“A Country Club Trying to Serve Its Country”

This year’s Pancake Breakfast was a phenomenal success! Thanks to our street banner, local advertising, and pre-event ticket sales by members, we sold more tickets than ever before – 520 diners passed through our doors – at least once. Thanks to Lion Mason Blaich’s ultra secret formula, we had quite a few requests for seconds. Thanks to Lions Roy Reinhardt, Jim Gerberich, and their Lion elves, our “Pictures with Santa” Booth was a bigger hit than last year. In all, we grossed a total of $3946.50, almost all of which will go into our projects budget, since practically everything we used for the Breakfast was donated. A laurel and hardy handshake to all our Members for their participation in this fundraiser, but especially to Lions Ed Lawson for his perennially fantastic job in coordination and execution of the breakfast

Unfortunately, our Pancake Breakfast Chairman, Lion Ed Lawson, has indicated that after doing this for so many years, he’d like to retire from that position. Any younger/newer Lion that would like to take over this very important Chair position is invited to speak to Ed. He will work as Co-Chair for a year or two, to give the new Chairperson as much support as possible.

…And the winners are!  A giant Attaboy to Lions Don Jo Swanagan, Mahlon Thompson, Greg Overstreet, and Rusty Hankin who organized a team of judges who drove around Town the week before Christmas, and chose this year’s recipient’s for Holiday Decoration Recognition. Each residence chosen received a beautiful poinsettia provided by Hagerty the Florist. This year’s recipients, in no particular order, were: The Turners, 135 N. Main – The Leckys, 97 N. Main – The Barlows, 31 N. Main – The Scheers, 64 Petty Rd. – The Schanks, 12 Symmes Ct. – The Alfanos, 1 Applegate Ct. – The Hornyaks, 8 Cubberly Ct. – The Johnsons, 24 Washington Dr. –The Kelleys, 8 Monroe Pl. – The Troccolis, 11 Monroe Pl. – The Foglias, 12 Adams – The Blackburns, 12 Hardley Dr. – The Szabos, 15 S. Main – The Fletch’s, 33 S. Main – The Josts, 45 S. Main – The Brennans, 57 S. Main – The Potochars, 12 Danser Dr. – The Mentos, 1 Chamberlin Ct. – The Petrosini’s, 23 Stockton Dr. – The Graydons, 15 Station Rd. – The Hansens, 3 Ryan Rd. – The Torske’s, 4 Silvers Ln. With Honorable Mention to: Cranbury Business and Professional Association and the U.S. Post Office. Congratulations to all, and thank you for keeping Cranbury festive.

Who owns the ugliest tie in Cranbury? Please don’t forget that January 22 has been declared “Ugly Tie Night”. Here are the rules: At our January 22^nd we will hold a 50/50 based on the ugliest tie at the meeting. Please wear the nastiest, ugliest, most horrific tie you can find – all ties are subject to forfeiture (in one form or another!); clip a five-dollar bill to your tie – that is your  “entry fee”; a two-dollar fine will be imposed on any member not wearing a tie, or, any member wearing a tie which cannot be forfeited; ALL money collected will be placed in the 50/50 pot, BUT only those members participating in the Ugly Tie Contest are eligible to win the 50/50. Tail Twister Joe Carroll, and a few selected “weirdos”, will be judge and jury ~ Beware!

Kudos to one of our newest members ~ Lion Rick Cusworth will be taking over the Member Pick-Up Roster. A sign-up sheet for drivers will be circulated at the next couple of meetings; please be generous with your time. At this point, Rick will be following the same procedure that we’ve used for the last few years, so drivers, expect a call on the Monday before a meeting as a reminder.

District 16-D will hold it’s 32^nd Annual Charity Ball on Saturday, February 8^th, 2003. It will be held at the East Brunswick Chateau. Black Tie, optional. Cash Bar will begin at 6PM. Dancing to the sounds of the Jim White Orchestra. Tickets are $35 per person. There are three entrée choices: Stuffed Breast of Chicken, Stuffed Salmon, or, Prime Rib of Beef. This is the District’s only fundraiser, and it would make a nice evening out as a mid-winter Club function. If you can arrange your schedule to attend, contact Lion Bob Virgadamo or Lion Tom Reilly for reservations.

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 let Lion Bob Virgadamo know so he can arrange a schedule with Lion Earl.

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 benefit 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.

Due to a slight misunderstanding at the last meeting, we would like to, once more,  go over the duties of the Tail Twister and the fine structure at meetings (which were printed in this column in October 2002). According to the Rules and Regulations set up by Lions International, the Tail Twister, with approval from the President, may fine any member, for any reason, at any time, during a meeting. No member may be fined more than twice at any given meeting. The purpose of the “fine” is to increase the Club’s Administrative Budget, while promoting fun and camaraderie among our Members. In other words, the Tail Twister can fine any of us for growing ear hair or having scratched shoe bottoms, as well as the old standards of no pin or no name tag – or having those items “off center” or crooked, or some other nonsensical reason. No one is being singled out, and everyone will have their “turn in the barrel”. Due to inflation and the fact that we are now in the 21^st Century, the  1960’s custom of paying 25¢ as a fine is ended. The new minimum fine amount is 50¢. But, depending on the mood of the Tail Twister, the day or evening’s fines may be $1 or $2.   Since the Tail Twister does not make change, a member who can’t pay the fine in exact change must pay the next higher denomination – so carry quarters and dollar bills. Simple rules…simply fun.

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)

1/8/03, Tom Reilly – 1/22, Rich Stannard – 2/5, TBA – 2/26. TBA

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