The Jungle Jargon

MEETING SCHEDULE

August, 2009

August 18 - Board of Directors Meeting - 7:30PM, Boy Scout Room (Town Hall)

August 19 - Regular Meeting - 7PM, Cranbury Station; Dinner: Baby Back Ribs

Program: Our speaker will be Mr. Kevin Graham, who will advise us on how to create successful fundraising with a Casino Night program.

September, 2009

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

September 2 - Regular Meeting - 7PM, Cranbury Station

Program: Interactive Club discussion regarding fundraisers, donations, and the budget

September 16 - Regular Meeting - 7PM, Cranbury Station

Program: Marilynn Mullen, Cranbury Library Director

Things To Know

"Summer dress rules" are in effect through July and August; With the July meeting at the All-Star Game, feel free to dress as you would for any baseball game. For the August meeting, Members are permitted to wear appropriate summer attire, including shorts, to the meetings. Remember that we meet in a restaurant and a little decorum is still required. No tank tops or sleeveless shirts, please. "Standard dress rules" will resume with our September meetings.

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 the meetings, but to become Members under the Family Membership Initiative. In any event, Spouses are wholly encouraged to attend quarterly "Spouse Night" meetings.

The Finance Committee has met and completed the Budgets for the 2009-10 (Fiscal) Lion Year. In accordance with the Constitution and By-Laws, the budgets will be distributed and discussed at two meetings (the August and first September meetings); a vote on budget acceptance will take place on September 2.

To date we have only sold twenty-two (22) tickets to our Annual Baseball Outing to be held on Saturday, August 22. It will be Thunder vs. the Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays). We NEED to sell at least 50 tickets and urge you to attend this game, with your family and friends. These tickets are also available to every resident of Cranbury and their families, so please, do some word of mouth advertising around town! The Trenton Thunder has been a friend and loyal supporter the Cranbury Lions for more than a decade, but if our ticket sales don't increase for this one game, we may be in danger of losing our preferred 50/50 night in future years. Please don't let that happen - order your tickets today - Reservations can be made right now! Contact PDG Bob to place your order for tickets.

PDG Bob attended the Lions Clubs International Convention, which was held from July 5-11 in Minneapolis, MN, and in addition to meting with Immediate Past President Al Brandel, 1^st Vice President Sid Scruggs and 2^nd Vice President Dr. W.K. Tam, he personally met with our new International President Eberhard Wirfs of Germany. President Eberhard will continue the membership initiative begun last year under IPP Al, under the banner "Move to Grow". His symbol of growth is the leaf of the Gingko tree - the world's oldest know species, able to survive the millennia, and continue to grow without boundaries.
His logo is shown here:

As they become more readily available, President John will be able to tell us more about the new programs and initiatives in the coming months.

When we received a "special" invitation from the Thunder for early ticket sales to the All-Star Game, and we saw the game would be on the normally scheduled date of our July meeting, the BOD and the Membership considered and approved holding a short, modified, but official meeting at Thunder Stadium on July 15. As usual, the pre-meeting ceremony was completed (less an invocation, and using the "Star Spangled Banner" instead of a verse of "America") and agenda highlights were handed out to all members. It was a good opportunity to meet with each other in a social setting and enjoy the camaraderie of the group...and enjoy a ball game!

On July 18, we were, once again lucky enough to be hosted at the home of Lion Joe and Suzanne Carroll for our Annual Cranbury Lions Family Picnic. Everyone who was able to be there will relate that a good time was had by all, so if you happened to miss the picnic this year, there's always next year. Thanks go out to President John for providing the "toss game", but special thanks go to Lion Joe and Suzanne for doing all they do for this Lion activity. And, by the way, the next time you see Suzanne, ask her about the "cat story"!

Membership Chair Jon Goldstein has been working with a committee to meet with the residents of the Four Seasons Development to try and obtain a few new members from that neighborhood. The open house is scheduled for August 12, and will be reported on in the next issue of the Jargon.

