic Betterment
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Fellowship |
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President |
Rick Burke |
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Directors – 1 year |
Frank Brennan, Jr. |
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1st Vice
President |
Mike Kaiser |
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Dave Cook |
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2nd Vice
President |
Andre Mento |
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Ray Dickey |
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3rd Vice
President |
John Kobland |
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Jeff Grundy |
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Secretary |
George Smith |
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Treasurer – Operating/Projects |
Glenn Johnson |
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Directors – 2 Years |
Walt Caldwell |
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Assistant Treasurer - Projects |
Elaine Homoky |
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Jon Goldstein |
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Tom Reilly |
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Immediate Past President |
Alex Johnson |
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Peter Turner |
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Information Technology
Chairman |
Dave Shaffer |
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Publicity |
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Lion Tamer |
Paul Hayden |
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Jargon Editor |
Bob Virgadamo |
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Tail Twister |
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Membership Chairman |
Mike Kaiser |
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November, 2006
October 31 – Board of Directors Meeting –
November
1 – Regular Meeting –
Speaker: Patrick Finn,
the student we sent to the World Affairs Seminar, will speak to us about the
Seminar and the subjects encountered.
November 15 – Regular Meeting –
Speaker: Paul Ritz, an
expert on the Kennedy Assassination, and who spoke last year on the topic, will
give us “Part 2”.
December, 2006
December 5 – Board of Directors Meeting –
December
6 – Regular Meeting –
Speaker: Officer Paul
Lindenfeld, of the Cranbury PD, will speak to us about Cranbury's new Community
Emergency Response Team.
December 15 –
Speaker: In lieu of a
speaker we will have our annual
Chairperson Needed
Unfortunately, Lion John Kobland, our Advertising Chair, is
conflicted at work and is unable to continue as Ad Chair. We are desperately in
need of an Advertising Chair, as this is one of our primary income sources. The
database allows the program to “run itself”, but a Chairperson is required to form
a committee who can make the necessary contacts. Any Lion who can step up to
this position should contact President Rick, ASAP.
About the 75th Celebration
The Promotions and Ad Journal Committees have met and worked out an excellent program for obtaining both goods and services for a Silent Auction (at the Celebration) and cash donations (as Journal Ads)…but they need the help of every member. A Promotions Package has been prepared, and will be sent, shortly, to every Member (it will come through the same method of delivery as your Jargon). Remember that the cost of the ticket is the cost of the event – we make NO money on the ticket; all FUNdraising will be via the Ad Journal, the Silent Auction, and the evening’s 50/50.
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
all meetings, but are encouraged to attend “Spouse Night” meetings.
Update on our Club
Project: As you all know, we held a Wine
Label Contest, open to all Cranbury Residents; 75th Anniversary
Co-Chairs, Lions Andre and Bob, received quite a bit of art and were very
pleased with the response. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
Prize winners were chosen, and were awarded gift certificates to Hanna &
Mason’s, Cranbury Station, and Cranbury Pizza, respectively. ….And the winners
are Susan and Tony Adiletta (1st), Amy Amico (2nd), and
Brenda Shaffer (3rd). The artwork for the three will be shown at the
November 1st meeting.
Did you know that the Cranbury Lions began the “Halloween
Parade”, in 1933? The entire town participated in the parade, after which there
was a party. The Parade continued until the onset of World War II, when it
became the Children’s Halloween Party,
which goes on to this day. Unfortunately, the 75 degree weather did not help
attendance at this year’s Children’s Halloween Party, but the evening was still
a success due to the appearance of our young magician, George Murray, and the efforts
of Halloween Party Chair, Lion Richard Stannard, and his group of spooky goblin
volunteers, including Frank & Peggy Brennan, Monty Hagerty,
The Club has
contacted the US Marines for this year’s Toys
For Tots Program; Posters will go up in Mid-November. This year, we
welcome a new company as a collection point – Seanjohn’s on
Beginning in November, Lion
The Annual Cranbury Lions Holiday Party will be held at the Bog Restaurant on Friday,
December 15; as we’ve done for the past few years, we will hold this event jointly
with the Hightstown Lions. A sign-up sheet will be circulating at the November
and December meetings, or contact Lion Bob V. A couple of “questions” have
arisen about our two perennial Dinner Dances. The first is: Do we have to
always have it at the Bog? The second statement/question heard most often is:
Only two or three people dance – Do we really need a DJ? There will be an on-line
poll about the Holiday Party, shortly, in which Members will be able to
suggest possible new locations. Members may also give their opinions as to
whether we should continue to have a DJ.
