Activities
September-November 2016
Sat. Sept. 3—Labor Day Parade
Wed. Sept. 14—Regular Meeting
Sat. Sept. 17---Orchard Hill Clean Up
Wed. Sept. 21--Board of Directors Meeting at President’s
House
Sat. Sept.
24—Newtown Health Fair and Pediatric Eye Screening
Wed. Sept. 28--Regular Meeting
Wed. Sept. 28---Youth and Family Services Breakfast
Wed. Oct. 12—Regular Meeting
Wed. Oct 19—Board of Directors Meeting
Sat. Oct 22---Great Pumpkin Race and Mustang Raffle
Sun. Oct 23---Boscobel Mansion Tour and Dinner
Wed. Oct. 26---Regular Meeting –Membership Night
Wed. Nov. 9—Regular Meeting
Wed. Nov. 16—Board of Directors Meeting
Fri. Nov 18—Brookfield Lions Breakfast
President’s Letter September 2016
Hope everyone had a good summer!
In early August, Barb and I went to a concert at the
Oakdale in Wallingford. Before the show we went for dinner at a place called
Knuckleheads which is only about two miles from the theatre.
As you might have guessed from the name, it is a bit of a dive but they
have pretty good food. We did not
get as early of a start as we wanted and when we got to the restaurant there was
a short but slow moving line to get a table.
While waiting in line we struck up a conversation with the
people behind us and they were part of a larger group of 7 for dinner and they
were also heading to the concert.
We eventually got our table for two and to help accommodate their group, when
the table next to us opened up, we pushed them together and we sat with their
group.
We had a nice conversation about concerts we had each been
to and different venues we had attended. After we had been chatting for 15
minutes or so, Dave who was sitting next to me, mentioned that he was involved
in the Lions Club. So we exchanged
details about our clubs and come to find out, he is the President of the Canton,
CT Lions Club. Just goes to show
some of the nicest people you meet are Lions.
We start our 2016-17 year at the Newtown Country Club on
September 14th and hopefully we end the year there without the
restaurant drama of last year. The
Club has also asked if we wanted to hold our Holiday and year-end dinners there
as well which is something we will consider.
For the new year we have members in new positions and
responsibilities and we should all consider if we can take an increased roll in
the club. Look at the committee
lists and maybe join something new.
One new thing is that we will be distributing the Lions’ directory book
electronically only. This will save
the club the printing cost and you will not need to go looking for your book
when you need a phone number. Just
don’t lose your computer and you will have it handy.
Unfortunately our summer was marked by the passing of two
members of our Lion family. Jim
Larin who was a long time member of the club and was instrumental in the
development in our Duck Race passed in June and the recent and unexpected
passing of Denny McLaughlin. Both
are members that made a lasting contribution to our club and are examples for us
all to follow on how to serve.
Denny’s family chose to have donations to our SHEF
initiative sent instead of flowers for the funeral.
In that spirit I will make a personal donation to SHEF and encourage all
our members to consider doing the same.
It is a cause that we support and it could use some additional funding.
I am sending $50 to SHEF and commit to sending another $50 if we can
raise $1,000 from members.
Thanks for your consideration.
Lion Manville
Newtown Lions Officers for 2016-2017
President
Jim Manville
First Vice President
Second Vice President Kevin Corey
Third Vice President
Gary Frey
Secretary Gary Fillian
Administrative Treasurer Ryan
Storms
Project Treasurer Glenn Nanavaty
Tail Twister
Oscar DeLas Santos
Assistant Tail Twister Bob Schmidt
Lion Tamer
Stan Wyslick (for life!)
Cub Lion Tamer
Bruce Walczak
Director for 2 years
Bill Brett
and Bruce Landgrebe
Director for 1 year
Jim Guattery and Dan O’Grady
Toastmaster Steve Bennett
Immediate Past President
Peter
McNulty
“A Trip to the
Doctor”
Brenda and Steve took their six-year-old son to the doctor.
