July 26 2010 work night refreshments
On July 26 the Altoona Lions had the 3rd work night to finish making Spin Art picture frames for the State Fair and for other events. 42 people showed up, again a teriffic turnout. The photo shows many of the ladies that brought the many great things to eat, and have done so at each of the work nights for several years. Note that Earl Freel did not cook anything...he is just borrowing a chair to visit. Each work night we have burgers and brats, plus multiple drinks and lots of salads and deserts. Just wonderful eating. Thanks so much to all that have contributed over the years.

July 26 2010 New Member Michelle Bonner
Lion Dennis Crabtree is shown swearing in new Lion Michelle Bonner. Also shown are her sponsor Lance Hudson, and President Bill Pollard. Welcome Michelle.

July 25 2010 Nolin 10 Year Award
Lions Secretary presented a 10 year membership pin to Jerry Nolin. Note that Jerry was previously a Lions member, but moved for several years. So he has been a Lion for many more than 10 years.

July 26 2010 Big Birthday With Tiny Cake
Our chief Chef, Jerry Harding, celebrated his 83rd birthday on the work night. We gave him a huge cake with one candle.

July 26 2010 Awards for Recruiting New Members
Four Altoona Lions, Jerry Carr, Roger Mahnke, Bob Aalbers, and Jay Rosenberger were presented pins for each recruiting 2 new Lion members. Also shown are Lion president Bill Pollard (right) and Secretary Linda Crabtree (left). Congratulations to all four. Our club is in a growth spurt and we have lots of new members in the past 3 years.

July 12 2010 Work Night at Townsends
We had a great turnout of 41 people at the 2nd work night. We made lots of cards for Spin Art and had great food. There was a short business meeting afterwards. As the photo shows, the group took most of Townsends yard.

Jul 12 2010 State Award Presented to Dennis Crabtree
Lion Dennis Crabtree was awarded the Ralph A. Whitten Service Award at the Iowa Lions State Convention in Des Moines, June 5, 2010. The award is given to honor Lions who have demonstrated exemplary service and dedication to ideals of Lionism, and is named in honor of Past Lion International Director, Ralph A. Whitten. Altoona Lions President Bob Aalbers nominated Dennis for the award. Only one of these awards is given each year in Iowa.

Please give Dennis your congratulations for this great honor.

July 12 2010 Awards
Lions Secretary Linda Crabtree and President Bill Pollard (left) presented membership awards to Lions Jim Hurley 20 years, Marion Vande Wall 40 years, Jeff Nolin 10 years.

July 12 2010 Der Gluemeister
One of the important jobs in making the Spin Art frames is adding the glue to the magic Lions Spin Art card machine. Larry Lourens is shown adding the glue. The machine then places a small strip of glue to the card backs. The backs with glue are then sent down the line on the belt where Lion members add the card front to the back, and the card frame is finished.

June 21 2010 Work Night
On June 21 the Altoona Lions had a work night to make card frames for Spin Art for the State Fair and for Prairie Meadows. The event was again at Townsends garage and yard. The photo shows the card line designed and built by the Altoona Lions and tweaked over the years. Three people at the head of the line feed card stock with a glue strip on the cards. The people on the line then pick the card backs off the line and put a front on them to make a complete spinart picture frame.

June 21 Work Night
This photo shows the head of the line, where the card backs are fed and the glue applied to the cards. One person at the head of the line adds glue to the machine, a second person fluffs the paper to make sure it feeds well, and a third person feeds the paper so that the pieces with glue can be sent down the line. The feeding process is quite demanding. Again, all are custom Altoona Lions invention.

June 21 Work Night
After all the work to make new Spin Art card frames, the workers enjoyed burgers, hotdogs, many great deserts, and drinks. And of course good conversation.

June 21 Work Night
This is a second photo of the workers enjoying food and conversation.

July 21 Work Night
All great meals need a great cook (or several). This photo shows the cooks Jerry Harding, chief cook, Dick Green, and Don Townsend relaxing after all the cooking is done. Don and Darlene Townsend have kindly let the Lions use their garage and yard for many years to build the cards.

July 21 2010 Installation of New Officers
After the card making, eating, and business meeting, Lion Dennis Crabtree conducted the installation of the new officers for the next year that starts July 1. The new officers from left to right are: Bob Aalbers, past President, Bill Pollard, new President, Jen Book, 2nd VP, Dick Green, Lion Tamer, Roger Mahnke, Treasurer, Linda Crabtree Secretary, Doug White, 2 YR Director Jay Rosenberger,1 YR Director, Duane Auten, TailTwister, Dennis Crabtree, 1st VP. Absent were Dan Janssen, 1 YR Director and Steve Moyna, 2 YR Director.

