“A Country Club Trying to Serve Its Country”

February, 2003

February 4 – Board of Directors Meeting – 7:30PM, Gristmiller’s House

February 5 – Annual Boy Scout Meeting – 7PM, Cranbury Station, Dinner: Roast Beef

                     Speaker: Bill Baroni, an attorney, will speak on Election Law and Finance Reform

February 26 – Joint Meeting with The Hightstown Lions – 7PM, Hightstown Masonic Lodge,

Dinner: Buffet provided by Host Club – Speaker: “Hobby Night”; member hobbyists will speak about their hobbies.

March, 2003

March 4 – Board of Directors Meeting – 7:30PM, Library Conference Room

March 5 – Regular Meeting – 7PM, Cranbury Station, Dinner: Broiled Tuna Steak

                     Speakers: District Governor John Dutkowski will visit and discuss State of the District

March 19 – Regular Meeting – 7PM, Cranbury Station, Dinner: Broiled Pork Chops

                     Speaker: Ralph Serpe will talk March 19 about the Princeton Area Community Foundation, and its philanthropic work in Mercer, Middlesex, and surrounding counties.

Things To Know

“Ugly Tie Night” was a successful fundraiser for the Administrative Budget for our Club! It was a close race for a while as Lions Alex Johnson, Rich Stannard and Peter Turner vied for first place. But, in the end, the Ugliest Tie in Cranbury belonged to Lion Alex. And, we raised $60 for our Operations Budget. Congratulations Lion Alex. The Board would like to thank the Membership for their participation, and of course, we must all give our Tail Twister, Lion Joe Carroll, and his crew of stalwart judges, a giant Attaboy for this entertaining evening.

And, speaking of our Operations Budget, The Annual Super Bowl Pool was a sell out, raising $500, which will go a long way to help defray our Operating costs. Congratulations to this year’s winners: First Quarter, $50 – Anthony Nichols; Halftime, $100 – Mike Danny; Third Quarter, $50 – Dave Shaffer; Final, $300 –Teddy (of Teddy’s). Let’s all give a laurel and hardy handshake to Lions Mike Kaiser, Don Herr, and Dave Stout for their efforts to make this internal fundraiser a success.

The Student Affairs Committee has begun the process of seeking recipients for this years Stan Thomas Award, as well as the first recipients of the both the Doc Tudor and Todd Beamer Scholarships. Any member who is aware of candidates for these awards, or for a Student Loan, should contact Lions Bob Wood, Mike Kaiser or Paul Mucciarone.

While attending the District 16D Cabinet Meeting, President Bob Virgadamo was pleasantly surprised, when  District Governor John Dutkowski presented him with the “Club President Excellence Award” for 2001-2002. President Bob would like to thank the Board of Directors and  the Members of the Cranbury Club for all their efforts in making our Club one of the best and notable Club’s in the District.

We will have an Inter-District joint meeting with the Hightstown Lions Club on February 26, 2003. The meeting will be hosted by the Hightstown Club at their regular meeting place in the Masonic Hall. Traditionally, their second February meeting is “Hobby Night”, where anyone with an interesting hobby may stand up and speak for a few minutes; District Governor (16-C) Earl Grondyke has advised that we would be welcome to participate in his Club’s “Hobby Night” program. If anyone would like to speak, please see Lion Frank Marlowe or Lion Bob Virgadamo who will confer with Lion Earl about speaking schedules.

Multiple District 16 has arranged for a “Lions Night at the Continental Arena” in the Meadowlands on Saturday, March 1, 2003. The game will be between the NJ Devils and the Washington Capitals; tickets are $35 each (regular box office price for these Second Level seats are $52), and for each ticket sold, $5 will be returned directly to our Club. This could be an excellent winter evening out for our Club with our family and friends. Please contact Lion Bob Virgadamo or Lion Tom Reilly for a reservation.

Lions International UN Day is March 14, 2003. This is an opportunity to speak with delegates from all over the world. Admittance is $60 per person. For more information and reservations, please contact Region Chairperson Tom Reilly.

As an early reminder, the State Convention will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Somerset on May 16 & 17, 2003. We will be able to send eight delegates this year, which, by the way, is the largest delegation in 16D, and possibly in the State. The Friday Evening Hospitality Rooms are usually Party Central; all official business is done on the Convention Floor on Saturday. As always, the Club will pay for the Convention entrance fee and lunch for the delegates. More information will follow.

The Board of Directors has again voted to send a High School Student to the World Affairs Seminar, held at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater from June 15 -20, 2003. This Cranbury Student will join over1000 students from the U.S. and 50 other countries from around the world to take part in a forum of future leaders to discuss global issues in a safe and non-threatening environment.

We have obtained a game date for our 4^th Annual Trenton Thunder Baseball Outing. The Double A League has undergone a few changes, and the Trenton Thunder is now the AA Affiliate of the New York Yankees. This year, on August 23, at 7:05 PM the Thunder will play the Binghamton Mets. Tickets are $10 each and are available to all Cranbury residents and guests. It isn’t too early to reserve tickets now. Seating is limited, so reserve your tickets now!

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 bi-monthly 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 Frank a call, or e-mail him at marlowe@cranburynj.com .

It is important that we increase our fundraising capability without requesting money from our small community over and over again. 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 advertiser per year. Refer all advertising leads to Lions Gene Buckley, Dave Shaffer or Bob Virgadamo.

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 Dave Cook to activate the “phone tree”, so that all members may be notified.

Member Pick-Up

Ed Lawson (5 S. Main)

 

2/5 – Frank Marlowe; 2/26 – TBD; 3/5 – Rich Stannard; 3/19 – Bob Wood

 

If you cannot make your pick-up, and/or if you switch (or need to switch) with someone else, please notify Lion Rick Cusworth as soon as possible. Riders: please notify the assigned driver if you are unable to make a meeting.