Friday, July 17, 2009

Welcome!

Welcome to the Horsham Lions Club Blog! What is a "blog", you may ask? Simply, a blog is short for "Web Log", a log that is on the internet. Consider it a diary, a daily event calendar showing things that we find important to share with others.

*Who are the Lions anyway?*
Where is Horsham? What's in Horsham?

ROLL DOWN to read all about what the Lions are up to!

CLICK HERE to see our eyeglass dropoff locations!

CLICK HERE to download our newsletters!

CLICK HERE for our meeting agendas and meeting minutes.

Horsham Day 2009

Our Horsham Day 2009 fundraiser was a tremendous success, we earned more money this year than in any year past. This is a pretty amazing statement, considering we sold out of roast pork by 6pm.


(Lion John Campisi with the remains of our roast pork)

Thanks to all the Lions who planned, prepared, and worked hard on Horsham Day (hope I didn't leave anyone out)  :

John Bill                  
John Campisi
Jim Faber
Larry Glemser
Joe Nemath
Tara Smith      
Shirley Truver
Ted Truver
Joe Turchi
Don Edmunds

A HUGE THANKS also goes out to the high school volunteers we had, from both Hatboro Horsham High School as well as Abington High School:

Lauren Purvis                 
Tyler Martin
George Jiruska
Ashley O'Connell
Liz Calvin                  
Carolyn Walker
Matt Forman
Lisa Young
Robert Martinelli     
Mary Kate Suhy
Shannon Stemler
Maria Ohrenrich

Another HUGE THANKS goes out to Sam Braccia for graciously donating our roast pig for yet another year. Sam is one class act.
 
This year we partnered with Tori's Gourmet Water Ice, who sold ice cream as well as water ice at Horsham Day. The people at Tori's were kind enough to donate a portion of their profits for the day to the Horsham Lions Club. This was IN ADDITION to a very generous sponsorship donation we received from Tori's.


www.TorisGourmetWaterIce.com

FINALLY we'd like to thank the following two local businesses, who sponsored the event for our club in the form of donations or services:

     
Nemath Building Services
www.Nemath.com
SmithPrints, Inc.
www.SmithPrints.com

Genuardi's Donates 300+ Eyeglasses

Below is a press release issued this week by Genuardi's...
 
NORRISTOWN, Pa., — July 13, 2009 — Genuardi’s Market in Maple Glen recently donated more than 300 pairs of new eyeglasses to the Horsham Lions Club. In early 2009, when Genuardi’s purchased the former Glen Center Pharmacy, the eyeglasses were part of the pharmacy’s existing inventory. After the pharmacy relocated inside the Maple Glen store, Genuardi’s decided to donate the eyeglasses.
 
“We’re thrilled to donate these new eyeglasses to the Horsham Lions Club,” said Maryanne Crager, public affairs manager for Genuardi’s. “Members of the Horsham Lions Club work diligently throughout the year to collect and re-distribute new and used eyeglasses to preserve the precious gift of sight and help prevent blindness.”
 
The Lions Club is the world’s largest service club organization. Lions clubs perform numerous charitable deeds and are recognized worldwide for their service to the blind and visually impaired. Their commitment to sight is exemplified through the collection and recycling of new and used eyeglasses for distribution to the visually impaired.
 
In addition to collecting eyeglasses, the Horsham Lions Club provides assistance to those in need requiring cataract surgery, awards scholarships to high school seniors, and provides holiday dinners for the needy. Andy Weiss, treasurer of the Horsham Lions Club said, “We would not be able to accomplish all that we do without the help of companies like Genuardi’s. We are so grateful to Genuardi’s for this generous donation so that we can help others see.” Andy said that the Horsham Lions Club has a membership of 32 and is eager to attract new members. For more information visit their web site at Horshamlions.com or contact Andy at 215-901-6951.

(Lion Andy Weiss, and Maple Glen Genuardi's manager Donna Mundy)
(yes, I know, I should have smiled)

For more than 85 years, Genuardi’s has been serving Delaware Valley consumers. Nearly 5,000 team members operate 37 stores throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, carrying on the company traditions of freshness, quality, great value and legendary customer service. Genuardi’s has been a division of Safeway Inc. since February 2001.
 
