Program for the Feb. 1st meeting is a speaker from JDRF.
Feb. 15th meeting is Mystery Night,
A return of a club tradition to hold an event where the members and guests board a bus for a surprise destination. Buses will load at Fong’s at 6:15 and return at 9:30. There will be a buffet dinner and a cash bar. The price will be $20.00 for dinner, tax and gratuity. Thanks to Lions Jim Algeo and Kevin Turner for planning the event. There is still time to sign up.
The first meeting of the New Year, on Wednesday, Jan. 4th, featured Sue Gethin, CEO for Tree Trust. Sue described the work of Tree Trust which is a Conservation Corps that provides a structured work experience for at risk young people. Types of projects include planting trees, cleaning park areas, building retaining walls and removing Buckthorn. Sue thanked the club for our donations every year for the past 9 years and offered to pair with us to work with the city of Bloomington on a project as part of International’s “Plant a Million Trees” program this year.
Wednesday, Jan. 18th, joint meeting with Eden Prairie club, was the usual high-energy meeting! Attendance numbers: Bloomington—30; Eden Prairie—23. “Let’s Go Fishing” speakers, Joe Holm and Mike Frisch, gave an interesting presentation about their 501(c)3 organization which offers fishing outings at no charge to seniors, youth and others throughout MN in 28 chapters. They are promoting a new Hennepin County chapter and are expanding their youth and intergenerational emphasis. For a $20 sponsorship, a kid gets a rod, reel, tackle, materials, classes and fishing experiences.
Bloomington Lions Club Activities
Out of Sight Club
Out of Sight Club meeting is Monday, February 13th, at Fong’s. Chair Lion Allen Vevang says the night will be a special one because the members’ favorite entertainer, Betty Rydell, will be there.
Sight and Hearing
Chair Lion Mike Gallagher reports that we collected 647 pair of eyeglasses in December and another 500 are ready for sorting so far in January. Thanks to Lions Dick Barthel and Tom Cady for picking up from sites. The Eye Glasses Collection Project at Normandale Community College by Student Senate President, Nick Schneider, is underway.
Polar Plunge for Special Olympics
Lion Mike Larsen has registered Bloomington Lions for the Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics at Lake Calhoun on March 3rd. Go to web site plungemn.org to sign up to jump or to donate. Lion Mike has his usual energetic commitment as he collects pledges for his jump. He encourages members to help the worthy cause of Special Olympics by plunging (if you can), donating, or being there! If you want to work, Lake Calhoun event is looking for volunteers to help grill 3,000 brats. The Polar Bear Plunge is presented by Minnesota law enforcement to support Special Olympics. It consists of 15 different events where individuals jump into frigid Minnesota waters during the coldest months of the year, January through March, 2012 will be the 15th year of the Polar Bear Plunge in Minnesota. The first one took place at Como Lake in 1998; its 65 participants raised $20,000. By 2011, the numbers had increased to over 11,000 participants raising over $2.2 million for Special Olympics MN.
President’s Corner
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the effort Lion Mike Larsen puts into our Club and our community. Here is a list of some of the things Lion Mike does or has done.
· Chairs the Mid Winter Convention Committee
· Co-chairs the Corn Feed with Lion Kevin Turner
· Started a Polar Plunge benefiting Special Olympics
· On the Membership Committee
· Developed a Facebook page for our Club
· Participates is almost every event we have
· Is our current Second Vice President
I have surely missed a few things, but this gives you an idea of how involved Lion Mike is in our Club. The next time you see Lion Mike, let him know his efforts are appreciated.
Lion President Dick Keegan
Lions Briefs
High five to the five Lions who were the top ticket-sellers for the 52 Club. These Lions sold one-third of all the tickets: Lions Brandy Pillar, Mike Gallagher, Ed Fong, George Pinc and Dave Weisgurt.
