|
The Jungle JargonA Monthly Broadcast to and fromThe Lions Club of Cranbury, New JerseyContact us at: www.cranbury.org |
|
Ideals in Government
|
Mutual Helpfulness
|
Social Progress
|
President: Mike Kaiser
|
Directors - 1 Year: Ray Dickey
|
MEETING SCHEDULEMay, 2009May 5 - Board of Directors Meeting - 7:30PM, Boy Scout Room (Town Hall) May 6 - Regular Meeting - 7PM, Cranbury Station; Dinner: Sliced London Broil Program: Frank Marlowe will give a short talk on the human interest aspects of Roosevelt's and Churchill's secret meeting on battleships in 1941. May 20 - Breakfast Meeting - 7:30AM, Teddy's Restaurant; Breakfast: Choice Program: No Speaker - Social Meeting - General Discussion June, 2009June 2 - Board of Directors Meeting - 7:30PM, Boy Scout Room (Town Hall) June 3 - Student Affairs Meeting - 7PM, Cranbury Station; Dinner: Chicken Alfredo Program: The Club will host the winners of the Stan Thomas Award, and our scholarships and their families. June 19 - Charter Night Dinner - 7PM, To Be Named; Dinner: Choice: To be named. Program: Installation of the 2009-2010 Officers and Board of Directors. Things To KnowWe'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 not only to attend the meetings, but to become Members under the Family Membership Initiative. In any event, Spouses are wholly encouraged to attend "Spouse Night" meetings. Our next "Spouse Night" is our Installation of Officers, tentatively scheduled for June 17. Although the approved April 25 "Service Day" for the Club had been cancelled, a request for volunteers came in at the last moment from the New Jersey Lions Eye Bank, and on behalf of the Club, the Board would like to thank Lions Frank Marlowe and Dave Shaffer for going to the Edison Branch of the DMV for the NJLEB Donor Days Program. Having read the Slate of Officers at two scheduled Business meetings on April 1st and 15th, and with all members present having duly voted upon the nominations on April 15, the following Members are the new Offices and Board of Directors for the Cranbury Lions. As explained, a few years ago the BOD added a fourth Director position to better serve the increased membership of the Club; since membership is down to only 71 Members the BOD feels that we can efficiently and effectively guide the Club with three Director positions, as was customary in the past. There was no challenge to the reduction during the vote. Slate of Officers - Lion Year 2009-10
White Cane Days were held on April 17 & 18. A laurel and hardy handshake to Event Chair Jeff Grundy, because due to his the efforts the Club raised over $900 during the 2-day collection! Lion Jeff and the Board of Directors would like to thank the stalwart band of volunteers who were able to come out and "shake the can" for a few hours to help us raise these much needed funds. Event Chairman Alex Johnson will need a few Lions to help with games and prizes at the Drug Free Fair on Saturday, May 16. A sign-up sheet is circulating at meetings, or call Lion Alex to volunteer. We have been invited to participate in the West Windsor Lions Club Renaissance Faire, which is also being held the weekend of May 16 & 17. We have been getting a good number of volunteers for the Sunday shifts, and are especially in need of volunteers on Saturday. The Committee, working with Event Chair Andre Mento, will be selling fresh baked cookies, packaged snacks, and soft drinks on both days; preparation time is minimal, but we do need Lions to be there to set up, sell, and perform clean up on both days. If you can spare an hour or two over the weekend, but especially on Saturday, please contact Lion Andre. A sign-up sheet is being circulated at meetings. Everyone should have received their allotment of Spring Raffle Super 50/50 Tickets, by now. Each Member will be responsible for the sale of at least five tickets, but since our collections are down this year, we ask that you sell - sell - sell as many tickets as you can. Anyone who needs additional tickets should contact PDG Bob. As always, we are selling the tickets for $10 each, and the drawing will take place immediately following the Parade on Memorial Day. The Memorial Day Parade is coming up! The Cranbury Lions have "produced" the Parade for 51 years (although we have been doing what is now known as the "Post Parade Ceremonies" since 1938), and as always, we need a crew of volunteers to renovate the float, direct parade traffic, sell raffle tickets, judge contests, and other assorted duties. Our Parade Chair, Lion Dave Cook, has the list and needs our help. A sign-up sheet is going around, but if you can't make the meeting, please contact Lion Dave to offer your assistance. The Lions of New Jersey Multiple District 16 State Convention will be at the Bridgewater Marriot on May 15 & 16; the Golf Outing is on Thursday, May 14 at the Bunker Hill Golf Course. The Club is allowed 7 Delegates and 7 Alternates. Delegates to vote at the Convention on Saturday morning, but all Lions are invited to attend and vote at the Sub-District Session in the afternoon, for District 16-D the election of the District Governor, Vice District Governor and 2nd Vice District Governor, and any Constitutional Changes. The Club will pay for Convention Badges. There are a group of us attending the Saturday Banquet; if anyone would like to join our table, or start a new one, or is planning to attend as a non-delegate, please advise President Mike or Secretary Bob, and complete a Convention Registration Form, ASAP. Convention Event Timetable
