Annual picnic August 20

Lions and their guests shucked corn at the Poulsbo Lions Club annual picnic August 20.

Below, Lions Dennis and Chuck were smoking hot while barbecuing burgers.

Branch club holds early vision clinic

The Evening Pride Branch of our lions club held an early vision exam clinic during the Touch-a-Truck event August 15.

The event took place at Poulsbo Village Shopping Center.

That's our new mascot with Lion Dick in the first photo, and lions Neil and Larry with a young girl and her mom.

I think our mascot will be popular with the kids

Nicoletta was happy to get a hug from the Poulsbo Lions' newest mascot, Leo, a.k.a. Lion Ginger, at the Aug. 6 meeting.

Lion Roger cuts ribbon at grand opening

Lion Roger, chief financial officer of the new Poulsbo Liberty Bank, helped cut the ribbon at the bank's grand opening Aug. 6. He's the one in the suit at the far left.

Poulsbo Lions have new mascot!

Lion Ginger was instrumental in our club acquiring this terrific-looking Lions costume. Look for it at the August 15 Touch A Truck event at the Poulsbo Village, as well as other Poulsbo Lions events.

A Basque guest

Teen-ager Ane Lopez from "Basque" northern Spain (near France) has been the guest of Lion Rick and his family this summer. She's here to experience American and perfect her English. She speaks Basque, French, English, and Spanish.

A group called Summer in America helps with the reservations and arrangements, but the students (ages 15-18) pay their own way.

Lion Rick and his family take care of Ane's expenses while she lives with his family.

This is an outreach program from six churches in Kitsap County, as well as three in Poulsbo.

Lion's 26th book in bookstores

Poulsbo Lion June Cotner's book Serenity Prayers: Prayers, Poems, and Prose to Soothe Your Soul is available to purchase wherever books are sold.

According to June, Serenity Prayers is a timeless collection of prayers, poems and prose that will leave the reader feeling more at peace, relaxed, hopeful, and encouraged.

All of June's books are 20 percent off at www.junecotner.com.

Here are a few excerpts:

Renewal

Imagine not that life is all doing
Stillness,too, is life;
and in that stillness
the mind cluttered with busyness quiets,
the heart reaching to win rests,
and we hear the whispered truths of God.

--Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro

Yes

Yes was the best answer to every question.
Frank McCourt, Teacher Man.

So I said yes to everything, yes to the green hills
rolling out ahead, yes to the hayfield tied up in rolls,
yes to the clouds blooming like peonies in the sky's
blue meadow, the long tongue of the road lolling
out before me, yes to the life of travel, yes to the other
life at home, yes to the daisies freckling the ditch,
to the sun pouring down on everything
like Vermeer's milkmaid and her endless
jug of milk, yes to the winds that pulled the clouds
apart like taffy, then turned them into a classroom
of waving hands punched into fists: yes yes yes

--Barbara Crooker

Everyday Blessings

As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday
blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful. They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness -- just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breathe it; just warmth and shelter and home folks; just plain food that gives us strength; the bright sunshine on a cold day, and a cool breeze when the day is warm.

--Laura Ingalls Wilder
(1867-1957)