Lion Shawn Enter received a 2011 Lions 5M Hearing Research Fellow Award at a Lions meeting with his previous club in Nicollet on Dec 19th. Lion Shawn received the award from 5M2 District Governor Lion Sue Bowman. This honor was made possible by a Nicollet Lions Club donation of $1000. to the 5M Hearing Foundation. Lion Shawn says the award came with a really cool plaque and he is glad to be a part of this great organization.
Mid Winter Convention Report
The 5M-5 Mid Winter Business Session held on Saturday, Jan. 7th, can be described as a marathon of reports and approvals. Thanks to our delegates who participated in the session lasting two-and-one-half hours! Lions Dick Barthel, David Coates, Carol Hengel, Art Jensen, Bill Kalina and Mike Larsen stayed awake for the action—well, most of the time.
Following are the highlights of the business conducted and reports given.
Election results for 2012-13: (Candidates were unopposed, but written ballots were still necessary).
District Governor: Lion David Reach
First Vice District Governor: Lion Sonjia Wagner
Second Vice District Governor: Lion Diane Nokk
District Projects:
Can Do Canines: Lion Manny Camilon reporting.
Cost of raising and training a dog is $22,000. A club can name a dog for $3,000.
Minnesota Lions Diabetes Foundation: PDG Lion Tom Shinnick reporting. $80,000. for research. MD5 has pledged $300,000. to equip the imaging lab at the Schultz Center at U of M. Have given $51,000. so far on the 3-year pledge.
Minnesota Lions Vision Foundation: Lion Kevin Walsh reporting. We are halfway there on the $3 million pledge to the new Children’s Eye Clinic. Big news is that a recycling and distribution center for eye glasses has been opened in Sauk Rapids, so we no longer have to send glasses to Wisconsin. We contributed $10,000. to the center. Other grants: $57,000. for split lamp for corneas; $23,000. for a new spectrum microscope; $15,000. for research projects. Watch for a program on the Discovery Channel this Spring.
Special Olympics: Lion Dave Reach reporting. There will be 3 Polar Plunges in Hennepin County in February and March to benefit Special Olympics— Maple Grove, Lake Calhoun and Eden Prairie. Lions can offer to just observe or help with grilling 3,000 brats at the Lake Calhoun event.
Project New Hope: PDG Lion Bernie Braegelmann reporting. Mission of the program is to provide vets and their families with education and training when they return from service. Retreats are held in McGregor 3 or 4 times a year. They need names of vets who want to attend.
LEOS: Lion Bill Moore reporting. Presently 5 Leos clubs in the district. There are 57 high schools that could have one. Hamel and Eden Prairie are forming clubs.
Hall of Fame Delegates voted approval of the nomination of Lion Bob Lieb to the Hall of Fame. Lion Bob is a past district governor and has been a district committee chair for many years. Nominator Lion Ross Thorfinson stated that Lion Bob was the moving force who did the background work and was responsible for two International Conventions being held in Minneapolis in 1993 and 2009.
District Update: District Governor Lion Jan Cariveau reporting. As of this month, 1516 Lions in 5m5. 24 have died this year. We are down 48 members from last year.
International Director Comments Lion Melvin Chambers, International Director from Saskatchewan, Canada, gave information about some of the procedural changes made at the last International Convention. The term Former President instead of Past President will be used since in some cultures past means deceased. On-line will become the main way of decimating information by Lions International in the future. Director Melvin is now attending seminars for International Directors on-line. It is less costly as well as more efficient. International has adopted a policy of a 90-day suspension for clubs who owe money for over 3 months. Director Melvin acknowledged the airlines for promoting Lionism at Christmas time by projecting Lions in action on their screens and giving a phone number to contact.
The Saturday evening Banquet featured presentation of the Every Day Hero Awards. Congratulations to Lion Art Jensen for receiving the Bloomington Lions Club Award. Lion Bob Carling from Eden Prairie received the John Lutter Memorial Award for his many years of service. Lion Bob attended an amazing 20 International Conventions. He ended his acceptance with a trademark sing-along. Members from Bloomington at the banquet included Lion Art and his daughter, Linda, and Lions Bill Kalina, Paul Huo, Wade Grantham, and Carol Hengel.
