THANK YOU
Thank you to Lion Renee Lahr for the superb meal at our September 1st meeting and to Lions Cathy Rufer and Sue Grangroth for the delicious meal at our September 15th meeting.

MEETINGS
Our first meeting of the month will be on Thursday, October 6th at our meeting place. This will be a dinner meeting.  The meal for this meeting will be a potluck affair which will be at 7:00 P.M.  The business meeting will take place at 7:30 P.M.

Our second meeting will be take place on Thursday, October 20th also at our meeting place.  There will be a Board of Directors meeting at 6:30 P.M.  No member has volunteered to cook for this meeting.  If interested, please notify Lion Steve by the first meeting.  If there is no meal, the meeting will be at 7:00 P.M. (7:30 if there is a meal; please check the October 17th Herald)

ANNOUNCEMENTS
At our May 19th meeting, our club decided to raise our membership dues from $40 to $50 effective immediately.  These fees are to be paid by no later than July 1st.  You can pay them by either by attending one of our two meetings in June or you can mail them to: Howard Lake Lions; P.O. Box 13; Howard Lake, Minnesota 55349.

Our club will be hosting the next zone meeting (after the one in Cokato in September) on Monday, November 28th.  Also, our annual Governor’s Night/Christmas party will be on Thursday, December 1st.  More details on these two events will be forthcoming in future newsletters.

At the last zone meeting in September, Lion Tom Fiecke was awarded a certificate for sponsoring new members.

We donated to the Winsted Karate Club for an ad in the Herald-Journal for their upcoming tournament.

The Howard Lake Lions will once again sponsored a Halloween party at our meeting place on Saturday, October 29th from 3:00 until 5:00 P.M.  Any help from the membership would be greatly appreciated that day.

October 29th has also been designated as Thanksgiving for Vision Day sponsored by the Lions Eye Bank.

There is a new recipient of the “Crow Award.”  At the September 15th meeting, Lion Steve Weber, the current recipient, presented the award to Lion Layle Dawa.  She received this award because she volunteered to help cook at the July 21st meeting but forgot all about it that night.

YOUTH CENTER NEWS
The new school year is off to a big start which meant reopening the youth center in September.  We took a break in August because the heat was exhausting!   Our Saturday nights have been well attended.  We even had entire families come up.  We do miss the VCR option for our center because we like to rent movies or sometimes students bring a movie to watch.  We appreciate the VCR donation however I am sorry to report that it did not work.  If anyone has a VCR that does work and would like to donate it to the club/youth center, we would be happy to receive it..  A big “Thank You” to the HL Lions for their generosity in the recent months, the matching dollars, has been put to good use.  Thank you to Lion Steve Weber for the recent donation of furniture.  Thank you also to Lion Terry Thorson for fixing the vacuum cleaner.  Our back-to-school events have been very successful and we are gearing up for some “spooky fun-filled” events in the month of October.

SIGHT NIGHT
The 3rd Annual Sight Night is under way.  Plastic pumpkins have been placed out in the community businesses to make folks aware that the Lions are collecting glasses.  Notices will be going out in the local papers and notes are being sent home with students in school reminding them to collect glasses and bring them to drop-off sites or to the Halloween party on October 29th.  A prize will be given to the guest who brings the most glasses in that night.  Hopefully this will encourage another outreach in our community that sparks human interest and the Lionism spirit that we are all fond of.

HALLOWEEN PARTY
Yes, it is almost that time again for our club to open our doors to the “Little Spooks” of our community.  Lion volunteers always have a great time playing games with our visitors and giving out little prizes and treats.  We will once again have a costume contest trimmed with surprises and lots of fun.  If you have some time to spare, we are looking for helpers to run the game, feed the crowd, or greet the guests as they arrive.  We will also need help decorating, setting up, cleaning, and putting things away.  Please contact Lion Cathy Jo Rufer at 763-658-7870 or e-mail her at honeylady50@msn.com if you would like to be a part of this great event.

NEW CLUB SHIRTS
Our club is still taking orders for our new HL Lions club shirts.  The shirts are red with white lettering.  This time, the shirts are also available in women’s style along with the men’s.  The cost of the shirts are as follows: S –XL--$16; 2XL--$18; 3XL--$21.  If you are interested in ordering one, please put your name and size on a slip of paper in an envelope along with a check for the cost of shirt to: Lion Steve Weber; P.O. Box 22; Howard Lake, MN 55349.  Please make your check payable to C & C Embroidery.

BIRTHDAYS
Happy birthday to the following Howard Lake Lion members who will be celebrating a birthday
in October:  Elwood Engel (8); Jason Mapes (14); Mardell Lemke (18); Susan Grangroth (20); Chris Bickmann (23).