With some hesitation, they explained that although their
little angel appeared to be in good health, they were concerned about his rather
small penis.
After examining the child, the doctor confidently declared,
“Just feed him pancakes. That should solve the problem.”
The next morning when the boy arrived at breakfast, there
was a large stack of warm pancakes in the middle of the table.
“Gee, Mom,'” he exclaimed, “for me?'”
“Just take two,” Brenda replied. “the rest
are for your father.”
Doings of the Pride
Two
recent tragedies have rocked our Lions world.
Our esteemed membership chair, Denny McLaughlin, died suddenly while
vacationing with his family at the beach.
Cheerful, up beat, well organized and a dedicated Lion, he will be
greatly missed. Just last week
Margaret Kovacs, Dick’s beloved wife passed away.
She had struggled so valiantly, determined not to give in to her illness.
Dick proved an exemplary care giver and nurturer doing this troubled
time. Our sympathies and prayers go
to both families who have suffered such sad events.
If
you see a familiar friendly face at the Newtown Hardware Store, you’ll
soon recognize Lion Gary Fillian.
With his vast mechanical knowledge
and abilities he is a natural for the store. .
.After winning the Republican primary,
Dan O’Grady is off and
running for northern district Judge of
Probate. We know from his time in
the Lions that he is steady, reliable and a hard worker. Good luck to you, Dan .
. .Peter and Jane McNulty enjoyed a Fourth of July get away.
They went to their cottage in Hyanis on the Cape for a week.
As they were within walking distance of the beach they did a fair bit of
swimming as well as just enjoying time to unwind. . Bob and Josie Schmidt spent
a week in California visiting their son.
Returning home they spent a lot of time just relaxing on the boat on Lake
Zoar. . . .Bill and Mary Jo Brett have enjoyed two separate weeks on Georgetown
Island, located on a tidal estuary about five miles from Bath. One week they
spent with a daughter’s family and another with a son’s.
. . ..Augie D’Allessandro had a
toe removed at Danbury and then spent 45 days recovering at Bethel Home Care. He
said the physical and occupational therapy was terrific but the food was
terrible. He was glad to get back
to Donna’s cooking. . . .Alan Jacobs has also been having health issues.
Soon he will be operated on to have his parathyroid removed. . As you
read this Jim Ondak and his wife, Andrea, may be in the air.
They are joining old friends for two weeks in Scotland.
I wonder if Jim has his kilt ready. . . .
The Magic Cart
By Lion Paul Arneth
One of the greatest losses in my
life was not being able to play golf with my friends because of MS.
A few months ago, my trainer Penny Cidri, mentioned she had heard of a
new piece of equipment called a Paramobile available at the Candlewood Valley
Golf Club. I rode up to the club
and met with Beth Ford, the general manager of
the course and she invited me to be a guinea pig since I would be the
first one to try the Paramobile.
It is absolutely an amazing piece of equipment invented by Anthony Netto,
a paraplegic from South Africa who now lives in San Diego.
He has created the Stand Up and Play Foundation that distributes the
Paramobiles and trains people to use them. The Paramobile is like a white
wheelchair with three wheels, two in the front and one in the back.
It can go on greens as well as sand traps although golf courses have to
redesign some of the entrances to the sand traps so the edges aren’t too steep.
I transfer from my power chair into the Paramobile which has a steel
platform to stand on. I then sit
down and strap in around my waist
and there are straps to hold legs
in place. Then I press joy stick
and am elevated to a standing position.
The biggest problem
is finding the right position for the main strap and we have discovered that the
lower down it is on my waist, the easier it is to swing.
We went to a clinic sponsored by the club and Anthony Netto was there.
He is a charismatic, funny, compassionate teacher who quickly put me at
ease and soon I was hitting better shots.
It has been a process of trial and error, but last week I went out alone
and played seven holes and got a four on a par three.
It has been great to once again play with my old foursome
of Tom Evagash, Denny McLaughlin and Greg Bruno.