ABOUT SAFEWAY www.Safeway.com
Safeway Inc. is a Fortune 50 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America, based on sales. The company operates 1,739 stores in the United States and western Canada and had annual sales of $44.1 billion in 2008. The company’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY. Safeway supports a broad range of charitable and community programs and in 2008 donated more than $248 million to important causes, such as cancer research, education and hunger relief.

New Eyeglass Dropoff Location

The Horsham Lions Club wishes to thank Dr. Mary OKoren at Willow Eye Care for agreeing to host one of our eyeglass collection boxes.
 
Willow Eye Care is located in the Executive Mews at 2300 Computer Avenue, Suite A2, in Willow Grove. Their website is:
 
www.WillowEyeCareOfPA.com

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

2009 Scholarship Winners

Our 2009 scholarship winners have been chosen. They are:
 
Jeffrey Smith - Lansdale Catholic High School Erica Sokoloski - Hatboro Horsham High School Jessica Lloyd - Hatboro Horsham High School
 
Jeffrey Smith is the recipient of our Max Hankin Memorial Scholarship, named after a longtime Horsham entrepreneur and thankless supporter of the Lions Club.
 
Check back soon for photos and mini-biographies of our winners!

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

2009 Horsham Day Dunk Tank



Thanks to everyone who came out to support the Lions at Horsham Day!


Click HERE to see who got DUNKED and who DUNKED them!


Be sure to visit our 2010 DUNK TANK

website next year

(look for it around April)

and sign up to sit in our dunk booth!

Friday, May 29, 2009

Stroke Prevention Seminar

Jenifer Seboek from Life Line Screening came to visit us during our May 7th dinner meeting. She educated the Lions with the basic facts about strokes, common risk factors, and how to prevent them.

Life Line Screening offers up to 5 different tests to screen you for increased stroke risks. Life Line Screening operates traveling test centers which roam the country, and come to our area several times a year. The test scans take between 60-90 minutes and are totally painless. For more information visit:

www.LifeLineScreening.com.


Two New Members Inducted!


Join us in welcoming two newly inducted members to the Horsham Lions Club!

Pictured left to right are new members Allan Weinstein, Donnie Edmunds, and PDG Al Outland, who officiated our induction.

Allan has recently returned to this area from Florida, where he was active in a local Lions Club. He now lives in Jenkintown.

Donnie has joined us along with his business partner Joe Turchi. The two own and operate Tori’s Water Ice located on Route 611 near Maple Ave.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

New Member Inducted

Please join us in welcoming our newest Horsham Lion, Mr. Todd Tuckey. Todd is sponsored by treasurer Andy Weiss. Todd has lived in Horsham for several years. He has a wife and two daughters. Todd owns his own arcade amusements company.

Pictured below (L to R): Inductor PDG Ted Truver, Todd Tuckey, sponsor Andy Weiss.

Sight Night 2008

Last Halloween, girls from three localGirl Scout troops collected more than candy during Trick-or-Treat.

The troops partnered with the Horsham Lions Club to collect used eyeglasses. The girls handed out flyers to houses in their neighborhoods a week before Halloween. The flyers told the neighbors that the girls will be visiting during Trick-or-Treat on Halloween night to collect eyeglasses.

This is the third year the Horsham Lions Club has partnered with Girl Scouts to collect eyeglasses. This effort is called Sight Night, it's led by the Gift of Sight foundation, and you can learn more by visiting their website: www.SightNight.org.

Each troop accumulated the eyeglasses and gave them to the Horsham Lions Club. The Lions will then have the eyeglasses cleaned, repaired, and redistributed to those in need in developing countries like Guatemala and Haiti.

In total, more than one hundred pairs were collected. Pictured below is Jennifer Crosby's troop (top), and Karin Davis' troop (bottom).


Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Meeting Information

We meet on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month, at 7pm. at the Horsham Library.

The Library is located at 435 Babylon Road, Horsham, PA 19044-1224.

We welcome new members!

Come help us help the community, come learn what Lions are about, come apply for membership!

