Lions' spaghetti feed brings in $911 for NK Schools Foundation

Our Poulsbo Lions Club cooked up served up a delicious spaghetti dinner, complete with salad and garlic bread, at the North Kitsap High School on February 21 for two and a half hours. The event brought in $911 for the NK Schools Foundation, which works to provide extra tutoring and field trips.

Lion Mike was the head cook, with Lion Karl chairing the project. Club members and LEO Club students helped at the event.

The club gave the foundation a check for $500 previously, for a grand total of $1,411.

Lions Leaders in Training

 March 2012 - Lions Pat Burch and Beth Olsen complete Lions Leadership Training.

New playground equipment installed at Poulsbo Elementary

Lion Mike P. was key to getting our club involved in installing playground equipment at Poulsbo Elementary School. He is vice president of the PTSA, and his daughter attends the school. Though finished, the kids haven't yet been allowed on the equipment, which needs the final safety inspection. It's expected to be open next week.

Our Poulsbo Lions spread bark and installed equipment on a rainy February 20 (President's Day holiday). The install was completed by Lions and school volunteers on March 1 with the installation of the "web-climber." The net goes up to a height of approximately 15 feet, but the structure is designed to prevent falls.

Teachers will be given rules and will review them with their classes before students are allowed to use the equipment during recess.

Flag goodwill brings our club an additional $800

Lion Dick has spearheaded our club flags project for years. Every holiday, rain or shine, the flags are put up early and taken down later. This time around, the downtown merchants association paid for the downtown flags, sending our club a check for $2,000. Since many merchants had already paid individually for their flags, Lion Dick went to each one and offered a refund. With the exception of only four merchants, the rest said to keep their check as a donation to our club, which amounted to $800.

Our club is working on writing a letter to the editor of the North Kitsap Herald to thank and name those businesses for their contribution.

Lion leaders

Poulsbo Lions Beth and Pat attended a Lions leadership training in February in Gig Harbor.

Lion Pat is currently the club's 2nd vice president. Lion Beth is with the Evening Pride Club.

Club float brings in $500 and great publicity

Competition was stiff for the floats entered in the Clearwater Casino's Fat Tuesday competition for nonprofits in mid-February. Entry was by lottery. With 20 spots available, we were fortunate to get one, which assured our club of $500.

Lions Jim, Pauline, Beth, Tom, Karl and Dottie with our float.

Our Poulsbo Lions Club was given a red wagon to decorate with a Mardi Gras theme featuring the club activities. Lion Dottie chaired the committee, with help from Lions Pauline and Beth, and Lion Chuck's wife, Sue. We got some great publicity, thanks to the wonderful photos of our projects showing our Poulsbo Lions in action.

Lion Pat helped get high school shop boys to build a base for the float. Nine Lions spent 178 hours constructing, decorating and transporting the float to the casino. Lions Chuck, Tom and Jim helped with transportation.

Our club didn't garner enough votes during the week of February 15-21 to win. Casino employees judged the floats during a parade on the evening of the 21st, which saw Lion Dennis pulling the float with a contingent of Lions following (Bev and Dale, Lynnea, Pauline, Dottie, David, George, Nancy, Beth and Erika).

Wanted: Place to hold annual Pancake Breakfast!

The Poulsbo Lions Club is in need of a place to hold its annual Pancake Breakfast.
Last year, the club held it in the parking garage under the new City Hall. In the years prior to that, it was held in the Armory - now a parking lot itself.

The breakfast is held the weekend of Poulsbo's May Viking Fest. It features pancakes (of course), sausage, eggs, coffee and orange juice. Proceeds from the breakfast go to local students in the form of scholarships.

If you know of a place that is in Poulsbo and can hold a fairly large number of people, please contact Lion Pat at (360) 692-1436 or (360) 471-1572.

Making improvements at Poulsbo Middle School

Another Lions project!

Planning session September 10 at Dahlquist's

All Poulsbo Lions interested in attending a planning session for the upcoming year are invited to the Dahlquist's home in Belfair, on September 10 at 10 a.m.

Past District Governor Dave Pratt will be facilitating.

Calendar sales underway

If you want your family's names and anniversaries on the Poulsbo Lions calendar for 2012, you need to contact a Lion member now. Each calendar is only $6, with 100 percent of the proceeds going back into the North Kitsap community.