May 10 2010 Meeting; Presentation by Center on Sustainable Communities
At the May 10 meeting, the presenters were Julie Fish and Leslie Berkess. They discussed information from the Iowa Center on Sustainable Communities (COSC). The COSC provides plannning and information assistance to individuals, groups, and communities on "green" techniques for building new homes or remodelling homes. The information they presented and much more can be seen at www.icosc.com. They discussed many types of non-standard materials and approaches that can both lower the cost of a home and make the home more in line with self sustaining (green) principles.

May 10 Meeting; Dennis Crabtree presenting to new members
At the end of the May 10 2010 meeting, Lion Dennis Crabtree gave an overview presentation on Lionism and the many things involved with being a Lion. This presentation was offered by Dennis for the many new members so that they could get an understanding of the Lions history, procedures, and the Altoona Lions specifics. Great job Dennis.

SEP SCIP Day May 7
The annual SCIP Day for Southeast Polk Seniors was May 7, 2010. About 350 students worked on community service projects in the morning and then were treated to a lunch by area Lions clubs. The picture shows a packed shelter house at Thomas Mitchell Park. The Lions cooked burgers and hotdogs,and had other food items (drinks, chips, cookies, etc) for the seniors and SEP staff. About 12 Lions put on the lunch, 8 from Altoona and 4 from Pleasant Hill. The meal cost about $750...$100 from Mitchellville Lions, and the rest split betwen Altoona and Pleasant Hill Lions. Overall a great event to help start young folks in the community service spirit.

SCIP Day photo
Lions cooking burgers and dogs for SCIP day.

Cancer Society Relay for Life, Spin Art at SEP May 1 2010
On May 1 the American Cancer Society hosted a Relay for Life at the Southeast Polk track. The Altoona Lions ran the Spin Art booth for the many kids present. There were folks running/walking the track for about 9 hours, along with a silent auction and other attractions for participants.

Also, on May 15 the Lions ran the Spin Art booth for the Asian Festival at the Iowa Capitol.

Lots of great activities in the area, and the Lions are a great helping spirit for the community.

Apr 26 meeting, Spin Art Price discussion
At the April 26 meeting, we had multiple business decisions to discuss. The most important one was whether to change the State Fair price of the Spin Art cards. There were valid opinions stated for no change, for a somewhat higher price, and for a much higher price. At the end of the discussion, we voted to change the price to $1.50 per card.

Many other business items were discussed.

There were 24 Lions at the meeting. This picture and the following 2 pictures were taken just because they show nice people having fun while doing Club business.

April 26 meeting photo
Just another nice photo.

April 26 one more photo

April 26 2010 meeting: Duane Auten tries to Tame Lions
He tried, but his attempt to fine anyone that did not find a spelling error on the treasurer's report was thwarted by his wife Doni's line "how would you know a spelling error". She got the "line of the night" award.

We do have fun at the meetings, even when there is business to conduct.

April 12, 2010 meeting, presentation by Altoona Chamber
At the Altoona Lions April 12, 2010 meeting at HyVee, Adam Kline, 2010 President of the Altoona Chamber of Commerce, was the guest speaker (see photo to the left). Adam talked about the Chamber activities and projects. They sponsor the Taste of Altoona event each year. They are working with many other organizations to start up the AltoonaPalooza event scheduled for Aug 28. This is an attempt to start again a city wide celebration, much like the Altoona Baloona Fest was in the past.

The Chamber has informal noon meetings on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month, at a varying restaurant. There is a speaker at each, and since the Lions are a Chamber member, any Lions member can attend these meetings. The Chamber sends out the Friday Flash, which Roger Mahnke then forwards to each Lion member. The Altoona Chamber is a member of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, so is joined with about 4000 other businesses. And any Lion can also attend any of these meetings if desired. A link to the Altoona Chamber of Commerce web site can be found in the LINKS tab on this web site.

Veddar's Receive Award
At the April 12 and April 26 meetings Lions meeting, Maryann and John Veddar were presented with a awards for their help in distribution of the eye tissues, as part of the EyeSight program. Other Lions received a similar award last winter when Veddars were in the "south".

April 9 Soup and Supper
The picture to the right shows the food line serving the great food to visitors. The food included a choice of Potato soup or Chili, Toasted Cheese sandwich, relish, and dozens of deserts. Great food.

