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September 2000

Livewire Lions Tales Newsletter

The President's Corner

The Spenard Lions showed up in force for both the District 49A Cabinet meeting and for the fund raiser for International Director Buster Hall. Thanks to all of you Lions that made these events so much fun.

Our hearts and prayers go out to PDG Lion Jack Doyle who was injured in an auto accident while driving to the Cabinet meeting. Get well soon Jack, we miss you at our lunches.

The Club still needs a few Chair positions to be filled for upcoming events. Lion Charlotte Henke has a list of these volunteer positions as well as a list of the Club Officers, our event calendar, a Club roster, and the Club phone list. Lion Charlotte, I thank you very much for all of your hard work. You are making my job an easy one.

I attended a Spenard Leo meeting today. Thanks go out to Lion John Harris, VDG John Regan, Zone 4 Chair Lion Joanne Koss, and Lion Leo Advisors David Olaska and Laurie Hilton for a great meeting. I encourage all Lions to attend our Leo meetings to see what our kids are up to.

Thank you Lion Joanne Koss for the great fish fry. Thanks also to Lion Lionel deSouza, Kent Ireton, and Doyle Burnett for providing all of us with some great live music. Lion Fred, the silvers were wonderful too. Lions Janet and Evan Hall, your cooking of the fish was great as was the grill work by NLSG Joe Koss.

I look forward to the coming months. We all have plenty of projects to do and with winter coming, my honey do list is as long as ever, so I will see you all next Spring.

Lion Michael Curley President

Spenard Leo's Roar

Hi Lions! This is Ashley, your Leo secretary. Let me fill you in on what we have been up to.

We had a sleepover with the other district Leos on August 12th and 13th. We had a great turn out. We attended classes on how to follow through with our projects, and how to be a great Leo. We also had pizza and bowling. Here is a big THANK YOU to the Spenard Lions for the use of the club house.

We are having an ice cream social on Sept. 10th at 4PM lasting until 7PM. It will be a great time! Come one, come all!!!! Bring the whole family!

Some of us will be volunteering at the State Fair on Sept. 10th in the Fire Safety Booth. Come on out and see us. We will be happy to pass on any safety tips we learn. There will also be a ladder for the youngsters to climb on, so if you are going to be there, we would very happy to see you.

We are also placing a large box in the Spenard and Mt. View clubhouses to collect winter gear for the Rescue Mission. So, please Lions dig deep in those old boxes piled up in the garage or attic and bring it on down! Your old stuff will keep someone warm this winter. There is never a reason for anyone to be cold. If you need a pick-up, we are only a phone call away. Please call Lion Lauri Hilton at 333-4361.

Also, we are always looking for new Leos! So, give us a call, so we can invite them out to a meeting. This is also the big invitation for any Lions to attend one of our meetings. Parents have been voted out, except mine, she has to be there because she's an advisor, but we will allow a Lion or two, we are looking forward to it. Every Sun. at 4PM, please consider this an open invitation.

Well, I guess that's all for this month, more next month!!!!!

Leo Ashley Spenard Lion Leo's

Livewire's In The News by Lion John Regan Jr.

Eleven Spenard Lions attended the 1st D49A cabinet meeting in Willow on August 19th. Then it was a mad dash to the Houston Lions Luau to feast on Roast pig and enjoy Polynesian dancing. Lion Iwalani Carino entertained with several Hula dances. It was a full day of activities but most was enjoyable.

The 10th annual Spenard Lions Fish Fry was blessed by good weather and good company. There was plenty of good food and almost too much delicious dessert. Lion Doc Dunn and VDG Lion John did their best to minimize the loss but they were overcome by the amount of dessert. There was live music provided by Lion Lionel De Sousa, NLSG Doyle Burnett and Kent Ireton Their contribution of the entertainment made a good day even moreenjoyable.

Lion Fred Walatka"s fish were skillfully cooked by Chefs Lion Evan Hall and Lion Don Ballard. If you missed this event it will be repeated next year so get ready to mark your calendar.

As Always...The Food Bank A Big Success by Lion Bob Nelson, Food Bank Chair

The food bank for July was conducted on Saturday, September 9, 2000 at the Lions Club House in Spenard. Volunteers at the event totaled 45: 13 Lions from Spenard including the VDG, 5 Spenard Leo’s, 5 Spenard Lion guests, 2 International Air Crossroad Lions, 15 volunteers from the VA Domiciliary/Transition Housing, 2 Lions from Mt. McKinley, 1 Lion from Benton Bay - the DG, and 2 guests from Boy Scout Explorer Post #911.

Approximately 13,000 pounds of goods were distributed to needy families. The total number of households served this month was 153. The family count was 499 members. Total number of donated hours was approximately 251 for this project. During the month one additional family received help and food from the Spenard Club bringing the monthly complete total to 154 families.

Respectfully submitted: Bob Nelson Project Chair

Zone 4 News by Lion Joanne Koss

Zone Four had all clubs in attendance at the first Cabinet meeting in Willow. About 170 Lions attended. Of those, 22 were from Zone Four.

Lion Pete Hupperten of Benton Bay Athletic Lions Club received his 30-member Key award. Lion Royce Larson of Spenard Lions club received his 35-member Key award.

Benton Bay is working hard to get the Great Pumpkin Festival up and running. It will be held at Kulis Hanger again this year with five or more clubs helping. This is a Zone and inter-zone project. The next meeting will be Thursday, Sept 21, 2000, at the Lone Star Restaurant. Times are 6:00pm for dinner and 7:00pm for the meeting.

Girdwood Turnagain Arm had a successful Humpy Festival.

International Air Crossroads Lions spent many hours at Mulcahy Stadium selling beer and split-the-pot tickets. They also ushered at the Anchorage Bucs games.