Members without e-mail capability may provide their input to Lion Bob
at a meeting or by phone.
…More about the 75th
Anniversary…
Reminder…Hold the time and date for the Cranbury Lions 75th Anniversary Celebration –
Tickets for the 75th Anniversary Celebration
are now available, and by now, all Members should have received their tickets
in the mail. The Committee and the Board are hoping that every Member will
attend this historic event in our Club’s history, and now is a good time to
start planning a table; tables will be set for 8, 10, or 12. If for any reason
a Member can’t use the tickets sent to him or her, we ask that you try to sell
them; if you are unable purchase them or sell them, please return them to
Although we have tried to keep the Membership thoroughly
updated about the 75th Anniversary Celebration, especially here, in
the Jargon, we are being asked some questions more than once. In an effort to
insure that everyone knows just what we are doing, here are a couple of FAQs
and the answers:
Aren’t the tickets a little “pricey”? The cost of the
ticket is $75, and that covers the cost of the dinner, the band, the favor, and
a portion of the table
centerpieces; we are making no money on the ticket. The cost is
“in-line” with the cost of last year’s Historical Society’s anniversary dinner,
the major differences being “fuel surcharges”, other “normal” increases, and,
most notably, that our anniversary month of June is the most expensive catering
month of the year, in spite of a discount
that we are receiving.
If not from tickets, how are we raising money? With
regard to this event, there are two committees dedicated to FUNdraising: The Ad
Journal Committee, chaired by Lion Pat Meehan, will contact and try to obtain
cash donations from more than 300 local businesses, with the help of all
Cranbury Lions; The Promotions Committee, chaired by Lion Jon Goldstein, will
be attempting to obtain quality
“hard goods” and services that can be offered through a silent auction during
the event. As mentioned above, all Members will be getting a Promotions
Package, shortly, because we are ALL Lions and we ALL need to help with this
major event in our history.
What band is playing, and are they any good? Over the past few years, a number of very good “local” bands were considered, such as “Ron Kramer and the Hurricanes”, “The VooDudes”, and “Boccigalupe and the Bad Boys” (yeah…really!). For the evening’s musical entertainment we have contracted the Gladys Bryant Orchestra. We had a choice of 5, 6, 7, or 8 people; we were going to take the 7-piece orchestra, but after hearing them at last year’s State Convention LCIF Dinner in their 6-piece form, we opted for the 6-person orchestra; the sound was negligibly different, certainly just as good, and reduced the cost of the ticket. As far as quality…one would think that we would only opt for a quality sound; but the Gladys Bryant Orchestra has been heard, at various events, by, at the very least six members, including Walt Caldwell, Ed Lawson, Tom Reilly, George Smith, and Bob Virgadamo. All agreed that this ‘band’ was an great choice, in that they are excellent musicians, and that their musical choices and style is diverse and appealing to wide range of “partygoers”, without ever offending taste and decorum.
Membership – Membership – Membership
As always we are looking for new members. This year’s theme from International President Jimmy Ross is
‘Renewal’,
and President Rick has adopted this theme. 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
…And Attendance…
On the flip side of the membership coin, we also seem to be
having 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 plus or minus 25 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. The Membership Committee is preparing a
survey, which will be distributed to all Members in the near future, which we
hope will allow Members to answer such questions as: why is attendance low?
What can we do to increase attendance? If it’s a ”problem”, what can we do to
make meetings more interesting? When the survey arrives, please take the time
to complete it; if you would like to help the Membership Committee help the
Club (before the survey goes out), members are encouraged to speak to any Board
Member about their concerns.
Reminders
Frank Marlowe has been our Program Chair for a few years now, and has done quite an excellent job lining up speakers for each of our 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 Lion Frank a call, or e-mail him at marlowe@cranburynj.com .
Even though we have a few new fundraisers, the Cranbury Lions Club is always in search of additional new fund raisers – different, entertaining, and most importantly, fun. Any member who has a FUNdraising idea should share the idea with President Rick, or bring it up at one of the meetings. 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,
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
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.