The Jungle Jargon

MEETING SCHEDULE

September, 2011

September 6 - Board of Directors Meeting - 7:30PM, Boy Scout Room (Town Hall)

September 7 - Regular Meeting - 7PM, Cranbury Station; Dinner: Chicken & Broccoli

Program: Rev. Ron Sager, Pastor of the Cranbury Methodist Church, will speak.

September 21 - Bring-A-Guest Meeting - 7PM, Cranbury Station; Dinner: Broiled Tilapia

Program: Mr. Harry Fini of LifeSaver Living Solutions, a company that deals with keeping seniors independent in their own homes, will discuss how such independence can be accommodated.

October, 2011

October 4 - Board of Directors Meeting - 7:30PM, Boy Scout Room (Town Hall)

October 5 - Regular/Joint Meeting - 6:30PM, Jamesburg School For Boys; Dinner: TBD

Program: TBA

October 19 - Girl Scout Meeting & Spouse Night - 7PM, Cranbury Station; Dinner: Chicken Parmigiana

Program: Susan Mavoides will talk about what the different Cranbury Girl Scout Troops have been and are doing.

~ In Memoriam ~

Although he was never an 'actual' member of the Cranbury Lions, Teddy Nikitiades had been a friend and a constant supporter of the Cranbury Lions Club for nearly 40 years. The Members of the Cranbury Lions Club join with every resident, business owner and regular visitor to town in expressing our deepest sympathy to the family for their loss.

Well Wishes

To all our Members who were seriously impacted by Hurricane Irene; as Lions We Serve…not just the Community, but each other. If any of our members are in need of help, the Membership will be there to assist in some way.

Things To Know

Summer dress rules are over for the year; please resume business attire, either jacket (with or without a tie) or Business Casual.

Please note that our October 5 Meeting will be a Joint Meeting with the Jamesburg Leo Club, held at the Jamesburg School for Boys. Members MUST sign up for the meeting; it is important to note that the name on the sign-up sheet MUST be your name, as shown on your Driver's License.

The Board of Directors had recommended that the Club become a Foundation and apply for 501(c)(3) status through the IRS; Treasurer Dean Koehler has been working on this transition. However, in order to complete the application, certain clarifications had to be made in our Constitution & By-Laws and wording changes made or added. In reviewing the C&B-L's, and considering that our Constitution and By-Laws is a "living" document, additional items were discovered and changes suggested. In addition to the changes required for our tax-exempt status, said changes concern Board Positions and Perfect Attendance. The changes and or additions shall be made to Article IV (7), Article VI (1), and Article VII (2), (3), and (4). The changes shall be read and voted upon by the Membership at the September 21, 2011 meeting at The Station Restaurant; we suggest that you bring a copy of the changes/additions to this meeting, as copies will not be distributed for cost containment reasons. Thank You.

Our Annual Trenton Thunder Baseball Outing was on Saturday, August 20, 2011; Thunder v. Bowie Baysox, the AA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. First, the Board would like to thank the Membership for their efforts in selling the tickets to friends and family; of the 125 tickets that we were required to take for the game, we sold 99, which left us "whole" on the cost of tickets. We attempted to donate the remaining tickets to a needy youth group, but were unable to find such a group; at the last minute a decision was made to split the tickets between the two ever-constant supporters of our Club, Teddy's Restaurant and The Station Restaurant. The outing turned into a "bonus", as the Baysox game from the night before had been rained out, so we were treated to a double header. The Thunder won one, and lost the second, but a great time was had by all who attended. Since the "required ticket sales for Super 50/50 eligibility" seemed to work out okay, the Board will consider a "13^th Annual Thunder Outing" next year, and present the item to the membership at the appropriate time.

Membership Cards will be distributed at the September 7 meeting to all members present, "In Good Standing". Members not present will receive their cards in the mail. PLEASE NOTE: If you do not receive a Membership Card by or before September 21, it is an indication that your dues are delinquent. In such a case, please check your e-mail (or the regular mail on your desk) for a copy of your dues invoice and forward your payment to the Treasurer ASAP. Thank you.

As reported last month, Board of Directors brought a new fundraiser to the July Business Meeting and after a vote by show of hands, the Membership approved a $100 per ticket Super 50/50 Fundraiser. We plan to sell only 250 tickets. There will be SEVEN winners. If we sell ALL 250 tickets*, there will be 2 - 2% winners (*$500, each), 4 - 1½% winners (*$375, each), and a Grand Prize Winner of 40%, or $10,000 if all 250 tickets are sold. The Club will retain 50% of the proceeds (less expenses) for our Charitable Budget; again, if all tickets are sold, that would equal $12,500! Unfortunately, due to Township vacation schedules, the submission of our permit application to the State Gaming Commission was delayed by 12 days, and we will not be able to begin ticket sales on Cranbury Day. In any event, tickets will be printed showing percentages of net proceeds, only, in case we are unable to sell all 250 tickets. However, due to the huge Grand Prize payout, we are confident that we can sell the 250 tickets. We will be asking every Member to attempt to sell as many tickets as possible, as maximum participation is a big part of the models we are using, which have all been so successful that there are "waiting lists" to get to buy a ticket from those clubs that already do this type of fundraiser. We hope that every Member will participate in this fantastic opportunity to raise charitable dollars.