April 9 Soup Supper
The photo to the right shows one of the tables at the Altoona Fire Station where the Soup and Sandwich supper was held to raise funds for Dollars for Scholars.

This picture was taken early in the evening. Later, all the tables in the Station were full of guests.

The Lions also had Spin Art at the Station for the kids to have fun.

Mar 8, 2010 Presentation on Neil Smith Wild Life Refuge
The March 8, 2010 meeting of the Altoona Lions Club was held at the HyVee conference room, preceded by a buy your own meal. The guest speaker was Ranger Al Murray representing the Neil Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Prairie City. The Refuge, visitor’s center, and animal care are under the US Fish & Wildlife Service. Mr. Murray, shown in the photo, gave a very interesting presentation about the Refuge and the various programs it runs. There were about 25 members present.

Mar 8 2010 Award to Lion Bob Aalbers
The photo shows Lions Secretary Linda Crabtree presenting current President Bob Aalbers with an award for recruiting three new Lions members.

The officers for the next year, which starts July 1, were announced. The new officers will be as follows:

President Bill Pollard
1ST VP Dennis Crabtree
2nd VP Jen Book
Secretary Linda Crabtree
Treasurer Roger Mahnke
Tail Twister Duane Auten
Lion Tamer Dick Green
1 Yr Directors Jerry Carr, Eugene Gardner
2 Yr Director Doug White, Steve Moyna

Feb 22 Meeting; Bruce Mason Speaker
Well the snow has caused cancellation of many central Iowa events this winter, including the last 2 Lions meetings. We finally got to meet on Feb 22, with 22 Lions in attendance. Bruce Mason, Director of the Altoona Campus Facility was the guest speaker. Before he talked about the Campus, he talked about his “night job”. He is Assistant Director for managing the women’s basketball officials for several college conferences including the Big 10, Big 12, Missouri Valley, Horizon, Summit, and others. He is responsible for all things that have to do with officials, including hiring, scheduling, reviewing complaints, etc. It was a very interesting discussion with many questions. I think we could have talked for a couple hours on this subject, since we are all such great referee critics, but the main subject was the Campus.

Bruce is Director of the Altoona Campus Facility. It has an annual budget of $3.3 million, employs about 250 staff, and has about 8100 members. The Campus offers many programs for all age groups. Bruce discussed both the current offerings and some of the short and long range plans. One of the possible future new projects is an elevated track, but that is not firm yet. The Campus has a nice brochure that describes the various programs, and also a web site at www.altoonacampus.com.

The photo shows Bruce during his presentation.

Feb 22 2010 Our Lions Flag; and a Great Poem
At the Feb 22 2010 Altoona Lions meeting, Secretary Linda Crabtree read a letter from the Past Lions International Director congratulating our Lions Club for our club membership retention and additions during 2009. During that year we had 11 new Lions members. Hooray…we are so so happy to have all of the new members to join our quest in service to our Altoona and Southeast Polk community and beyond.

The photo shows our Altoona Lions Flag. There are two new patches on the flag, on the upper left and lower right. Both are for achieving membership goals.

On a different subject, as all of you know, one of the major goals of the Lions everywhere is to enhance eyesight, in many ways. One way that each of us individually can help others with eyesight issues is to become an organ donor, and thus offer the possibility that your eyes could possibly be used after you pass away for someone with eyesight problems.

Lion Margaret Gowin found the following beautiful poem that describes that joy one can gain from offering such a gift to others. Please read this poem a couple times. It is so great. If you are not now an organ donor, maybe this poem might cause you to reconsider.

A Gift, by Mrs. Katherine Johns

I leave to one- I know not who
The right to see and live anew.
I will not need the sight I give
For I will have another place to live.

I cannot leave a thought, a dream-
Only the chance to see a beam
Of light that touches each new day
And a chance to find “a way”.

I cannot help, or touch a hand
Or point to wonders of this land.
I only leave a chance to see
Because I gave a part of me.

Know not the donor – nor the name –
It makes no difference whence it came
Just us it well for all mankind,
For now you see, who once was blind.

And I shall watch from where I live
To see you use the gift I give
To fight for truth, deny the lies –
For no one really dies who gives his eyes

Jan 11 2010 Meeting With Dist Governor
On Jan. 11, 2010, the Altoona Lions hosted the Lions District Governor, Jerry Roland and his wife Michelle. Also present were Steve Halstead, District Foundation, Terry Dean, Zone Chair Director, and Mary Halstead, LCIF, and Gary Fry, State Lions Secretary and Past International Director. Our guests included members of the Runnells, Mitchellville, and Pleasant Hill Lions Clubs. We had a dinner of sandwiches and soup. Then Governor Roland discussed the status of the district, membership considerations and retention considerations. He also thanked all the people that were involved with driving the eye tissues to Iowa City.