Ad space is also available for a nominal amount.

Calendars need to be paid for by September 15, 2011, and given to Lion Larry Linn.

Every Poulsbo Lion selling 20 calendars or more gets a free steak dinner in October.

September 30 beer tasting at mall

If you enjoy beer, you won't want to miss tasting some microbrews at Hale's Ales and help Silverdale Sunrise Lions make some money at the same time.

The beer tasting takes place at 6 p.m. September 30 at the Kitsap Mall. For $25 per person, six brews will be selected from Hale's Brewery for your tasty consideration, and a food buffet is included.

Reservations are required. Please contact Al Hedstrom at world_phamous@yahoo.com.

Project New Hope

Lion Dick Risley of Evening Pride Branch is heading the Kitsap County branch of Project New Hope.

The project will soon become district-wide. It provides a retreat setting for returning military and their families, to help them as they return stateside after being in a conflict zone.

A fund-raising event will take place at the Clearwater Casino at a date to be announced. If you'd like to help with the project, please contact Lion Dick.

Poulsbo's Touch a Truck event great place to screen for low vision

Poulsbo Lions and LEO Club members, turned out in force to offer free low-vision screening for anybody who wanted it at Poulsbo's Touch a Truck event in the Poulsbo Village Shopping Center in August.

Poulsbo Lions finish Fish Park boardwalk phase

After many Saturdays, Poulsbo Lions Club members finished the latest Fish Park boardwalk project, though it wasn't without drama.

A large tree had been uprooted and had fallen close to the almost completed viewing platform. Lion Scott showed up with a chainsaw, but handed it to Lion Garvin, who straddled the trunk and began lopping off branches at top speed.

Another job well done!

Lots of fun at annual picnic

Summer temps arrived just in time for the Poulsbo Lions' annual picnic at Nelson Park.

Lions cooked hamburgers, kielbasa, and corn on the cob. Everyone brought something to share with their fellow Lions and family members. It's a wonderful, relaxed atmosphere where everyone gets the opportunity to get to know each other a little better.

Lions Dottie presented past King Lion Mike Regis with a scrapbook commemorating his year as president. Lion Lynnea did the same for immediate past president Ryan Smart.

Lion Irv had four generations of the Spellman family at the picnic. And Lion Ginger brought a pinata for the kids to break.

King Lion Matt and his family enjoy candy from a pinata.

Poulsbo horse comes in a winner

Polish Dollar came in first in the Poulsbo Noon Lions Club Purse at Emerald Downs on July 28. The purse was $6,200.

The horse is owned by a woman (Sharon Radke), trained by a woman (Debbie Van Horne), and ridden by a woman (Deborah Hoonan-Trujillo). Polish Dollar had a time of 0:56.4 in 5 furlongs.

Lion Doug Mong organized the outing for the club. Some came home with empty pockets, while others had a bit more than they'd left with. Lion Sandi had a chance to win $500, but it wasn't to be.

Poulsbo Lions provide security for annual LCI Convention in Seattle

The 94th Lions Clubs International (LCI) Convention was held in Seattle for the first time ever on July 4-8. Our Poulsbo Lions Club was in charge of security. Many Lions were in Seattle to view the huge parade too.

Viking Fest pancake breakfast at new city hall a success!

After the Armory was flattened earlier this year, our club scrambled to find a new location downtown for the annual Viking Fest pancake breakfast. We ended up in the parking garage under the new city hall building, thanks in part to Mayor Becky Erickson.

Lion Elda Armstrong, Miss Poulsbo's little sis, Miss Poulsbo, and Lion Herb Armstrong.

Thousands of pancakes were flipped and served, along with sausage and eggs, making the breakfast a big success and raising thousands of dollars for high school scholarships.

Lions hit the streets to gather funds during White Canes Days

Lion Chuck approaches drivers for donations.

Poulsbo Lions and LEOs were out in force the first full weekend of May for White Canes Days. All proceeds are dedicated to vision and hearing assistance for the community.

Hooked on Fish, Not Drugs event

Our Poulsbo Lions Hooked on Fish event was a huge success. This year, our Lion mascot, Leo, showed up to visit the kids. Lion Herb was in charge of stocking the pond near Poulsbo Middle School with trout. Lions pitched in to help with everything from digging up worms, to helping kids cast their lines.