Freeport Lions Club: March 2014

February 11 Program

We were happy to have Carole Dickerson, Director of Freeport Public Library (FPL), speak to us at our February 11th meeting. She was born in Flint, MI, moved to Freeport in 2004 and started working at the library.

The current library building opened December 2013; just 10 years young. It is 42,000 square feet compared to the old Carnegie Library which was 17,000 square feet. FPL is handicap accessible, very open, flexible and accommodating. There are two large meeting rooms, heavily used by many community groups of all sizes, that can be combined to hold 125 to 150 people. They also have two smaller rooms for a one-on-one meeting or from 6 to 8 people. FPL is changing constantly as our world is changing rapidly these days.

Library use is free to all city residents, while a family outside the city limits can join for a fee of $95.00 per year. Library users not only have access to a great normal-print book collection, but also a huge collection of large-print books for the visually-impaired that are widely used. FPL also has available many movies and music CD's for residents to borrow, and the library subscribes to current magazines covering a wide range of interests. Many computers are also available for use, and are always in high demand.

A Summer Reading Program helps local students retain what they learned from prior school year. FPL also provides outreach for homebound people and rotates books in nursing homes monthly. A local history lecture series has been extremely popular, filling seats for each talk. If you are interested in local history or genealogy, a local history room is available, with help from members of the local genealogy society when needed.

Any library material in any library in the state is available in just a few days. FPL is a member of RAILS (Reaching Across Illinois Library System) which serves more than 1300 public, academic, special, and school library members, representing more than 3500 library facilities in a 27,000 square mile area. Go to http://www.railslibraries.info/ for more info.

A rapidly expanding collection of books are also available for electronic readers in keeping with our times. A resident with a library card can access thousands of titles from OMNI (Online Media of Northern Illinois), an association of 85 municipal libraries stretching across 21 counties. Go to http://www.omnilibraries.org/ for more info.

People who visit FPL can even have lunch at the small café, and view the exhibit of local artists' work in the hallways. If you want to impress out-of-town guests, take them to our beautiful library. When you are finished, taken them a few steps east on Douglas Street to the Lincoln-Douglas Debate site and sculpture, and finally top it off with delicious ice cream at the Union Dairy next door. You will be a star!

Great program, thanks, Lion Duane Smith for arranging this program!

February 25 Program

Guest, Jodie Miller, co-owner/manager of Union Dairy, spoke to us following our dinner. She is very interested in our upcoming car show, and is enthusiastically working with Lions Rick Eastman and Bert Kersten to make it a success. She is reaching out to more people outside Freeport, is enlisting the Chamber of Commerce, and has talked with Connie Sorn from the Stephenson County Visitors Center. The committee is working at getting sponsors which will greatly help us realize a greater profit. Thanks to those who are working in this project. They will ALL MEMBERS to help. May 10^TH will be here soon.

Communications/Announcements

Scholarship - Lion Terry Anderson says our scholarship applications were placed at both Aquin & Freeport High Schools and at Highland Community College. Lion Terry says we have already received our 1st application - a record in and of itself!

Sight & Sound Tickets - see Lion Dave Snyders to get your book(s). $10.00 for 4 tickets or $3.00 per ticket which is $12.00 a book. Just a few left and they do need to be sold and returned to Lion Dave by April 8^th.

Diabetes Awareness - Lion Terry Anderson asked for input as to what date we should collect donations for Sugar-Free Candy to raise funds for the fight against Diabetes. The board decided that April 25 - 26 would be best. The weekend before that is Easter, and two weeks after that we'll have our car show on May 10th.

Dist. ID 2014 Calendars – There are 4 calendars left for sale. See You will have a many chances to win on the Pick 3 evening drawings on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. See Lion Joe Serafini; cost is $25.00 - get yours now.

Car Show Update - Show chairman Rick Eastman showed members the 2014 Car Show plaques he designed and made. They look awesome. On the day of the show members will be assigned to all parking lots. The cars arrive at 1:OOPM to line up; entry fee is $10. The show itself is from 4 to 8PM. Need volunteers to attend the registration table and to sell 50/50 Raffle Tickets. More helpers are needed to assign vehicles to designated areas.

Personal Announcements - Lion Troy Pettis was promoted at Berner Foods from the warehouse to the factory. Congratulations, keep up the good work, Troy!

Thank you letters - Our club received thank you letters from Lions of Illinois Foundation (LIF) for our support of Camp Lions, as well as a Camp Lions 2014 silver chevron for our flag, and a thank you letter from young lady we helped by buying eyeglasses.

Board of Directors Notes

President Paul Rampenthal reminded us of the District 1 D convention in Rockford April 4th and 5th. Everyone is encouraged to go of course. Our club has the right to have three voting delegates. We should make our decision and let President Paul know by our next meeting. Lion Rebecca Shriver will take care of choosing a silent auction item to take to the convention. Value of the item was discussed. Lion Dennis Zimmerman showed two print ads he designed for the convention booklet and asked for approval. One is a memorial for Lion Paul Tormohlen and his 49 years of service. The other ad congratulates new District Governor Jim Kloepping. Thank you, Lion Dennis, for doing a fine job.

The University of Illinois Extension asked us for support to again sponsor "Earth Day" in our local schools. The board approved a monetary donation, the same amount we have given for several years.

A fourteen year old girl with diabetes requested assistance to help her go to Camp Granada in Southern Illinois, a camp session for children with diabetes. The club voted to help her with a monetary grant.

An older couple also requested assistance so they could purchase a Low Vision Reading Machine. The machine costs $2100. The club voted to subsidize partial cost of the new machine because the two machines the club owns are currently in use.

President Paul informed the board that the Cub Foods brat stand applications are already available and can be submitted by March 1st. He also will take care of applying again if we so desire. The board agreed. Thanks Lion Paul.

A slate of officers for next year was discussed and will be presented at our next meeting.

President Paul told us that he thought about 25 Lions and guests from our club enjoyed the Ice Hogs hockey game on February 22^nd . This popular event might become an annual occasion for District 1-D Lions. Stay tuned.

A BIT OF A BIOGRAPHY - by Lion Duane Smith

Lion Rick Eastman is a long time “Freeporter” who attended Freeport Schools and graduated from Freeport High School in 1979. Upon graduation he joined his father in the family print shop which he bought in 1995. Lion Rick loves his work, particularly in working with and helping all the people who come through his doors. Lion Rick and his wife Theressa have been married 30 years and have two children, Scott and Shiloh. They are also the proud grandparents of four grandsons and two granddaughters. For fun, Lion Rick loves to bowl, fish and golf. He is a member of the Freeport Bowling Hall of Fame which says something about how well he bowls. Lion Rick also adds that he loves to collect anything old and that he enjoys being a Lion. He appears to enjoy his present job as our Club “Tail Twister”, stumping most of us with his trivia questions after our meals as he gleefully collects our dollars for our club’s administration account. He is also working hard with his committee on organizing our club's first car show “Cruisin’ For A Cause” scheduled for May 10^th, 2014. Lion Rick is a definite asset to our club.

LION DUANE’S NOTABLE QUOTES

* "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Martin Luther King
"I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to politicians." - Charles de Gaulle
* "Temperance is the moderating of one's desires in obedience to reason." - Cicero
"A woman is like a tea bag; you don't know her strength until she is in hot water." Nancy Reagan