He mentioned also that the Lions International club is the only worldwide organization that has been allowed to form clubs in China, which is to a great extent because of the work of 2nd International VP Dr. Tam.

The three photos show the Lions that were present.

Jan 11 Meeting Photo
This Photo is also from the Jan 11 meeting.

Not related to the meeting on Jan 11, Lion Don Townsend mentioned that he and Darlene have friends in England that visited them in Iowa, and they met several of the Lions members while they were here. Don said that they regularly view this web site and keep track of what our Altoona Lions are doing.

So when you are at a Lions meeting, better behave, because you are being watched all around the world.

Pretty neat stuff.

Jan 11 Meeting Photo
Another photo from the Jan 11 meeting.

Lions Christmas Dinner 2009
The Altoona Lions enjoyed a very nice, fun, and relaxing Christmas dinner at the Altoona Campus on December 14, 2009. There were about 42 people in attendance, smaller than usual due to the extremely cold weather. Good old Iowa. The photo shows the Lions enjoying the wonderful meal, ans also shows the serving line to the left side.

Christmas Dinner Entertainment
The entertainbment for the evening was provided by Julie Kay Moss jkmoss@ecity.net. She sang and played many beautiful Christmas songs in her Acoustic Country Gospel Music style. I think all would agree that she was one of the best entertainers we have had for our Christmas dinners.

Drawings For Prizes
There were several winers of a drawing for prizes.

The one gift basket was donated by Bill Pollard. He had won this at
the District Convention back in November.

Several other gifts that were handed out were donated by Barb and Bill Mc
Grean.

The photo shows Joan Nolin with the prize she won.

We had a Santa family that handed Roger a $100 check toward our vision
testing and helping those in need of glasses. This couple had also
given us a $100 check a few moons back. They want to remain anonymous.

As always, everyone in attendance brought food to be donated to the Altoona Food Bank.

Drawing Winner Xmas 2009
Sally Duer was one of the drawing winners.

Drawing Winner Xmas 2009
Joyce Lourens was also a drawing winner.

Drawing winner Xmas 2009
Linda Crabtree was a winner.

Drawing Winner Xmas 2009
And Bob Stuart was a drawing winner.

Last Drawing Winner Xmas 2009
Millie McDowall won a beautiful hand made wooden car, made by Bill McGrean. What a great craftsman he is.

Millie has decided to donate the car to next year's SEP Dollars for Scholars auction.

Millie got the idea from Jerry and Joan Nolin. They won a similar car at last year's Lions Xmas drawing and they donated it to the Dollars for Scholars auction. It sold for $100.

Lions Win Growth Award
The Altoona Lions have had many wonderful new members join our Club in the past year. As a result, the Altoona Lions Club was presented with an award by the national Lions for meeting the membership recruiting goals of the Year-Round Growth program. Secretary Linda Crabtree is shown presenting the award to 2008-2009 Lions President Barb McGrean.

Where Is The Missing Lion???
One of the age-old customs of the Lions Clubs is that the Lion Tamer (Duane Auten for this year) carries a Gold Lion Bank to collect "fines" for whatever silly penalty they think of. And another custom is for Lions members to try to steal the Gold Lion Bank.

At the 2009 Christmas party, Duane left the Gold Lion in it's green bag on his seat when he went to pick up his food. And of course the green bag disappeared for most of the evening, until it was presented as a gift to our singing guest. Of course this drew a great laugh from everyone.

Duane The Ornery
Of course Duane was setting us up. He left the bag in his chair, but it had a rock in it and not the Gold Lion Bank. I think we have the right guy for tail Twister.

Lion Gordon Gill on Flight to DC
At the Nov 9 Lions meeting, long time Lion Gordon Gill described his trip to the World War II Memorial in Washington DC. This trip (as well as others) were sponsored by HyVee and Caseys and were done to honor the courageous soldiers that fought in World War II. Gordon described the full day of sight seeing that had been arranged for them, including all of the war monuments and Arlington Cemetery.

Gordon was assigned to the Germany area during the war and fought in the infamous Battle of the Bulge.

We had a show of hands at the meeting (32 in attendance) and there were 12 that had served in the armed forces.

We thank Gordon and all of the brave soldiers that helped protect our way of life.

