Attached is the latest District 22B newsletter containing tons of information from clubs all over the district.  Take some time to find out what other clubs are doing then look at our own Ctown Club’s entry….we’re pretty special.  Our thanks to Dave Dunham who puts together our contribution to the District newsletter.

KLMLP

Ctown Lions:

Attached is Lion Dunham’s report on the in person October 14th meeting. Dave will be sending out his reports on our in person meetings hoping to keep you involved and up to date on what’s happening in the Club. As a Club, we are busy with many activities, both service and fundraising. Please join us if you see something you want to help with.

Dave’s report on the 10/28 and the 11/11 meetings will be forthcoming.

Stay safe, stay well, and may you have a joyous Thanksgiving in whatever form it takes.

Mary Lou Pagella KLMLP

Gentle Lions:

Just like many of our other key Lions Club projects, the Christmas Basket Project is being “restructured” to keep everyone safe.  There will NOT be the usual packing of food boxes at the Community Center.  The plan this year is to purchase food only gift certificates which will be sent to those who would have gotten food boxes.  Instead of our time this year, the project needs our treasure in the form of donations to fund the food gift certificates.  Over the years this activity has provided so much to those in our community.  This year the need is even greater.  Please consider making a donation payable to KENT COUNTY CHRISTMAS BASKET COMMITTEE INC.

Send your donations to the treasurer:  Mr. Joseph Irr,   13886 Swantown Creek Road,  Galena,  MD,   21635   You might want to add on the memo line:  “from a Chestertown Lions Club member”.  It won’t be as much fun and writing a check won’t replace the feeling of satisfaction of a job well done but the end result, I’m sure, will be just as much appreciated.

The 4H is doing a toy drive.  Those toys will be delivered by members of Social Services and the Washington College Athletic Department.

BTW,  I will be on WCTR radio tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. talking about…The Chestertown Lions Club.

Thanks,

Mary Lou Pagella   (KLMLP)

The district is charged with the critical task of cleaning 40,000 eyeglasses in order to send them on their way to help those who need them desperately. Vision…our first and great mission to We Serve.

We need volunteers to work anytime on Monday thru Thursday starting at 9:00 a.m. Please consider a 4-hour time commitment.

The work is being done in the basement at First Methodist Church on High Street in Chestertown. Masks and gloves will be provided and every “social distance” requirement will be followed.

Please email District Gov. Wayne Benjamin at drwdbmd [at] gmail [dot] com to let him know when and how long you can devote to this project.

I bet we can chalk this up to one of our service projects…let’s do it!

Thanks,
Mary Lou Pagella, (KLMLP)

Matt Kemple is organizing a Rt. 213 road cleanup for Monday, November 9th at 9:00 a.m. Please reply to mkempel [at] live [dot] com or text him at 410-490-6186 if you can participate.  (if we get a good turnout, we can usually complete in a few hours). We meet at the recycling bins by Sparkle Pools on 213 south of Chestertown.

Thanks,

KLMLP

I know many of you feel that our dinner meetings are just not the place to be this year. It is vitally important that our Club members stay well.
You can still participate and perform an important part of the Lions Club year by being a Chestertown Lions Visitation Zoom Member. Many of the Clubs in our district are doing their meetings virtually and are inviting other clubs to participate by zoom and satisfy the club visitation requirement.
I am inviting anyone who would like to serve your Ctown Lions Club this way, doing your part to keep our Club moving forward. If it sounds like something you could do, please email me and I will forward the information about each club and how to “zoom” in to their meeting.
The Betterton/Still Pond Club meets tomorrow evening, so if anyone can fit that in, please let me know asap and I will forward their information.
Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful fall weather.
Mary Lou Pagella, KL

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who worked so hard, both on Friday (the baggers and scoopers) and today, to make this Chicken BBQ a fantastic success.  We sold out!  The best part was seeing everyone working together to make the whole thing work like a “well-oiled clock”…lots of laughing, some jabs about no chicken livers.  Great job, group!  When you hear from your customers, “Keep the change, you guys do great work,” what’s better than that?

BTW, our secret sauce makes the skin the best part.

