Jungle Jargon

A Monthly Broadcast to

THE LIONS CLUB OF CRANBURY, NEW JERSEY

Contact us at: http://cranburylions.org

“A Country Club Trying to Serve Its Country”

Ideals in Government		Mutual Helpfulness
Social Progress	Understanding	Civic Betterment	Fellowship

President	Alex Johnson	Directors – 1 year	Don Herr
1^st Vice President	Mike Kaiser		Doug Pearce
2^nd Vice President	David Cook		Jon Goldstein
3^rd Vice President	Andre Mento		Bob Virgadamo
Secretary	George Smith
Treasurer – Operating/Projects	Glenn Johnson	Directors – 2 Years	Frank Brennan, Jr.
Assistant Treasurer - Projects	Glenn Johnson		Jeff Grundy
			Paul Hayden
Immediate Past President	Walt Caldwell		John Kobland
Information Technology Chairman	Dave Shaffer	Publicity Chairman	Rick Cusworth
Lion Tamer	Rick Burke	Jargon Editor	Bob Virgadamo
Tail Twister	Peter Turner
Membership Chairman	Mike Kaiser

March, 2006

February 28 – Board of Directors Meeting – 7:30PM, Tom Gambino Library Room

March 1 – Regular Meeting – 7PM, Cranbury Station, Dinner: Broiled Salmon

Speaker: David Mercaldo, the author of an historical novel set on Staten Island Ferry, will speak

about his writing experiences and the publishing business for independent authors

March 15 – Joint Meeting – 7PM, Cranbury Station, Dinner: Corned Beef and Cabbage

This will be our annual joint meeting with the Hightstown Lions Club – Linda Harris, President

Speaker: Tom Panconi – the Cranbury Mayor will address us on the “State of the Township”

April, 2006

April 4 – Board of Directors Meeting – 7:30PM, Tom Gambino Library Room

April 5 – Regular Meeting – 7PM, Cranbury Station, Dinner: Chicken & Broccoli

Speaker: : Nancy Houston, Director of Marketing and Development for the Lions Eye Bank of Delaware Valley will talk about recent and current issues at the Lions Eye Bank.

April 19 – Lion of the Year Dinner – 7PM, East Brunswick Chateau, Dinner: Choice

This is a joint meeting with the other Clubs in our Zone: E. Brunswick, Milltown, North Brunswick, South Brunswick, and Spotswood-Monroe

Speaker: Lion of the Year Awards and Melvin Jones Fellowship Ceremonies in lieu of speaker.

Get Well Soon

Lion Edgar Lawson had a triple by-pass last month, and is now home after a recovery period at St Lawrence Rehabilitation Facility Greetings and well wishes can be sent to his home address. Feel better soon, Ed.

Paul Hayden was recently in the hospital for tests and treatment of a possible arterial blockage. He is home now and doing fine.

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 the “off-premises” meeting at the Grape Escape, to assist in the Club Project of making wine; the meeting date is tentative; see below.

Tail Twister’s Corner – Lion Peter advises that all members are to wear their name tags to all meetings and Lion functions; members without a name tag will be fined. Member Bios, without names attached, will be handed out at the next few meetings and there will be a “Name That Member” contest so that all members can get to know about each other.

The winners of the Super Bowl Pool 50/50 were: 1^st Quarter ($125) – Scott Applegate; Half ($250) – Jeff Ronca; 3^rd Quarter ($125) – Frank Marlowe; Final ($500) – Scott Applegate. Congratulations to all!

Our Valentine’s Day Roses Sale was a fair success, having raised over $400. Lion Mike Kaiser, the Committee Chairperson, feels that through word of mouth, this could become one of our best fundraisers and the Board of Directors has agreed to continue this event in the future. A laurel and hardy handshake to Lion Mike for his ingenuity in coming up with this fundraiser and the work he and his committee put in on behalf of the Club.