Nov 9 Meeting at HyVee
The November 9 meeting of the Altoona Lions was held at HyVewe, with a BYOF (buy your own food) buffet before the meeting.

The speaker for the meeting was Aaron Putnbam of the Altoona Public Works Dept. He showed diagrams and discussed the upcoming changes to the Hubbell Av / I80 interchange. While the project is paid for and managed by the Iowa DOT, the City of Altoona coordinates with them on the project.

Aaron also showed a diagram of the planned area around the new HyVee, with a pond and a wetland area, and other neat features.

Aaron is shown in the photo to the left.

On a different subject, we have thanked the tireless Lions that do the eye testing for pre-school children many times. We also need to thank the Lions that help with Relay Tissue Transport, the service that transports the eye tissue from the eye tests to Iowa City for analysis. Pickup points for the tissue are are in Ames and Des Moines. Someone brings the tissue from Ames and one of our Lions meets them in Ankeny or whenever they decide and our Lions pickup in Des Moines, if there is any to pick up. Then we transport the tissue to Grinnell and meet someone there who takes it on to Iowa City.

The following Lions have been doing the Relay Tissue Transport: Herb & Helen Phillips, John & MaryAnn Vedder, Jay Rosenberger, and Dennis Crabtree. For the months of July, August and September, they have logged a total of 1253 miles.

And on a third subject, two new members were inducted as Altoona Lions: Lance & Elizabeth Hudson. A photo of them will be included later. Welcome Lance and Elizabeth.

Sep 28 Mike Warren Presentation on WW II
The Sep 28 meeting of the Altoona Lions was held at HyVee, with a buy-your-own dinner and eat in the upstairs conference room.

The guest speakers were Mike Warren, presenting a power point presentation on the places that he and his family and Ed have visited recently. And then Ed presented on the the planes he flew in World War II. They were very interesting presentations, enjoyed by all.

About 35 Lions members/guests attended.

Sept 2009 Homecoming Parade
The Southeast Polk homecoming parade was held Sept 24 in Altoona. The Lions prepared a "float" and showed it in the parade. The accompanying pictures show the float. The signs were made by Lions members years ago, and were touched up this year by Jay R., Gordon G., and Kit M. Dick Green also helped us mount the sign structure in Gordon's cool El Camino.

The parade was very long. The parade started at 6 p.m., and by the time our float got to the starting point, it was 6:25. It ended at 7:15. Gil and Kit rode in the El Camino, throwing out candy and waving to and greeting Altoona citizens. There was a great turnout for the parade. Adults and kids were around the entire parade route.

I heard the following things that I thought you would be interested in:

1. Nice car, cool wheels, great El Camino. Seems lots of people loved Gordon's vehicle.
2. "Those guys are the Lions. They do great stuff." I heard things like
this maybe 10 times. They really made me feel good.
3. "Thanks". Many kids said thanks when they got some candy. Very good stuff.

Sep 2009 Homecoming Parade Float
This is the back of the Lions Homecoming float. Becky Rosenberger made this several years ago.

Sep14 State Fair Celebration Dinner
On September 14, 2009, the Altoona Lions gathered for a catered dinner at the Altoona Campus. About 60 people were in attendance. Most attendees helped work the State Fair Spin Art booth, which was again a tremendous success. Roger Mahnke presented a summary of the financial results of the Fair booth, and also the projected Lions budget for this fiscal year. The State Fair booth had a gross income this year of $12,816 and net revenue of $6,561.

Sep 14 Warren Coleman Award
Lions President presented Kit Mcdowall with the Warren Coleman award. This award is presented to members in recognition of their contributions to Lionism. Kit established this Altoona Lions Web Site and does the regular updates to the web site. He has also been involved in many other Lions projects over the years, and is a past Altoona Lions President.

Sep14 Award Harding
Altoona Lions President Bob Aalbers presents a 5 year perfect attendance award to Jerry Harding

Sep 14 Award Linda
President Bob Aalbers presents a 13 year perfect attendance pin to Linda Crabtree.

Sep 13 Award Roger
President Bob Aalbers presents a 12 year perfect attendance pin to Roger Mahnke.

Sep 14 award Dennis
President Bob Aalbers presents a perfect attendance pin to Dennis Crabtree. Dennis has had perfect attendance for an amazing 41 years. Dennis has dedicated much of his adult life to Lionism.

