November 19, 2020 Virtual Meeting
Have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving
The November 19, 2020 meeting of the Saint Joseph Lions was another virtual meeting. The Covid-19 pandemic has made it necessary to change the way we do business, but we pledge to keep working to provide services to our community. One of the things we are trying to do is partner with other community organizations to work together to help us all through this pandemic. At today's meeting we heard from Lisa Cripps-Downey from the Berrien Community Foundation(BCF) about their activities.
Here are some of the members present at today's meeting.
Lion Dennis Lundgren sets up Zoom so we can have these vrtual meetings.
Lion Prez, Carrie Brunsting, calls the meeting to order.
"My Country Tis of Thee" by the U.S. Navy Sea Chanters.
Lion Tom Gazella leads us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Lion Vern Breuker delivers the blessing.
Lion Tom Bartkus tells us about himself in our Lion's Pride section of the meeting.
Lion Dan Fortenbacher was amazed to learn that Lion Tom B. was a wrestler and wrestling coach.
Lisa Cripps-Downey gave us an excellent preview of the operations of the Berrien County Community Foundation. She said this has been a challenging year because of the pandemic, but our community has stepped forward to help the BCF accomplish their goals.
An overview of the Foundation's 2020 Plans.
Here are some of the scholarships that the BCF manages.
These are some of the donors to the foundation.
The Foundation helped with this year's Census program.
They worked hard to get citizens to respond to the Census and were successful in their efforts even during the pandemic.
Many local youths benefit from the scholarships managed by the BCF.
The Arts play an important role in our communiity and the BCF played an important role in rasing over $200,000 to help support the Arts.
The Saint Joseph Lions partnered with the BCF to pack school supplies for area students.
Cars were lined up to receive these backpacks.
The Saint Joseph Lions also partnered to assist with the Foundation's Care Kits for Seniors.
Lion Ren Baldwin, on behalf of the SJ Lions, congratulated and thanked the Berrien Community Foundation for all they do.
Lion Ed Heiden gave his secretary's report.
Lion Tail Twister Tom B. is headed South for the winter, but got one more fine in the books for a Lion who did not recognized himself as a Lion.
Yes, it was Lion Gordy Schreiber who didn't recognize himself as a Lion. Pay up, Lion Gordy.
Once again Lion Tamer Allen Edlefson challenged us with his trivia questions.
Lion Bob Rolek showed up today. He attended three meetings in a row so he wins his Pot 'o Silver. Good job Lion Bob, don't forget the excise tax.
Lion Ron Griesinger wants to know how much is in this week's Pot 'o Silver and who the winner is.
Lion Vern "virtually" drew the winner/non-winner and it was Lion Micah Schaffer. He was not here today so he is a ... "LOSER".
Does anyone know who this Lion is?
Each year the Saint Joseph Lions place over 1,200 American Flags on the graves of veterans at Riverview Cemetery in St. Joseph, MI. As winter approaches it is necessary to remove these flags from the graves and have them properly disposed of. After today's meetings this group of Lions and some of their wives met at the cemetery to do this task.
