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Lions Ledger
Elizabethtown Lions Club
We Serve
December 2005
Presidents Message
Happy Holidays to your and yours!!! I must admit I love this time of year with all the fun, fellowship and, of course, FOOD. By the time you have received this newsletter we will have enjoyed a great time in Lititz at the Football Banquet and plans will be finalized for the Lion's Family Christmas Party where we have a tremendous event planned. Hope to see you all there on the 13th.
For those of you that have not heard, E-town was the BIG winner at the Region V Rally
on November 10th. The flower Lion Mueller won was most fitting but others walked away with gifts and cash. We also had a fun time!
As I progress through my year serving as your President, I am amazed at all you do, not only for Lions, but for our community. No time is that more evident than the Holiday Season with Lions volunteering in various church, community and service projects. We are a great Club with tremendous individuals and I am truly grateful for what you all do to make the community
a better place to live.
Lion Chris
We need you now!
The Elizabethtown Collectible Commemoratives (sometimes known as "ornaments") have arrived! Lion Tom Trayer is chairing this project this year and he has done a tremendous job thus far. However, if this effort is to be successful that is, be a fund raiser for our Club we must all do some work now. The task is simple sell them! This is the third year our Club has sold these very attractive depictions of landmarks in our community, and it is developing into a very worthwhile fund raiser for us. We got a late start this year not through any fault of Lion Tom so we have only a few weeks to sell these items. The ornaments depict the formal gardens at the Masonic Village, with Grand Lodge Hall in the background. These are two of the most notable sights in our area so most residents will readily recognize them and, hopefully, will want to add this to their collection, or perhaps start their collection this year. (We still have a few of the previous two years' ornaments available, as long as they last.)
These 24 carat gold, on brass, items will again sell for just $10.00 each and they make wonderful gifts. Experience has shown that once people see these items, and are asked to buy one (or more), they usually do. So, we are now asking that every member put forth the effort to make this a successful project. Lion Tom will make the ornaments available at every opportunity but, if you don't see him, call him immediately at 361-9851 to find out how you can get your supply. As the headline above says, We need you now!
Good Job, Lion Chris
On December 1 we enjoyed another terrific Football Banquet with Lions from Columbia and Lititz. Lion President Chris Metzler chaired this activity for our Club this year and did a
fine job, of course. Thanks, Lion Chris nice work!
Programs for December
Tuesday, December 13, 6:15 p.m. at the Fire Hall This will be the nightof our annual Family Christmas Party, one of the very special programs of the entire year. We'll have the usual feast of food, but different entertainment than we have had in recent years. This year we will have the Elizabethtown Area Middle School Jazz Band performing for us, and leading us in singing some songs of the season. Of course, Santa will make an appearance, with gifts for each of the youngsters in attendance that night. There was a full page announcement of this event with last month's newsletter but if you missed that, and still want to attend, please contact Lion Jerry Lorson since he is the chairman of this activity.
Tuesday, December 27 NO MEETING
"Lions Help Line"
Last month we announced a new endeavor within our Club. Lion Bill Earhart recognized the possibility that occasionally a member of our Club may need transportation to get to a Doctor's appointment, pick up a prescription, etc. but find that he/she is unable to drive themselves. That is a situation where another member of our Club can be of service. At our meeting on November 22 Lion Bill passed around a sign-up sheet for those who might be available and willing to provide such transportation. In next month's newsletter, watch for a list of potential drivers, and the time(s) he/she might be available to provide this service. Keep this list handy and, if you ever need a ride, call one of your fellow Lions.
Problems ahead?? (an opinion piece)
We serve. That is our motto, and that is what we do. But, have you ever stopped to think about exactly how we serve? Do we actually go out and DO tasks for other individuals? Do we do the labor required by someone else? No, we don't, do we? The way we serve is by working to earn money, which is then used in a wide variety of ways to help those who are less fortunate than we. So, in reality, the "help equation" is: our work = money earned = helping others. It is money which turns the wheels of service. However, our Club's effectiveness in this middle step of the equation seems to be diminishing. We seem to have fewer fund raisers and/or the ones we do conduct seem to be yielding less proceeds for use in being of service to others. It is obvious that if this trend continues, we will eventually find ourselves in a position where we will not be able to help those in need at least not at the level our Club has maintained for many decades.
So, what can be done? There is no easy and obvious solution to this dilemma, but it can, and must, be solved. What our Club needs is new ideas for potential fund raisers. Many organizations conduct fund raisers, and there is great variety among them, which makes it more difficult to come up with new ideas. So that is our challenge to create a new project which can earn a profit. Ideally, this will be something which can become an annual event, because our needs actually the needs of others are ongoing.
This need is, in my opinion, perhaps the most critical issue facing our Club right now. We can no longer continue to do "the things we've always done." If we do, we will soon be in a situation we don't want to be in. So what ideas do YOU have for solving this problem?
( written by Dale Williams)
Meeting date change
Our first meeting in January will be on an off-night for us. It will be the annual Quad-Club meeting and will be held on Thursday, January 12. More information will be in the next
issue of this newsletter, but mark this change on your calendar now.