Sep14 Guest Gift
For a number of years the lady that has a booth next to our Lions Spin Art booth, Jean Goheen, has baked a cake for us on the Monday prior to fair, and brings it to us when we
are setting up the booth. This past year she had baked two cakes,
brought some lemonade, plates, etc. The last day of the fair she came
in with another chocolate cake for us. Since Karr, Don and Roger closed up that night,
we had cake. But she did not come back to get her pan.

The Lions invited her to the Sep 14 dinner, and gave her a "gift", the pan that she delivered her eats on.

Sep 14 Happy Anniversary
Bill and Barb McGrean had a really wild 41st Anniversary celebration. They came to the Lions State Fair celebration dinner.

However Bill would not let us congratulate them until 8:00 p.m., the time they were married.

Happy Anniversary. Thanks for joining us on your important date.

Sep 14 Award for Yard Work
Duane Auten is shown presenting a plaque to Roger Mahnke for his magic weed control in his yard.

Seems like ole Rog used Roundup to kill some weeds and got a little grass with the weeds.

Maybe the Lions could have a yard weed cleanup project, since Roger is so fast at killing weeds???

Fair 09
Well, another State Fair is over. The revenues were a little below last year, but that is to be expected based on the attendance and the economy.

Many many thanks to the 150+ people that helped work the booth. We encourage each of you to please take a look at the Altoona Lions annual budget (will be available at the Lions Steak Dinner) and see where the Lions revenues go, and you will then know that your help will do great good for many area needy families.

Thanks thanks thanks.

Fair 09 Busy Booth
This is a typical busy Spin Art Booth. Check any time during the fair each year and chances are you will see something like this.

Fair 2009 Aprons
Last winter the Lions voted to get new aprons for the booth workers. Jerry Carr and Bill Pollard are modelling the aprons in this photo. Nice advertising for the Altoona Lions. You sure look nice guys

State Fair Daily Setup
The Spin Art Booth does not just magically get ready for each State Fair day by itself. Each morning of each fair, Roger Mahnke and whoever he can recruit go to the booth about 7:30 a.m. to make sure the booth is clean and set up appropriately. Roger also then goes to the Fair Adnmin Office to turn in the previous day's receipts. In This photo, Larry Lourens is helping Roger. Roger has been doing this for every fair since 1992.

Aug 10 2009 And the State Fair starts again
Here we go again. 13 Wonderful days of full time fun running the Altoona Lions Spin Art booth. The tired feet and hot faces are quickly replaced by the smiling faces of all the kids (big kids and small kids).

As you all know, the Spin Art booth takes lots of work. It starts each year on the Monday before Fair opening, like this week. The picture shows part of the Lions that came to help with setup of the booth.

Aug 10 State Fair setup
About 13 Altoona Lions showed up to help set up the Spin Art booth for the Fair. Before the Fair is done, about 150 people, Lions members and friends, will have worked the booth.

This is an early THANK YOU to everyone that helps out with this great operation. The proceeds go to finance so many wonderful projects. You should all be so proud of how much you are helping so many needy folks in the Altona area. Try to think about that when your feet get especially hot and tired.

And now, On To The Fair 2009.

July 27 2009 Work Night at Townsends
Wow. About 55 Lions and friends showed up to help make spin art cards for the State Fair and other events. This picture shows the card line (in Don Townsend's new barn), where the cards have glue added, and are sent down the "belt line". Workers grab a card and press it to the other side of the card. Walla...the card is made and for cheapo price. Super engineering and years of tweaking. All to let kids have a great time splashing paint on a card to show their creativity, and for the Lions to collect money for great community service projects. This great Spin Art machine brings in about $12,000+ every year (net) and that in turn supports many many worthwhile service projects.

July 27 Work Night
We all helped old man Jerry Harding celebrate his 97th birthday. Actually, it was his 6X birthday and Jerry is one of our great cooks, always manning the grill or some part of the cooking process at all such outings. Thanks also to Bill Pollard for also cooking. We had lots of great stuff to eat at, as at all work nights. Burgers, chcken sandwiches, mellon, cookies, brownies, pop, and much more.

July 27 Awards
At the July 27 Work Night, Lions Secretary Linda Crabtree presented the following awards:

10 year pin to Kit McDowall
Past President pin to Barb McGrean
President Pin to Bob Aalbers

July 13 Polly Antonelli 15 year pin
At the July 13 work night, Polly Antonelli was awarded the 15 year pin.