Based on the approval of the Board and the Membership at the August meeting, the Club is planning another Club Project of wine making at The Grape Escape (TGE) in Dayton. Our previous projects and meeting nights at TGE have been successful and fun, and many members have asked when we will be doing it again. Subject to the aforementioned approvals, we will produce a barrel of Suisun Valley (California) Cabernet; tentatively, we will hold our first October meeting at TGE for the Grape Crush. Cases are priced at $120 each ($10 per bottle); this is a direct cost there is no fundraising for the Club. Members may split a case with other members, but only ONE member is responsible for the cost of the case. "Pre-approval" sign-ups are being accepted. Speak with IPP Mike Kaiser or PDG Bob.

As Lions "We Serve". This motto is all encompassing. "We serve" OUR community, but we also serve adjacent communities, regional communities, and the global community. For the last year, this column has run the information that the Board of Directors agreed, and the Membership approved, an effort to try to start a new Club in Plainsboro, and volunteers have been sought to undertake this project. We started the year with another call for volunteers who could commit to contacting local businesses, local government employees, and perhaps run a membership drive in the shopping plazas and the new "downtown" area to gather local residents and business owners as members. This column has noted that the action would not be unprecedented; the Cranbury Lions sponsored the Hightstown Club, as well as the (now defunct) Hamilton, and Jamesburg Clubs, and the former Plainsboro Club. Sadly, we have not had one volunteer come forward. This will be the last request for volunteers until after the Four Seasons Membership Campaign, and until such time as Membership Chair Jon and PDG Bob can put together a formal program for this project. In the meantime, volunteers for the upcoming project can contact either Lion Jon or PDG Bob.

The New LEO Club at the Jamesburg Home for Boys is still "in process", but hopefully moving forward! The Lions Directors of the Jamesburg Board have been able to develop a project that may be acceptable to School; Jamesburg is considering a program whereby dogs will be brought into the institution for training as assist dogs. The dog training could serve as a service project for this proposed LEO Club. This program has not been finalized, as Jamesburg needs to get approval from the State. We will be kept informed as to the status of this proposal. A LEO Club must be chartered by a Lions club, but due to security precautions, most, if not all, of the Club's advisory work will be done off-site, with an on-site employee/advisor who will work with a "Contributing Club Contact". Any Members who would like to volunteer as a LEO Advisor should contact President John or PDG Bob immediately, so that we can "hit the ground running" when the project finally comes to fruition.

A quick notation about the USA/Canada Leadership Forum this coming September 24-26. If, in addition to learning more about our Association, learn new methods for increasing Membership, and, generally, discover how to become a better Lion, you'd like to ride a Mississippi Riverboat, visit the birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll, catch the Blues at a hot club, see Graceland, visit the National Civil Rights Museum, check out pandas at the zoo, or just have the "World's Best Barbeque", this year's Forum is in Memphis, TN ... and it is expected to be one of the best Forum's on a never ending list of great Forums. It's not too late to sign up; for more information and an application, see PDG Bob.

Please Note Your Calendars. Our Annual Golf Outing has been changed. The new date is Thursday, October 15. It will still be at the Peddie Golf Course. All Members are being asked to promote the Golf Outing and to try to bring in as many golfers as possible. For an application, see Lion Ray Dickey.

Coming Soon...

The Board has approved our Club's participation in a new fundraising effort, sponsored by Gil & Bert's Ice Cream Shop, to which we have been invited, tentatively scheduled for October; more information will be provided as it becomes available.

Habitat For Humanity is preparing to begin a new "project house" in Hightstown, the BOD has discussed having a warm weather "Service Day" by helping with this project. Discussions will continue after we have obtained additional details.

Membership - Membership - Membership

As we've said above and so often in the past, 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! Cranbury Lions Club President John is asking ALL members to assist Membership Chair Jon Goldstein in attracting and bringing in new members. One program planned for this month is a Membership Drive at Four Seasons. But we don't want to stop there. 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. 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...

Meeting attendance is still a problem and President John is picking up where Immediate Past President Mike left off by asking EVERY Cranbury Lion to provide suggestions on how we might be able to CHANGE the meetings to appeal to a broader range of the membership, in an effort to build a stronger Cranbury Lions Club. Please provide your suggestions to President John directly.

Reminders

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 to: .

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 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.