This year’s New Jersey Devils Hockey game is, in part, the result of actions by Lion Joe Carroll. Back in September, Lion Joe volunteered to run the New Jersey Lions Night at the Meadowlands this year; his action acted as a reminder to MD16 that Lions were looking forward to this popular event, and he was given the honor of choosing the game. He chose a Devils – Bruins game, which was also Ken Daneyko’s retirement game. More importantly, Lion Joe ordered the Lions share of the Cranbury tickets, for which $7 of each ticket will be returned to the Club as a fundraiser; thanks also to Lion Ray Dickey for his order of tickets. This very easy fundraiser has brought in $574. The game will be on Friday, March 24; tickets are $35, and, at this writing may be sold out, but any Lion interested in tickets may still contact Lion Bob V.

The Club will hold its first Art Auction on March 4^th at Fellowship Hall in the Presbyterian Church. Local Artist Kathie Morolda has helped us organize, promote and prepare the auction. The auction will include Original Works, Limited Editions, and Signed Prints from Regionally and Nationally known artists. There will also be a small “Tricky Tray” Auction Corner with works donated by local Artists. Members have been asked to sell at least 4 tickets to the event; it is not required that members buy the tickets, but without the help and efforts of the membership in selling tickets and generally promoting this fundraiser, we may not have enough people in the room to bid on the art which will be on sale. Members are needed to help sell additional tickets, ads in the Program, and especially as volunteers to help set up, clean up, serve refreshments, man the reception and sales tables, and as art runners. A Sign-Up sheet is circulating at the regular meetings; no “art experience” is required. Committee Co-Chairs Lions Bob Virgadamo and Andre Mento hope you will be generous with your time to help support this Club fundraiser. Tickets are $10 each (includes 3 “Tricky Tray” tickets), and refreshments will be served.

On Wednesday, March 8, The Cranbury Lions and the Cranbury Woman’s Club will Co-Sponsor a talk and slideshow by Nicholas Polanin, a County Agriculture Agent from Rutgers Cooperative Research and Extension on “Maintaining the Health of Our Valuable Trees”. The discussion will touch on general tree care and the threat to New Jersey’s trees from the Asian Long-Horned Beetle and Bacterial Leaf Scorch, which has become a problem in Cranbury. If you have trees on your property, or if you have neighbors that have trees on their property, this will be a most informative evening. This free event begins at 7:30PM in the Large Group Meeting Room in the Cranbury School (the old Industrial Arts Room).

Ticket are still available for the Annual District 16D Charity Ball, which will be held on Saturday, March 18, at the Forge Restaurant in Woodbridge; hors d’ouevres hour at 7PM, dinner and dancing from 8-11PM. This is the District’s only fundraiser, with all proceeds going to the Eye and Ear Foundation. Tickets are $35 per person, choice of meal, cash bar; for reservations contact Regional Chairman Tom Reilly or Zone Chairman Bob Virgadamo, ASAP.

As with any celebratory or fundraising dinner, guests will be given a favor at our 75^th Anniversary Dinner. Instead of providing a trinket that will ultimately find its way to the trash basket, the Anniversary Committee recommended, and the Board approved, giving splits of wine with our own label, as favors to each ticket holder. The wine, a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, will be made by the Members of the Cranbury Lions in four installments over the course of 9 months, at the Grape Escape in Dayton as a Club Project. All members and their spouses are invited and encouraged to attend the “working meetings” which will be held at the Grape Escape. The first “working meeting” for this project will be in May. This May event will be considered our second regular May meeting, but may not occur on the third Wednesday of May, as this will be the “Grape Crushing” meeting, and the crushing must occur within 5 days of the arrival of the grapes; the exact date of the arrival of the grapes is not yet known. Although more information will follow, you can be assured that you will not have to remove your shoes to crush the grapes…

As we have for so many years now, the Cranbury Lions Club will again sponsor a Cranbury-Plainsboro Little League Team.

Mark your calendars…the 8^th Annual Golf Outing will be held at the Peddie Golf Course on Monday, May 15, 2006.