June 22 Installation of New Lions Officers
At the June 22 meeting of the Altoona Lions club, held at the HyVee Meeting Room, the new Club officers were installed. In the photo to the right, Dennis Crabtree is conducting the Installation process. The new officers, from left to right, are: Kit McDowall, Lion Tamer, Roger Mahnke, Treasurer, Barb McGrean, Past President, Bob Aalbers, President, Dennis Crabtree, 2nd Vice President, Linda Crabtree, Secretary, Duane Auten, Lion Twister, Bill Pollard, 1st Vice President, Eugene Gardner, 1 Year Director, Jay Rosenberger, 2 Year Director. Missing is Dan Janssen, 2 Year Director.

June 22 Bi-Monthly Meeting
The June 22 bi-monthly meeting of the Altoona lions Club was held at the HyVee Conference Room. Each Lion purchased their own meal at the HyVee Deli and we ate as a group in the Conference room. Spouses of Lions members were invited to the meeting. The attendance was 38.

June 8, 2009 Lions Visit Altoona Historical Society Museum
The bi-monthly meeting of the Altoona Lions Club was held at the Altoona Historical Society Museum. Details of the museum can be found on their web site at http://www.altoonahistory.org/

Tim & Diane Burget and Helen Blaney gave a brief history of Altoona, the purpose of the Historical Society and their goals. We toured the building and Helen Blaney gave history on several old articles, such as the elevator, floors in the building, old cash register, military uniforms, old farm tools and others too numerous to mention. It was a very interesting tour/presentation.

They asked if anyone had any old pictures or antiques they would like to donate, they would be happy to have them.

On May 5, 2003, the Altoona City Council recognized the Altoona Area Historical Society as the City's official organization to collect, secure, and preserve the artifacts and records of the City of Altoona and surrounding area.

Goals of the Altoona Area Historical Society are to create an Altoona Are Historical Musuem and to educate citizens about our local history.

Membership in the Society is open to anyone in the Altoona Area committed to preserving the area's history.

May 11, Shelly Heimer presents on Leader Dogs
At the May 11 meeting of the Altoona Lions club, Shelly Heimer, spokeswoman for Hearing and Service Dogs of Minnesota presented on her experience with Leader Dogs. Shelly also brought her friend, a beautiful black lab Leader Dog. Shelly is the daughter of Moe & Sandy Gilkison.

May 1 SCIP Day
The photo to the left shows Altoona Lions Jay Rosenberger and Don Townsend and Lions Vice District Governor Jerry Roland cooking the food and inhaling lots of smoke.

Thanks to all Altoona Lions members that helped make this a successful SCIP day for the seniors.

Apr 27 Don Townsend Receives Melvin Jones Award
At the April 27 Lions Club meeting, Don Townsend was presented with the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award. This is the highest award given by the International Lions. The award is named after the International Lions Club founder.

In the photo, Altoona Lions President Barb McGrean is presenting the award to Don as Lions Vice District Governor Jerry Roland watches.

Mar 23 Townsend 45 Year Pin
March 23 Altoona Lions Club President Barb McGrean and Secretary Linda Crabtree present a 45 year pin to Lion Don Townsend.

Mar 10 2008 Runnells Lions Host 3 Lions Clubs and Dist Gov
On March 10 the Runnells Lions hosted the Lions Clubs from Altoona, Mitchellville, and Pleasant Hill for a potato bar dinner. The guest speakers for the meeting were Lions District Governor Randy Kirkbride from the Ankeny Club and Vice District Governor Jerry Roland from the East Des Moines Club.

Both discussed their history, interests, and passions with Lions.

You can read more about Randy and the District staff at http://www.iowalions.org/cgi-bin/districtinfo.pl?5~3

See www.iowalions.org for info on all of the State of Iowa Lions Districts.

Mar 23 O'Conner presents on Altoona Sports
Mar 23 At the Lions bi-monthly meeting, Dean O’Conner from the Altoona Campus Board presented information about how the various sports are managed in the City of Altoona. There are many sports offered, including baseball, basketball, flag football, soccer, aquatic center, and others. For most, parents manage the leagues and teams and rent the facilities from the City for $1/year. The City takes care of a large part part of the maintenance and the parents take care of the rest. For some sports, a member of the Campus staff provides some of the league management. The City may be outgrowing this model for some sports.

The City of Altoona is currently investigating the possibility of purchasing additional land to have a separate soccer facility, thus also providing more space for softball and baseball.

Feb 23 Rundall on Woodworking
Feb 23 At the Lions bi-monthly meeting, Tim Rundall, a Master Wood Carver from the Woodsmith Store, presented information on his craft and tools.