Thanks to all,   KLMLP

Lion Fred & I were at Molly’s main entrance Saturday, and as you can see from the first picture, fully Covid-19 compliant.  The plexiglass window was compliments of Peoples Bank.  They didn’t want us to set up in front of the Quick-Mart side of the building, so as you can see from the 2nd picture, we were limited to a directional sign.  Anyhow, we were lucky to be there on a big sale day and sold out of the 210 tickets we had by noon.

Lion Rick Wells

It looks like this year is going to be a challenging one for our Ctown Lions Club.  Keeping that in mind, I wanted to get your thoughts on the best way to proceed in our new Club year.  Considering the majority of us are in the “vulnerable” category, please take some time…too hot outside anyway…to give your feedback on a variety of subjects facing us.

1.  Should we try for a crab feast in August?  If so, what would be the safest way to put it together?
2.  Will you be ready to return to the Country Club in September for our regular dinner meetings?
What changes, if any, do you want to see to the dinner, seating arrangement, the agenda?  Any other thoughts on the meeting itself?
3.  Are you ready to be a visitation team member and visit another Lions Club in our District?  (The District may not recommend visitations as an
activity.  We will wait for directions.)
4.  The fundraising efforts to support our projects was stopped cold in March.  How should we proceed to support these projects this year?
Will you be ready to work the chicken BBQ, shotgun raffle, etc.?  What other suggestions do you have to help support our usual commitments to
the Kent County community?
Please provide and other “words of wisdom” or concerns about the upcoming Lions Club year.
My hope is that we can return to the Lions Club we love, we are again doing important work for our community and we are all looking forward to a year of health, safety, learning, fun, fellowship and accomplishments.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Mary Lou   (AKA…KLMLP)

Lions that would have been honored at the Convention in Ocean City:

After much discussion and deliberation, the Chestertown Lions Club board and I have decided that we will CANCEL the Bay to Bay Bicycle Ride scheduled for Sunday, June 28, 2020, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the continued restrictions surrounding it.  Though activities are starting to begin again, we cannot support a public event at this time.

Our Draw for Sight and Bay to Bay Rides are a source of much-needed income to meet the needs of our community, and we will certainly be financially impacted by this loss of fundraising opportunity.  We care about every member, and the people we serve, which is why we all need to put health and safety first in this challenging time for the world.

For those cyclists who have pre-registered for this event, we have the following options:

• Accept contribution of the registration/t-shirt funds with gratitude and provide a tax statement of this as a donation. Chestertown Lions Charities, Inc. is a non-profit tax-exempt public charity as provided for in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
• Issue refund of the registration fee and t-shirt order.

Lions International has served the world for the last 100 years and Chestertown Lions since 1940.  We want to continue to do that and with your support and understanding, we will!

We hope to see you next year!

2021 Dates
Draw for Sight Poker Ride – April 25^th
Bay to Bay Ride – June 27th

Lion Kitty Neff
Cycling Events Coordinator

For up-to-date information:  www.chestertownlions.org

Chestertown Lions Charities, Inc.
P. O. Box 265
Chestertown MD 21620

Fellow Lions,

As a follow up to my previous email I would like to suggest that now would be a good time to revisit our buddy program. During these unprecedented times of stay at home and concern for family, it is also a good time to stay in touch with your fellow Lion.

The buddy program was established to ensure the team leader (an officer or director) stay in touch with their buddy when they miss a dinner meeting or a service event. Given our current situation it may be a good idea to stay in contact with your buddies for personal health, and let them know they are a part of our family, and we care.

At our last dinner meeting we received and approved 4 new applications for membership. Since these new Lions have not been inducted I hope their sponsor will serve as their buddy for this program.

I have attached a copy of the 2019 – 2020 Buddy Program for your information.

Thanks
KL Rick

Greetings Lions,

I hope everyone is staying well during these trying times. Who would have guessed the last regular dinner meeting, March 11 at the Chester River Yacht and Country Club would be our last face to face meeting before we typically take a break for summer and resume in the fall. This appears to be the case unless Covid-19 trends improve and the State is allowed to open up and things return to normal.

