October Cabinet Meeting
Region 3 Zone 3 Report

The first Zone Meeting for Region 3 Zone 3 was held on August 18th at the Green Lantern in McFarland. McFarland, Verona and Oregon/Brooklyn attended the meeting. Fitchburg was unable to attend the meeting so I met with them on September 8, 2014. Also attending were 2nd VDG Eric Holthaus, PDG Daryl Porter (Alert), PDG Neil Winchell (WLF Director) and Dave Peltier (Diabetes & Youth Exchange). The new format was introduced and received well; attendees were polled on the discussion topics. Each club took a few minutes to briefly tell about their summer activities and what would be coming up in the next couple months.

The next Zone Meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 27, 2014 at Grey's Tied House in Verona, hosted by the Verona Lions. Social at 6pm, dinner and meeting at 6:30pm.

I have visited 3 clubs (McFarland, Fitchburg, and Verona) since the Zone meeting. I still have Oregon/Brooklyn to visit.

McFarland held an “Open House” meeting in August, inviting members of the community to learn more about Lions. This event resulted in 2 new members. They had a very successful “Community Wide Stuff the Bus this year, involving the Lioness & several groups and churches into a single event. Together with the McFarland Lioness, they are holding their semi-annual food drive to benefit the McFarland Food Pantry in September. They are also having an information booth at the McFarland Family Festival to promote Lions and their Alert Team. They will be starting CEP at their October meeting.

Fitchburg had a small number (6) of Lions at the September meeting, many vacations and other commitments. This is not a normal turn out for a meeting. New president Janice Kilby did a good job running the meeting. The major topic of discussion was fundraising, which is always a problem. They do not have a “major” fundraiser so rely on several small events to raise funds. Lion Ben August, who presented a Youth Exchange program, suggested they contact Madison Festivals for opportunities to work various events and receive funds in return. They have tabled their Chili Dinner fundraiser for now but a few members are hoping to come up with ideas to revive it. I have made some inquiries about chili dinners & cook-offs to get information for them. They will be serving at Epelgaarden Orchard in September and holding their White Cane sale in October.

Verona is very active in many different areas. They have several young members who are all very enthusiastic and willing to jump in. Vice President Steve Ciha stepped in to run the meeting and President Lisa Ruth Krueger was unable to attend. Steve ran a very good meeting and kept it on track. They had a successful Stuff the Bus campaign again this year. They are working on their Bucky Book fundraiser and planning a Brat Sale for September 27. They are also working on a Culver's Night fundraiser. They have an Adult Vision Screening scheduled for October 8 and a Children's Vision Screening for October 27. Good participation, interaction and ideas!

Lion Bruce Voight
Zone Chair R3Z3