The State Convention will be held May 18 – 20, 2006, at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center on Davidson Avenue in Somerset. We are entitled to send 8 delegates and 8 Alternates to the Convention. The resolution nominating Lion Bob Virgadamo as Vice District Governor will be read, and voted upon at this convention, and an ‘eight-vote-block’ could be quite helpful. Only Delegates may vote; alternates are listed in case an approved Delegate can not be present for a vote. Any Member that wishes to attend the Convention as a Delegate or Alternate should speak to President Alex or Club Secretary George Smith, ASAP

May 20 turned out to be a “big day” for Lionism in and around Cranbury. In addition to the State Convention, The Club will need volunteers to man out game booth at the Cranbury Drug Free Fair. The Chairperson for this event for the last few years, Lion Richard Stannard, finds it necessary to stand down due to a conflict, so we are also looking for a new Chairperson, whose duties will also include presenting the Club’s donation to Quest. Any Members interested in filling this position should speak to Lion Richard or President Alex. A sign-up sheet will begin circulating for volunteers at the Drug Free Fair at the beginning of April.

The Club had hoped to participate in the West Windsor Lions’ very successful annual Renaissance Faire, but due to our manpower needs for the State Convention, the Drug Free Fair, and our Golf Outing (on the previous Monday), we could not expect Cranbury Lions to fulfill the manpower requirements for a two-day food booth at the RenFaire. We have advised the West Windsor Lions that we cannot participate in the Faire this year and they have graciously invited us to join them next year.

Due to the tragedy of Katrina, the International Convention, originally scheduled to be in New Orleans, will be held in Boston this year – June 30 through July 4 – this would be a good opportunity for members to attend an International Convention at a limited cost. Applications are available from our Club Secretary, Lion George Smith, or on line at http://www.lionsclubs.org/EN/content/news_conv_register.shtml. PDG Earl Groendyke has advised there will be a golf outing associated with the convention. It will be $40 per player, and held at the Bunker Hill Golf Course nearby the convention sites in Boston. The Cranbury Lions is entitled to send three Delegates to the International Convention; members who plan on attending and wish to vote on LCIF issues (District Governor elections, Constitutional Amendments, etc.) should get a Delegate application from Lion George.

Reminder…Hold the date for the Cranbury Lions 75^th Anniversary Celebration – Saturday, June 23, 2007. Committees are being formed for this historic event; Co-Chairs Andre Mento and Bob Virgadamo are seeking Chairs for the sub-committees that will be necessary to make this project a success, including advertising, promotions, marketing, donations, printing, ticket sales, entertainment, program, etc. All Past Presidents are encouraged to act as a Sub-Committee Chair; but ALL interested Lions should contact either Lion Andre or Lion Bob. Open discussions about the Anniversary Celebration are encouraged at ALL meetings.

Membership – Membership – Membership

As always we are looking for new members. 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 George Smith or from membership Chairman Mike Kaiser. Let’s try to keep our Lions Club from being Cranbury’s “best kept secret”.

On the flip side of the membership coin, we also seem to have 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 less than 29 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.

What’s Happening In Other Clubs

The North Brunswick Lions Club will hold a Pancake Breakfast on May 14, 2006 (Mother’s Day).

The South Brunswick Lions Club will hold a Tricky Tray Auction on April 7, 2006 at South Brunswick High School; a talent show June 2, 2006 at South Brunswick Middle School South; and are making plans for their Annual Cole Beatty Circus Fundraiser. More information on this event will be forthcoming.

Anyone interested in attending these events can contact Regional Chair Tom Reilly or Zone Chair Bob V.

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 meetings each month. 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 .

Even though we have a few new fundraisers, the Cranbury Lions Club is still in search of additional new fund raisers – different, entertaining, and fun. Any member who has a fundraising idea should share the idea with President Alex. 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, Ray Dickey, or Dave Shaffer.

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 Frank Marlowe (Chair, H&W) and/or Lion Dave Cook to activate the “phone tree”, so that all members may be notified.

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.

THE LIONS CLUB, CRANBURY, NEW JERSEY Asks that you PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS
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(M) = Member