Because we are Lions I hope we all look for individual opportunities to serve those less fortunate then ourselves, particular when so many are restricted to home and have needs without family to help. Many other families just need help with food or someone to talk with. As we do everything we can under the circumstances I wanted to update you regarding the Chestertown Lions Club.

First of all I just received notice that our own Lion Wayne Benjamin has been officially elected District Governor of District 22B. The next time you see Lion Wayne please congratulate him and let him know how proud we are of his willingness to serve. We know he will be a great District Governor.

Last evening your Lions Board of Directors met virtually by Zoom and FreeConferenceCall. Given the impact of stay at home restrictions and social distancing, the Board had to make some major decisions regarding fundraising events and how any shortfall in fundraising would impact the cash available to fund budgeted items that remains unfunded for the year which ends June 30, 2020

Unfortunately we decided to cancel the Bay to Bay Bike Ride scheduled for June 28, 2020. We all owe Lions Kitty and Bill Neff, Chair of these events, a big thank you for all of the work they did in preparation for the Ride for Sight and the Bay to Bay Bike Ride. We decided the uncertainty and possible restrictions surrounding the pandemic created a bigger risk to the Club than the benefits. As of this time we had received pre-registrations of 20 riders, typically by this time we would have been approaching 100. We will attempt to convert the registration fees into donations. The Bike Rides and sponsorship’s in connection with these rides were budgeted to provide $12,200 after expenses.

In connection with the Bike Rides Lion Dave Dunham and his committee had collected some $2,200 in sponsorship’s. The Board decided to run an ad in the Spy and Tidewater Trader to thank our sponsors and let them know their funds will support the community needs. Based upon this decision, income for the year will be down by approximately $10,000 or 40% of our annual budget.

As you know, the Comedy Night that had been scheduled for May 30, 2020 was also canceled, and as a result of the hard work by Dave Dunham advance ticket sales were converted to donations. As a result of this great job the Comedy Night generated close to what had been budgeted for the year.

As a result of this fundraising shortfall occurring so late in the year, and after many of our budgeted donations had already been disbursed, the Board had to make some tough decisions regarding future disbursements. Of the remaining budgeted items that remained to be funded, the Board addressed how they should be addressed and still end the year with sufficient funds for the next King Lion to start the year.

The remaining unpaid budget items considered for payment included the following:

Lions Club International Foundation $1,000

Lions 22B Charitable Foundation 800

Remaining Eye Glass Budget 1,100

Scholarships 2,500

Before the Board considered the unpaid budgeted items, Lion Michael Moore, Chair of the Scholarship Committee, reported that he and his committee received and reviewed some 14 applications for scholarships. He reported the applicants were quite impressive, and the decision was difficult. He provided the Board a list of the top 6 candidates ranked from 1 to 6.

After some discussion the Board decided to fund the following:

Lions Club International Foundation $ 300

Lions 22B Charitable Foundation 300

Remaining Eye Glass Budget 1,100 if needed

Scholarships**** (Top 3) 1,500

**** This includes $500 and $120 in restricted contributions for Scholarships

I want to thank the Board for their thoughtful deliberations regarding governance of the Chestertown Lions Club during this time of the coronavirus.

The Board will be meeting again on Wednesday, June 17th by Zoom. If the stay at home restrictions are still in place or something similar I will be inviting the entire membership to join our meeting. We will discuss the status of our summer socials and the timing of the official installation of new officers. Zoom is the next best thing to having an in person meeting, I hope you will try it. If you would like help with Zoom please let me know.

Finally, stay safe and healthy and serve when you can.

KL Rick

Hello Lions,

I hope everyone is well! This sheltering at home feels very strange and makes it very difficult to do what Lions do best “Serve”.

All regular Lions meetings until further notice have been canceled. Our Board meeting will be held on the third Wednesday of the month via conference call. Details to follow. Without meetings, the nomination and election of officers will need to be completed by e-mail. A list of the nomination of officers and directors will be e-mailed soon with a ballot for you to return. The nominating committee did a great job! Hopefully, this will be concluded during April.