Cranbury Day is Saturday, September 10, and we will need volunteers for our Food Stand and Ice Cream Cart. Fellow Lions, like the Pancake Breakfast, this is one of the quintessential fundraisers of our Club, and we need EVERY member to provide at least two hours of time for the grill, the serving line, the ice cream cart, set-up, and /or clean-up. A sign-up Sheet is being passed at meetings, or you can contact Lions Pat Meehan, Jeff Grundy, or PDG Bob to volunteer.

International President Wing-Kun Tam's Program for Lion Year 2011-2012 is "I Believe"…the Cranbury Lions Club will participate in IP Tam's program because we BELIEVE we can increase membership, we BELIEVE we can make a difference in Cranbury. In an effort to participate in President Tam's International Service Project Goal of planting 1,000,000 trees world-wide, The Board of Directors would like the Club to take on the task of planting 80 trees throughout the Township: they can be on the street, in our parks, or in our own backyards. A committee will be appointed to speak with the Township's Shade Tree Commission, Parks Department and the Township Committee in an effort to accomplish this goal. Why 80 trees? Next June, our Club will celebrate its 80^th Anniversary, and 80 seemed to be the right number! More on this in the future.

And speaking of our 80^th Anniversary…if any member has a suggestion for our celebratory meeting next June, or any ideas how to publicize our Club and our involvement in Cranbury, please contact PDG Bob or Event Chair Lions Andre Mento, directly.

The Board of Directors and the Membership have approved another "Wine-Making Project", and we thought it would make a good 80^th Anniversary Project; not unlike the 75^th Anniversary, we will sponsor a Label Design Contest hopefully engaging and involving the People of Cranbury. We are currently working with the owner of the Grape Escape and will have particulars on the wine type, costs, meeting dates (at the Grape Escape),etc in the next week or so.

There is a new Exhibit/Show at the South Street Seaport, in New York City, called "Dialogue in the Dark", which should be of special interest to Lions: it is a specially built and totally dark exhibition where visitors, guided by blind docent guides, poke their way through the blackness with canes, experiencing the city as the blind do, using all their senses except sight. It is an exceptional experience and all information is on the attached flier.

Help Support the Century of Service Commemorative Coin. Lions Clubs International is leading efforts to mint 400,000 U.S. silver dollars in recognition of Lions Clubs International's 100th Anniversary in 2017. And, this coin is the first step to commemorate our Association's centennial - while raising millions to support our projects for the visually impaired, youth and those affected by disaster. Find out how you can get involved in this campaign at http://www.lionsclubs.org/coin/

Membership - Membership - Membership

We always need new members who will help to raise the charitable funds which we need to complete our mission, and to help "broaden" our charitable collection base. But we are about to face a new problem…

Our Administrative Budget is becoming increasingly tight, and our Administrative "back-up fund" has become alarmingly low. Ladies and Gentlemen…Fellow Lions, WE ARE IN NEED OF NEW MEMBERSHIP, and while all are welcome, we need some "youth" so that we won't face the ever continuing possibility of becoming "an old persons' club".

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 Christine is asking ALL members to assist Membership Chair Jon Goldstein in attracting and bringing in new members.

Through the years, some of our members have said that the reason it took so long to become a Lion was that no one asked! Ask your friends and neighbors if they can 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 58 members asked just one person to join and only 25% of those people joined this year, we would increase our membership by 14 people! To get information about membership options or to obtain membership applications contact Membership Chair Jon, Secretary PDG Bob, or President Christine. In any event, we cannot complete our Mission without a Membership Pool so we MUST maintain a proactive campaign to bring in new Members and keep our Lions Club from being Cranbury's "best kept secret"…or worse.

Reminders

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 scheduled Spouse Night will be October 19.

The Club requires that all Members wear a Lion Vest, Shirt or Hat when we are at a fundraiser or Service Project. If you do not have one of these items, please contact Club Secretary Bob to obtain one. 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. We also have a couple of "T-Shirts" left (large), $10 each.

Members can access the Club Directory on-line with the required logon and password. Members without internet capability may contact Lion Phyllis Johnson for a hard copy of the Directory.

One of the most difficult jobs in our Club is the Program Chair, and the ability to get speakers for our meetings. Lion Tamer Frank Marlowe is our Speaker Chair and would be most appreciative of any and all speaker leads he is given. Do you know of an interesting speaker? You may be an interesting speaker! Please contact Lion Frank 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 call or e-mail Lion Frank Marlowe (Chair, H&W) and/or President Christine ("phone tree"), and/or Secretary PDG Bob so that all members may be notified as soon as possible.

Member Pick-Up

The Club will arrange a ride for any member who is unable to drive to the meeting(s); Lion George Smith has volunteered to be the "permanent" pick-up driver for Lion Ed Lawson (Lion Frank Marlowe is the back-up driver). If a Member needs a ride, please contact President Christine or Secretary PDG Bob to arrange for a pick-up. Drivers: if you cannot make your pick-up, please notify President Christine as soon as possible. Riders: please notify the assigned driver if you cannot make a meeting.