They play the first nine (which requires them to get up very early) and I
meet them on the back nine. I am
very grateful I had the chance to play with Denny ten days before his death.
The
Paramobile costs $22,000 so Beth Ford is running a tournament to raise money to
help pay it off. At most courses,
we pay a cart fee plus the greens fee.
Handicapped golfers pay only the greens fee.
I hope more disabled people
will try the Paramobile because it has made such a change in my life.
I have composed info sheets and taken them to VA clinics at Danbury,
Waterbury and Carmel. Also sent the
sheets to neurologists and physical therapists in the area.
The paramobile is also used for archery and skeet shooting.
Additional information may be found on the Stand Up and Play website.
See you on the course, Paul
The Sermon
A man went to church one day and afterward he stopped to shake the
preacher's hand. He said, “Preacher, I’ll tell you, that was a damned fine
sermon. Damned good!”
The preacher said, “Thank you sir, but I'd rather you
didn't use profanity.'”
The man said, “I was so damned impressed with that sermon I
put five thousand dollars in the
offering plate!”
The preacher said, “No shit?”
Proposal by Kevin Corey
PROPOSAL;
Present a large basket of food to Newtown’s two food pantries around Christmas
time.
HOW TO DO IT;
Ask each member who attends a meeting from September to December to bring just
two items (cans of food, cereal or health items) to each meeting.
Kevin will keep them until December, then present the baskets to the food
pantries. If a member forgets their
two items they can contribute two dollars to the can.
Kevin will send out a reminder before each meeting to the Lions.
NEW Some Thoughts
to Ponder
1.. Is
it good if
a vacuum really
sucks?
2. Why is the
third hand
on the watch
called
the second hand?
3. If
a word is misspelled
in the
dictionary,
how would we ever
know?
4. If Webster wrote
the first dictionary,
where did he find
the words?
5. Why
do we say something is out of whack?
What is a whack?
6. Why
does "slow down" and
"slow up"
mean the same thing?
7. Why
does "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing?
8. Why do "tug" boats push their barges?
9. Why
do we sing"Take me out to the ball game"
when
we are already there?
10. Why
are they called " stands"
when
they are made for sitting?
New Lions in the Pride
Terry Benhardt is and isn’t a new Newtowner.
His wife, Chrstine, a retired teacher, grew up in Newtown and inherited
with her sister a family home on Currituck Road. So after her parents died she
and Terry kept the property and made frequent visits here although they lived in
New Hampshire. Now newly retired
they decided to move back to Newtown .Their nice home came with about 35 acres
and they hay quite a bit of it.
When he isn’t playing farmer boy, Terry enjoys running and bowling and a little
golf. He and Christine also delight in visiting their son, Andrew, and his wife
and granddaughter out west.
Terry made his career first with Bank of Boston in the corporate trust
division. Then he switched careers
and worked for Seven New Hampshire Services.
Here his job involved helping people with difficult financial
situations.. His group helped
needful New Hamphire men and women with their problems, especially heating bills
. Through the years Terry has done a good bit of volunteering, coaching and
helping youth in various other ways.
Becoming a Lion he thinks will help him get involved in the community.
We are sure it will!
Nick Strong
Nick is a proud twenty year man of the U.S. Army,
Joining right out of high school his army life took him to various places
and he held a number of different jobs.
Among the most interesting was editing an army newspaper which went to
troops all over the world. He has a
great empathy for the less fortunate and that is one of the reasons he joined
the Purple Heart Association as well as the Lions.
He really wants to help people.
Currently taking courses at Post in Waterbury, he is especially
interested in management and accounting.
His many army activities would be an asset in those fields.
He met his wife, Denise, a teacher in Bridgeport, in a romantic way.
She and her class sent packages to his division in Afghanistan.
He wrote a nice thank you note.
She wrote a nice letter back
and so it goes! Eventually when he
came home they met, And the rest is
history, including a son, Nick.
With all his experience and ability, he seems as though he will epitomize
the Lions motto, “We Serve”!
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“A Missing Wife”
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