Champaign Lion's Chatter

1. Champaign Lion's Chatter (Click here to go to our website) 17 October 2012 Call to Order – President Ted Gonsiorowski called the meeting to order and led in the Pledge of Allegiance.

2. Invocation - David Hunter - Great God, for all Thy blessings, we thank Thee; for the food which sustains our bodies, and the friends who sustain our spirits. In Thy holy name we pray. Amen. Vittles: Salad and toppings, Spaghetti & Meatballs, Green Beans, Garlic Toast and Carrot Cake.

3. Pat Bryant reported that Jim Smith had passed away this morning, October 17, 2012. She also passed around cards for Bob Sprague, Bob Suter, and Bob Valentine for the death of his wife.

4. It is with deep regret that we report that Lion James Smith passed away in the night of October 16. He had been making very slow progress recovering from his broken hip. Then he fell on Monday and sustained a broken right arm. We will miss him dearly. Visitation will be on Monday 22 October, 9AM-12PM, Service at 12PM, burial in Woodlawn Cemetery.

5. Football Guessing – We were 6th out of 8 clubs, 2nd to last place.

6. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Lion’s Forum, Nov. 9 & 10, Candy Day Oct. 19 and 20. If you can work, call Sam McGrew at 1-608-732-6606 .

7. The minutes of the Oct. 2nd Board Meeting were prepared by Fonda Bowden and read by President Gonsiorowski:

8. Present: President Ted Gonsiorowski, 1st VP Weldon Garrelts, 2nd VP Charlie Osborne, Director Sam McGrew, and Secretary Fonda Bowden. Absent: Treasurer Karl Drake Past President David Lin, and Lion Tamer Floyd “Gordie” Gordon. Members present: Jay Hoeflinger, Rich King and Ed Tichenor. Minutes of September 4, 2012 Board of Directors meeting were approved. Treasurer’s Report – no formal report. Assistant Secretary for Finance Rich King gave a general report of current balances. 2nd VP and Program Chair Charlie Osborne said he has speakers up to October 17. Please give him ideas for program speakers with contact information, topic of presentation and dates the person might be available. Endowment Fund -- The endowment is now at $2580. Time to invest it. Charlie Osborne suggested it be invested in a low-cost, long-term fund. Motion was made by Weldon Garrelts, seconded by Sam McGrew, that Charlie work with Karl Drake to get the endowment investment fund set up. Motion passed. The Board will be kept informed.

9. Used Eyeglass Collection -- An email from Herb Bail reported that he collected another record number 635 pairs of used eyeglasses for the month of September. Membership and Activities – The evening club was discussed. Rich King’s idea was that the Lions ALERT program would partner with the 5-day certificate program of the Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) program. Randy Smith of the Champaign Fire Department is his contact with that group. Focus would be on emergencies and speakers would be brought in to talk about what has gone on across the country in response to disasters. Hope it would be a source of new members. The evening club would be a part of the Champaign Lions Club but would meet once a month. Details need to be worked out regarding attendance, how to make sure lunch members and evening members get to know one another and other things that might come up. Eyeglass Requests – Ed Tichenor had a request for help with a glass eye renovation. He will ask if the procedure is medical or strictly cosmetic. If medical we may consider helping but not if it is strictly cosmetic. Ed also noted that First Call for Help refers requests after they have screened them and determined they need help. Three letters go out. One is an introduction letter, the second letter if for a free eye exam, and the third is for the free glasses. They have 45 days to respond. Of 40 letters sent, 24 were used at a cost of $85 each ($2,040). He asked if the Club has a limit on the number of eyeglasses we provide each year. He was advised the budget has $4,250 allotted for eyeglasses (@$85 = 50 per year).

10. Dates for your Calendar: Candy Day – October 19 & 20. Sam McGrew and Jay Hoeflinger, co-chairs. Picnic – date yet to be decided. District 1E Cabinet meeting/GMT/GLT Summit – 9:30 am to 4:00 pm, October 27 in Paris, members encouraged to attend. WDWS Eyeglass Collection – November 8; (Gordy and Weldon meeting with Mike Hale at WDWS to confirm.) District 1E Convention – December 7-8 in Mattoon. CU Marathon – April 26 & 27, 2013 Tootsie Pop Day – May 10 & 11, 2013, Weldon Garrelts and Omer Benn, co chairs Smile Program: Remember to smile and be happy! Meeting adjourned at 12:55 p.m.

11. For KNOW YOUR LION, David Lin was interviewed by Weldon Garrelts. David was president of the Lions Club two times, a Zone Chair and Melvin Jones Fellow.

12. He was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. David was born at home and, as a result, has no birth certificate.

13. His father was a civil engineer; he passed away 30 years ago after they had moved to Toronto, Canada. His mother is 85 years old and still lives in Torondo. He has 5 sisters who all live in Toronto.

14. Dave spent 2 years at Benedictine University in Lisle, IL. .He transferred to U of I for the last two years of Civil Engineering Degree, but still lacks 3 courses for a degree. He took up dancing instead.

15. He trained and worked with the Fred Astaire Studio in Chicago. He also worked part time with a local school while going to the U of I. With a partner, he built the Regent in 1981 borrowing money at 18% interest. He later bought the business in 1984.

16. He met his wife Ellen in the lobby of the Regent. She was wearing leotards. They have been married for 29 years. They have two sons and a daughter. The oldest son, Geoffrey, is Manager of Panera Bread by the Mall.

17. The younger son, Brandon, is a freshman at U of I majoring in Actuarial science.

18. Their daughter, Anna, 16, is a junior at Central High School. She was a ballet dancer for 12 years.

19. He would like to travel around the country, training dance teachers on how to make money.

20. His hobbies are buying electronic toys, computers, cameras, etc. He has been on 30 cruises to 20 plus countries.

21. He has taught dancing at the Regent for 37 years and plans to teach for 30 more years.

22. Tail twister Tom Yaxley had Weldon Garrelts carry the bucket.

23. The lottery, $10.00, had been won by Weldon Garrelts, who lost it later to the tail twister.

24. Ed Tichenor was fined for being the lowest guesser on Foot Ball Guessing.

25. Jay Hoeflingerwas fined for doing "so well" at guessing.

26. In closing, Tom Yaxley read a really funny story. We all laughed, but I can’t remember what it was…

27. Coming up Oct 24 – Rex Hess – Trip to Brazil Greeter: Pedro Heller Oct 31 – Halloween, Program to be announced Click here osborne@bankchampaign.comto email Charlie Osborne and let him know what you would like to see in a Lions Club program some time.

28. Thank you for watching Publisher David Hunter Editor Frank Duff To email Dave with your comments, click here → hunter4000@comcast.net To go to the our website, click here → http://www.champaignlions.org/