SATURDAY, May 16, 2009
The New LEO Club at the Jamesburg Home for Boys is moving forward! The Lions Directors of the Jamesburg Board has 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 a 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. However, because it looks like the project will be approved, and move forward, we have been invited to attend the next meeting of the Jamesburg Committee on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at Jamesburg at 7:00PM. This is the moment of truth - we need one or two youth oriented Lions to act as Advisors and attend the upcoming meeting (along with a few Board Members). Due to security precautions, most, if not all, of the advisory work will be done off-site, with an on-site employee/advisor who will need a "Contributing Club Contact". Any member who would like to volunteer as a LEO Advisor should contact President Mike or PDG Bob, so that we can "hit the ground running" when the project finally comes to fruition. Since we already have a few volunteers from Cranbury, we should follow through on our commitment and plan to sponsor a New Club in Plainsboro. To accomplish this, we need a few committed Lions to contact local businesses, local government employees, and perhaps run a membership drive in the shopping plazas and the new "downtown" area to gather local residents as members. This would not be unprecedented; the Cranbury Lions sponsored the Hightstown Club, as well as the (now defunct) Hamilton, Jamesburg, and (former) Plainsboro Clubs. There's no doubt that this will be a large undertaking, but the satisfaction obtained at the completion of this project will make every Cranbury Lion proud! As it is with all our projects, the more volunteers we can get, the easier the task! Time is becoming of the essence - Interested Lions should contact President Mike, Membership Chair Jon Goldstein, or PDG Bob, ASAP. We have been asking for a volunteer to become the Club "Safety Officer" since the start of our year in July 2008, and to date no one has come forward. This is a fairly simple position (which has been done this year by a member with other duties to the Club), simply requiring a Member to be familiar with the Lions Clubs International Insurance Policy (a simple booklet!), which covers us under its umbrella, and be available to inspect our event sites and complete a form as it may apply to any particular event or fundraiser. Lions, we are proud of the fact that we have a roster of 71 Members, but it is rather disconcerting that with that many Lions in our pride, we can't get a volunteer to take a job that merely requires the completion of a form at or after each of our fundraisers. We need a volunteer, hopefully one that has no existing "jobs" within the Club! Interested Members should contact President Mike. 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. For more information see the article in the April issue of "The Lion" Magazine; for an application, see PDG Bob. Baseball Season is here! Mark your calendars for our Trenton Thunder 50/50 on Friday, June 12, Thunder v. Mets; as always we need a minimum of 6 people to sell tickets in the stadium, but the more of us that are out there, the more tickets we will sell; we have always done well at this event, and why shouldn't we - we don't have to do anything but be present, walk around, watch a baseball game, and make money for charity! [For informational purposes, the best "non-celebrity" night for the 50/50 was well over $1000; a "celebrity night" example would be the night Derek Jeter played - the non-profit walked away with almost $3000!] The Club will pay for a hot dog and a beverage for each seller; sellers do not have to be Lions, but must be over 18. A sign up sheet will begin circulating at the May meetings. Our Annual Baseball Outing on Saturday, August 22. We are looking to sell at least 50 tickets and urge you to attend this game, with your family and friends; the Trenton Thunder has been our friend and loyal supporter for more than a decade, but if our ticket sales don't increase for this one game, (due to the severe economic climate) 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 - contact PDG Bob. Coming Soon...The Board has approved our Club's participation in a new fundraising effort, to which we have been invited, in Cranbury, 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 - MembershipLast year's theme was "the Challenge to Change", and, through change, we can increase our Membership while rejuvenating existing members to help to keep the Club young-at-heart, active, and viable! Cranbury Lions Club President Mike will continue to accept the Challenge to Change, and is asking ALL members to assist Membership Chair Jon Goldstein in attracting and bringing in new members. To this end, we are planning a Membership Drive at Four Seasons; details will be available shortly. To get information about membership options or to obtain membership applications contact Membership Chair Jon, Secretary Bob, or President Mike. In any event, we MUST begin a proactive campaign to bring in new Members! Let's try to keep our Lions Club from being Cranbury's "best kept secret". ...And Attendance...Using the tag-line, "If you build it, they will come", President Mike is 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 him directly. RemindersDo 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 Mike as soon as possible. Riders: please notify the assigned driver if you cannot make a meeting |