Both Vision Days scheduled for April 16, 17, and 18 and the Draw for Sight Bike Ride have been canceled. Comedy Night that was scheduled for March 28, 2020 has been postponed until May 30; hopefully, things will improve by then.

Other than Comedy Night, the only remaining fundraiser is the Bay to Bay Bike Ride scheduled for June 28, 2020. If things improve by then bike riders will be excited to get out, and we may have the best ride ever.

Recently, we came up with the idea of providing an environmental service project that would allow the Club to provide an important service project of cleaning up a small park just south of Kingstown. Five Lions signed up, Fred Sherriff, Wayne Benjamin, Matt Kempel, and James Porter; however, given the new “stay at home” order by Governor Hogan, this project has been canceled.

The Lions International Convention which was to be held in Singapore has been canceled, and the Multiple District Convention scheduled for Ocean City has been canceled.

During this period I hope our Lions will look out for each other, and with that in mind, I have updated details of the Buddy Program on the website and suggest team captains or team members pick up the phone and keep Lionism alive. I have also updated our current roster.

Yours in Lionism,

KL Rick

Fellow Lions,

See the special message from DG John Lawrence. Special thanks to PKL Dave Dunham for getting photos of the Chestertown Lions Club included in the District 22B newsletter.

KL Rick

Chestertown Lions,

See memo from DG John Lawrence regarding the Maryland 22 Convention.

KL Rick

Dear Fellow Lions,

Our dinner meeting for March 25th has been canceled due to the coronavirus scare. Also, our Comedy Night has been postponed until May 30th. Stay home and stay healthy – hopefully, everything returns to normal soon.

Take Care,
Lion Glenn Owens, Secretary
Chestertown Lions Club

A message from our District Governor John Lawrence.

Fellow Lions,

Congratulations to PKL Dave Dunham!! Dave was recognized by District Governor John Lawrence on behalf of the Lions International President Dr. Choi with a CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION in Recognition of Distinguished Achievements in Fulfilling the Mission of Lions Clubs International. The presentation was made at the annual Social held in Cambridge, MD, Saturday, March 7, 2020, to honor 22B’s District Governor John Lawrence.

Dave, a relatively new Lion was recognized for his outstanding service for his recent service as President of the Chestertown Lions Club, by the implementation of a new fundraiser (the Comedy Night) and particularly for his success in promoting the activities of his club in local news outlets. His club’s activities seem to get published almost every week.

The entire Chestertown Lions Club thanks PKL Dave for all he does.

KL Rick

Nice article in the Chestertown Spy.

Click here for more.

KL Rick

Congratulations to our Shotgun Raffle Winners!

1st place: Samantha Delroy – Chestertown

2nd place: Pat Thompson – Chestertown

Fellow Lions,

Washington College President Kurt Landgraf is the newest member of the Chestertown Lions Club and was inducted by District Governor John Lawrence at a regular dinner meeting the evening of November 20, 2019. Congratulations and welcome Kurt!

Pictured below (left to right) DG John Lawrence, Lion Kurt Landgraf, and sponsor VDG Wayne Benjamin.

Fellow Lions,

Fellow Lions,

Saturday morning, November 9, 2019, the Chestertown Lions Club was joined by Chrissy Nelson, Diabetes Nurse Educator with UM Shore Regional Health, at the Farmers Market to increase diabetes awareness. Information about diabetes was available as well as a diabetes risk self-assessment questionnaire. The Lions Club was well represented by Lion Bill Low, John Paolella, Larry Lyons, Glenn Owens, and KL Rick Coffman.

Lions International has identified diabetes as one of Lions Five Global Causes.

Lions can be seen each week at the Farmers Market selling raffle tickets for our annual Shotgun Raffle to raise funds to support the many services provided to the community.

I wish to thank Chrissy Nelson and all of the Lions that participated to make this event a success.

KL Rick

Fellow Lions,

Chestertown Lions supported the Betterton Still Pond Lions Club by selling 50/50 tickets at their fall Horse Races on November 2, 2019. Lions Glen Owens, Matt Kempel, Mark Mumford, and Rick Coffman participated.

