Thanks to Lion LaNette Thorson on the excellent meal at our April 3rd meeting.  Also, thanks to Lions Darrell and Nancy Main on the superb meal at our April 17th meeting.

Thanks to the following H.L. Lions who helped cleaned up the ditches along Highway 12 west of Howard Lake on April 12th: Bernie Rohling, LeRoy Bren, Vern Lemke, Tim Oberpriller, Denise Oberpriller, Dan Oestreich, Don Oestreich, and Harvey Krohn.  Also, helping was Kelly Oberpriller, daughter of Lions Tim and Denise.

A big thank you to Lion Hazel Oberpriller and her helpers for the excellent job at our annual pancake breakfast held on April 13th at the Howard Lake Legion.

DONATIONS
Our club made a donation to the local chapter of the Boys Scouts and also to Camp Friendship.

CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to Lions Darren and Debbie McALpine on being installed as new members into the Howard Lake Lions.  The installation took place at our April 3rd meeting with PDG Lion Darrell Main performing the installation.  Lion Darren’s sponsor was Lion Denny Massey.  Lion Debbie’s sponsor was Lion Joyce Thorson.

EASTER EGG HUNT
Despite the cold and damp weather, our annual Easter Egg Hunt at Memorial Park on April 19th went well.  The attendance was down due to the weather but those that attended all had a good time. The winners of the drawings were as follows:

Boy’s Bike – Christopher Lumm  Girl’s Bike – Kimberly Moy
Trike (for ages 0 –3) – Allan Jenner Easter Bunny (Ages 0 – 3) – Blake Peterson
           Zayne Brown   Boy’s Easter Basket – Matthew Raner Girl’s Easter Basket – Hannah Koller
     Blake Huws        Brandy Jenner

The JellyBean Count Contest winner was Melissa Runquist.  The actual number of jellybeans in the jar was 243 and Melissa’s guess was the closest with 250.  Her prize was the jar of jellybeans plus $5.
A big thank you to our chairman, Lion Duane Hass (and his wife, Trina-our Easter Bunny), on doing a super job of organizing and running the event.  Lion Duane would like to thank the members of the H.L. Lions who helped stuff eggs on the 17th and help out with the events on the 19th.  Without this help, the Easter Egg Hunt would not be as successful.  They are as follows: Karen Hill, Renee Lahr, LaNette Thorson, Terry Thorson, Hazel Oberpriller, Tom Sullivan, Catherine Stenberg, Dean Stenberg, Sam Gruenhagen, Mike Main, Harvey Krohn, Joyce Thorson, Denny Massey, Vern Lemke, Mardell Lemke, Nancy Main, Darrell Main, Dan Judd, Tom Fiecke, Bernie Rohling, Verdell Stenberg, Paul Schmitz, Tim Oberpriller, and Steve Weber.  Also helping were former H.L. Lion Scott Werner and an unidentified member of the Cokato Lions.

MEETINGS
Our next meeting will be on Thursday, May 1st at our regular meeting place. The SLAM students from HLWW High School will be cooking and serving at this meeting.  The meal will be at 7:00 P.M. with the business meeting at 7:30 P.M.

Our second meeting will be on Thursday, May 15th at our regular meeting place.  There will be a Board of Directors meeting at 6:30 P.M.  No H.L. Lion has volunteered to cook at this meeting.  If interested, please let Lion Steve at the May 1st meeting.  If there is no meal, the business meeting will take place at 7:00 P.M. (if there is a meal, the meeting will be at 7:30).

The next GND meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 7th at 7:00 P.M. at the fire hall.  Any interested members are strongly encouraged to attend.

The last zone meeting of the year will take place on Monday, April 28th at the Community Center in Montrose.  The social hour begins at 6:30 P.M. with the meal at 7:00 P.M.  The meeting will take place after that.  At this meeting, a new zone chairman will be elected. Remember that the club will pay for your meal.  However, if you sign up and do not attend, you must reimburse the club for the meal.

GOLF TOURNAMENT NEWS
Our Lions club will be holding the 2nd Annual Scramble 4-Player Golf Tournament on Saturday, July 12th at The Greens in Howard Lake.  The cost of the tournament will remain the same as last year ($40 per player/$160 per team).  There will be a pork shop feed served by our Lions club following the tournament.  More details will be in next month’s newsletter.  The committee for this tournament is as follows: Lions Steve Weber (chair), Duane Hass, Tom Fiecke, Dan Judd, Harvey Krohn, and Denny Massey.  Our next committee meeting will take place immediately following our regular business meeting on May 1st.

OTHER CLUB NEWS & EVENTS
Our Lions club will be holding a meat raffle every Saturday from 2:00 – 4:00 P.M. at the liquor store in HL.  Lion Tim Oberpriller will be the chairperson for this fundraiser.  Lion Sam Gruenhagen advised that if the raffle is going to work, it must be done every week.  Also, thirty tickets must be sold before you can spin the wheel.  This fundraiser is a volunteer position.  If you have any free time on a Saturday afternoon, please come and help.

The Spring School of Instruction will take place on Wednesday, May 14th at STMA High School at 6:30 P.M.  All new officers and any other interested Lion members are strongly encouraged to attend.
The Pre-Good Neighbor Days Steak Fry will take place at the Fire Barn in Howard Lake on Saturday, May 17th from 5:00 to 8:00 P.M.  This event will be co-sponsored by our Lions Club and the Howard Lake Fire Dept.  Any help on that day will be greatly appreciated.

SLATE OF OFFICERS
Our club voted on the following slate of officers for 2003-04 at our April 17th meeting.

PRESIDENT – Darrell Main
1ST VICE-PRESIDENT – Catherine Stenberg
2ND VICE-PRESIDENT – Duane Hass
3RD VICE-PRESIDENT—Cathy Rufer
SECRETARY – LaNette Thorson & Terry Thorson (to be elected by ballot)
TREASURER – Joyce Thorson
DIRECTORS – Denny Massey, Harvey Krohn, Karen Hill, Mardell Lemke
MEMBERSHIP – Cathy Rufer, Steve Weber, Dean Stenberg
GAMBLING – Sam Gruenhagen (chair), Mike Main, Duane Hass, Dan Judd
TAIL-TWISTER – Vern Lemke
LION TAMERS – Melmer & Renee Lahr
PUBLICITY – Steve Weber
PAST PRESIDENT – Tom Fiecke
 
Results of the voting that night was that all officers were approved except the office of Secretary.
The Secretary’s position was voted on separately by the club.  The winner of the election was the incumbent, Lion LaNette Thorson (Lion Terry’s campaign speech led to his demise).

Congratulations to these new officers for 2003-04.

5M-7 GRAM UPDATE
The next and last workday for the 5M-7 Gram has been set for Monday, May 5th at the Howard Lake Legion at 6:30 P.M.  If you noticed the word “last” next to workday, you are right.  Due to financial problems with the 5M-7 Gram, this will be the last issue of the Gram of the current Lions’ year.

YOUTH CENTER NEWS
The Youth Center is missing two 9 X 13 cake pans.  If you or know someone who might have them, please return them ASAP (no questions asked).

BIRTHDAYS
Happy birthday to the following Howard Lake Lion members who will be celebrating a birthday in May: Charles Engels (12); Hazel Oberpriller (14); Paul Schmitz (16); Curt Levang (17); and Renee Lahr (23).