May 1 SCIP Day at SEP
Each year Southeast Polk Seniors take a day to do service projects for area residents. As part of our Lions support, the area Lions clubs provide a meal for the participating seniors. Usually the service projects are performed at a variety of locations, and then all meet at Thomas Mitchell Park for hotdogs, burgers, chips, drinks, and a desert.

This year SCIP day was held on Friday, May 1 on the grounds of the new Southeast Polk high school. They school administration wanted the seniors to have an opportunity to tour the new building, etc. The building contractors paid for the food expenses this year, and the Lions provided the people power in organizing and
cooking the hamburgers and hot dogs, etc.

The photo shows the seniors enjoying the lunch.

Feb 9 2009 Valentines Day Entertainment
The 2009 Lions Valentines Day event was highlighted by a great presentation by the Southeast Polk Junior High Choir. Boy were they good. It is fun to think how good these young kids will be by the time they get to be Seniors at SEP. They sang great and our Lions guests all had a terrific evening. Thanks kids.

Jan 26 Habitat for Humanity
At our January 26, 2009 meeting, the subject was Habitat for Humanity. Sally Hink, pictured, is the Greater Des Moines Director of Development for Habitat for Humanity. She gave a very interesting presentation on the subject. Some of the highlights include:

Habitat is now world wide. A new house is built every 23 minutes worldwide. Low income families that could not possibly get a bank mortgage apply for the homes, and before even applying for a home loan, they have to put in 200 hours of sweat equity (with no guarantee that they will get a home). When they apply for a home loan, they have to meet several criteria including having their finances in order, be able to pay the subsequent mortgage, and others.

The houses are in the range of 1200 square feet on the upper floor, usually with a full basement. The materials and land cost on average (in the US) about $90,000. Sometimes materials and/or land are donated. If a family is selected, they then have to put in another 200 hours (at least) of sweat equity, plus commit to living in the home and several other things. They could move later if necessary, but the contracts make it financially attractive for the new home owners to stay in their new home for a long time.

In the Des Moines area where Habitat is building right now, they will build 22 new houses in 2009.

Jan 26 Habitat for Humanity
Tom and Sally Duer (Tom is an Altoona Lion and Sally contributes often to Lions projects) also presented on their Habitat experiences, and brought a photo album of their projects. Tom has worked on 10 houses at 3 different cities in the past 3 years. In 2008 they both went to Covington, LA to help build houses for a 10 day period.

Both Tom and Sally expressed how rewarding the experience is, and how incredibly happy and appreciative the new home owners are.

The photo shows Sally in full carpenter mode helping start a new house.

Dec 8 Christmas Dinner
On December 8, the Altoona Lions enjoyed a nice buffet dinner and companionship at the Altoona Campus. About 60 people attended.

Dec 8 Drawing at Christmas Dinner
Marilyn Freel was one of the drawing winners. She won a beautiful miniature rocking horse made by Bill McGrean. There were a total of 7 drawing winners.

Dec 8 Drawing at Christmas Dinner
Everyone chuckled as Doug White drew his own name on the prize drawing. Doug and wife Joyce were guests and prospective Lions members. By the way, Doug's name was also drawn again, but he did not get a second prize. Guess he should have bought lottery tickets that night.

Nov 10 Tour of New SEP High School
Superintendent Tom Downs gave a wonderful 1 hour tour of the new Southeast Polk High School building. While lots of work remains to be done, the new facility will truly be one that every SEP resident will be proud of. There will be so many new exciting and useful facilities that one must go through a tour to see all of this great stuff. There will be many more opportunities for tours. If you missed this one, please catch a later tour. You will be amazed and impressed.

Dec 8 Medical Discussion
Don Townsend lead part of the entertainment with a serious discussion about "a medical issue for seniors".

Sept 22 Carr’s Host International Exchange Student
In July 2008 Jerry and Marla Carr hosted an exchange youth from Turkey as part of the Iowa Lions International Youth Exchange program. The Lions camp was July 12-19 at Madrid, Iowa. During the camp week, the exchange youth from many countries had a very busy schedule of activities, all over central Iowa.

The Carr’s hosted Aysa Cansu Tanrikulu, a 17 year old girl from Ankara, Turkey. She spent a full month in Iowa, including three weeks before the camp at Jerry and Marla’s home. Cansu is a very active, talented youth. Jerry, Marla, and Cansu went to many events and activities, including concerts, the Science Center, and many others. It was a very interesting and very fun month for all.

Marla and Jerry presented a summary of their experiences at the Sept 22 Altoona Lions meeting.