Lion Mark called the Races and the other Lions sold 50/50 tickets. The event was well attended and fun was had by all.

KL Rick

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Fellow Lions,

The Chestertown Lions Club supports the LVRF and attended the District 22-B Fifteenth Annual Lions Vision Research Foundation Banquet held Friday, November 1, 2019, at the Greensboro VDF Community Hall. The program was inspiring; we heard from Dr. Robert Chun regarding the activities within the Low Vision Division of the Wilmer Eye Institue and Dwayne H. Adams, Sr. a patient which shared his story of how the Wilmer Eye Institute changed his life after a terrible accident left him completely blind in the left eye and with only partial vision in the right, as well as no sense of smell.

The Chestertown Lions Club was represented by KL Rick Coffman, 1stVDG Wayne Benjamin, Lions James Sanders, Fred Sherriff, and Matt Kempel. A check for $500 was presented to PDG Wayne Cole by KL Rick Coffman.

KL Rick

In Chestertown, diabetes nurse educator Chrissy Nelson will join the Lions Club in a booth at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday, November 9, with the theme, “Lions Raising Awareness of Diabetes.”

Fellow Lions,

In search of a new fundraiser for the Chestertown Lions Club which required little up front cost and limited number of volunteers, Service Chair Fred Sherriff and Director Ken Roderick organized an event in partnership with the Church Hill PTA and a food vendor out of Easton, Md. The Church Hill PTA was raising money for an additional White Board.

The event was held Friday evening October 25, 2019 at the Church Hill Elementary School. The Chestertown Lions Club was represented by Lions Herb Wilkinson, Lee Hunley and Henry Hart. A big thanks goes to the Lions participating.

Our Lions Club benefited from this community project by the service we provided to make it happen and the experience we gained by first hand observation of food and the vendor from Easton. Based upon what we learned we may be able to duplicate this type of fundraiser in the future at other venues.

Again, thanks to Fred and Ken for spearheading this event.

KL Rick

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The Chestertown Lions Club supports the Low Vision Rehabilitation Network (Lions Lovrnet) which is a community based healthcare program that addresses the current shortage and distribution of low vision rehabilitation services.

Pictured left is President Rick Coffman and District Governor John Lawrence.

The Governor of District 22B, John Lawrence spoke to the Chestertown Lions Club on October 23, 2019 to discuss the joy of service.
Pictured left is District Governor John Lawrence and President Rick Coffman.

Fellow Lions,

See the following article in the Chestertown Spy:

Free Events Set for Easton, Chestertown to Mark National Diabetes Awareness Month

In Chestertown, diabetes nurse educator Chrissy Nelson will join the Lions Club in a booth at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday, November 9, with the theme, “Lions Raising Awareness of Diabetes.”

Rick KL

Lion Larry Lyons was recognized by the Chestertown Lions Club for his tremendous contribution to humanity & service as Chair of the Membership Committee. He was awarded the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award at a regular meeting held October 23, 2019. The Lions Club International recognizes outstanding individuals by bestowing on them an award that is named for its founder, Melvin Jones.
Pictured left to right is Larry Lyons and District Governor John Lawrence.

KL Rick

Fellow Lions,

I wish to thank Chair Lion Matt Kempel, Lions Henry Hart, Herb Wilkinson, Bob Knapp, and Wayne Benjamin for coming out Thursday to pick up trash on Route 213 between Fey Road and Sprackel Pool. Working together we can make a difference in our community.

Thanks again.

Rick KL

Fellow Lions,

A big thank you goes to Lion Fred Sherriff and a team of Chestertown Lions that worked at the Homeports Health & Wellness Expo held at the Kent County High School on Thursday, October 17, 2019.

The Lions served coffee and manned a table promoting Health-related services provided the community by the Chestertown Lions Club including the collection of eyeglasses, eye screening of young children, transportation to eye doctors, and diabetes awareness. It was a fun day of Lionism, and both District Governor John Lawrence and 1st Vice District Governor Wayne Benjamin stopped in for a visit.

Thanks again for another great day of service.

KL Rick

Draw for Sight Poker ride   April 26

Bay to Bay ride   June 28