Spenard Lions had a successful 10th Annual Fish Fry, with fresh salmon donated by Lion Fred Walatka. This year they had a live band to add atmosphere.

Zone Four came through with flying colors for a middle school student who needed to be fitted with an eye prosthetic. The student had already had surgery for a detached retina and needed the eye prosthetics. The medical portion had already been covered. The boy’s mother needed airfare and hotel. Spenard Lions received the original request and passed it along to the Zone. Lion Kathy Trautner of Girdwood Turnagain Arm Lions did much of the phone work contacting various agencies. International Air Crossroads donated money to the cause. A Spenard Lion worked on coordinating with the Lions Clubs. In the final analysis, the Zone Four Lions got free round trip tickets on Alaska Airlines for the mother and son to fly to Lake Oswego, Oregon for the prosthetic eye insertion. We also provided two nights room at a hotel. Because of the Lions work, the son is back at school with a positive attitude and great self-esteem. Great job, Zone Four Lions!

Calling all Zone Four Lions. The photo screener at the State Fair was a success. I have talked to Dr. R. Arnold who is reading the tests. We will be having a stuffing party in two to three weeks to get all the test results back to the parents. I will be contacting you as soon as I know the when, where, how, etc. This will be another Zone Project.

VDG Lion John Regan reports that Lion Jack Doyle is in very good spirits. He has a proper fitting “turtle suit” again. With it, he doesn’t need to be flat on his back and is able to sit in a reclined position. Daily exercise sessions continue. Visiting hours are 4 to 8 pm, except Sunday, when they are 10am to 8pm. Please call before visiting.

What Happened At The End Of August by Lion Charlotte Henke

It was a busy month of August for the Spenard Lions. We started out by helping a family with a $300.00 donation. They had lost all their possessions in the apartment fire near Jewell Lake.

Then the Clubhouse was in use by the Model Club for a picnic on the 6th, and on the 12th the Leos held a sleep over and pancake feed. The Clubhouse was used for the first Zone 4 meeting on August 16th with six Spenard Lions in attendance. The Youth Soccer Club used the Clubhouse on the 17th and 20th for their meetings. On the 15th we had an official visitation to Benton Bay Athletic Lions Club meeting. On the 17th twelve of us went to the fund raiser put on by Mt. View Lions for a great steak dinner and we presented International Director Buster Hall with a $100.00 check from the club and a personal donation from Lion Milo Mujagic. We helped a twelve-year-old out with a donation of $250.00 for the purchase of eye prosthesis. Eight Spenard Lions attended the first Cabinet meeting held in Willow. I don't think any club beat us with more Lions in attendance. Guest speakers were from Habitat for Humanity and the Bloodmobile both being very interesting.

Then on the 26th of September we held our Annual Fish Fry the club made $437.00 to add to our Admin bank account.

Congratulations our in order for President Michael Curley who was presented with the "Presidents Excellence Award" for 1999 - 2000 from LCI. The District Governor presented a gold and diamond medal to President Michael. Ask him to show it to you. Then President Michael was presented his 2 member key medal.It couldn't get better for Lion Royce Larson. The District Governor presented Lion Royce his 35-member key. I don't think there is a Lion in District 49A who has brought in more Lions than Royce has. Congratulations Royce.

PDG Shirley Littleton presented the Safari Lions pins to Lion Cheryl Hall for bringing in Lion Gwen Watts and Lion Royce Larson for bringing in Lion Dwaine Whitley in May and June. PDG Shirley presented Lion Charlotte with the District 49A 100% Secretary's award.September HappeningsMid-Winter Conference. It's time already to start thinking about Mid-Winter Conference. The conference will be held November 9th, 10th and 11th in Seward (who puts on a great conference) so plan on going you'll have fun. If you wish to go please let Charlotte know before the end of the month as registration goes up after that. We have a sign up sheet.

A Bad Accident
We were so sorry to hear about Jack Doyle's accident and got a card off to him right away. It would boost his spirits if you could send him a card personally as he will not be up an about for a few months.His address is 22433 McManus Drive, Chugiak, AK 99657

50th Anniversary
If you haven't marked you calendar be sure to do so for the 18th of November, our 50th Anniversary party. It will be at the Regal Hotel, 6:30P.M. cocktails, 7:30P.M. dinner. The cost of the buffet dinner will be $35.00. IMPORTANT no tickets will be sold at the door, you have to purchase them before hand.

Alaska State Fair
Several Spenard Lions and Leos worked the State Fair at the Denali Safety Council, Fire Safety Booth and Photo-screening. Thanks Lions you deserve a big hand.

Lunches! Help! Help!
Lion Maxine said that she would be out of town on September 27th and October 18th, 25th & November 1st. We need someone who is willing to fix lunch for one or two of these days. Can you cook?

Great Pumpkin Festival
Lion Lionel DeSouza heads up this committee and we will be circulating a sign up list to help again with clean up and anything else that Lion Lionel assigns us to do.

Dues! Dues! Dues!
If you haven't paid your dues yet and you don't regularly attend the meetings we would appreciate your sending you dues to the Spenard Lions, PO Box 90197, Anchorage AK 99509. Dues are $85.00 and a couple of you have asked if they can make payments. Yes we certainly will work that out with you. You can call Lion Charlotte at 349-1732 and there is an answering machine if she isn't home.

Lions Training
Lion Iwalani Carino our Membership Chairman will be holding a Lions training class on the 30th of September. This will be a very worth while class for new and old Lions. I'm sure Iwalani has some interesting things planned. We will be passing around a sign up sheet so she will know approximately how many Lions will be attending or you can call her at 243-0881.