More information? HorshamPALions@gmail.com

Monday, November 10, 2008

Horsham Lions Club Meeting — At The Horsham Library!

The Votes Are In! Many thanks to the 15 members who responded to our survey. The results were resoundingly positive, and we will hold our next and all future meetings at the Horsham Township Library, 435 Babylon Road, Horsham, PA 19044. Our meetings will continue to be held the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of every month, beginning at 7PM. We hope all members will come out and join us! Anyone interested in seeing the complete results of our survey should email TaraMSmith1@gmail.com

Monday, October 27, 2008

Representative Tom Murt Visits

During our October 16th meeting, State Representative Tom Murt visited our club.

The representative is running for re-election this fall in the 152nd district. The Lions thank Representative Murt for coming to meet the Lions and exchange ideas.

The representative hopes his prior two years on the job will encourage voters to re-elect him. He's done many things over his short career as elected official, all of which he is very proud of.

His office is the busiest state representative office in the Pennsylvania. He's fought for legislation to help families with Autistic and special-needs children, as well as legislation that helps adults with Autism, Tourettes, and other special needs. He's helped parents fight for funding and services from their local school districts.

He's worked to get several historical markers placed around Hatboro, including bids to erect memorials for Vietnam and Korean War veterans. He's also started a "Visiting Santa" program, where the representative (dressed as Santa Claus!) comes to visit children who may not be able to get to the shopping malls in order to tell Santa their wish lists.

Tom is a local guy, who knows the area very well. He's a teacher. He's also a member of the Army Reserve, and has served in Iraq with his reserve unit. We found him down-to-earth and easy to talk to, and genuinely eager to help his community. We thank him again for the visit.

*** CLICK HERE for Tom Murt's Website ***

White Cane Day 2008

Lions White Cane Days are a yearly event aimed at meeting the community, sharing the purpose of the Lions, and raising funds for the blind.

This year we were located outside the Wawa on Route 611 on Saturday, October 4th, from 11am through 3pm.

We met many people from the community, handed out coloring books, pencils, and literature, and raised funds to help the blind in Montgomery County.

Thanks go to Lions Tara Smith, John Bill, John Campisi, Joe Nemath, and Steve Girone for their efforts.

Many thanks also go to Wawa Stores for permitting us to conduct this valuable fundraiser.

** CLICK HERE to learn more about White Cane Days! **

Col. Comtois, Willow Grove Air Reserve Station Commander visits club

We were very pleased to welcome Col. Comtois to our club on October 2, 2008. Thanks to Lion Larry Glemser, also of the 111th Fighter Wing, Pa. Air National Guard, who extended the invitation.

The Col. presented an informative slide show to our members, answered questions, and shared stories about the future of the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base. The Col. helped explain that while the base as we currently know it will be changing, and many of these changes have yet to be determined, we will still have an Air Reserve Station.

Also in attendance this night was our neighboring club, the Willow Grove Lion's Club. Upon hearing that the Col. would be available to answer questions at the meeting, President Will Smith of the Willow Grove Club, contact his members to invite them to join us for dinner. It's always nice to host visiting clubs, it was especially nice to see these members again.

Willow Grove Lions Club will be starting a donation collection program, gathering items to be donated to soldiers overseas. Both Larry Glemser and Col. Comtois were able to help direct them on where to get specific questions about their upcoming service project answered. The Horsham Lions Club, as well as other local clubs, will be invited to join in this worthwhile service project.

Thanks to Larry Glemser who initiated this presentation, and thanks also to the entire Willow Grove Club, and especially to Col. Comtois for being our guests.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Halloween Night is Sight Night

Halloween night is Sight Night for the Gift of Sight Foundation and for Lions Clubs International!

The key to this is effort is our local children. The kids are encouraged to place door hangers on the doors of houses they will be visiting on Halloween Night.

The hangers tell the residents that the children will be collecting eyeglasses on Halloween Night.

What better way to canvas the community than to piggyback with the kids who are already canvassing their neighborhoods for treats?

We’ve enlisted the help of several local Girl Scout troops. So far three troops totaling about 45 girls have agreed to help us with this effort. Each girl will be hanging about 20 door hangers in their neighborhoods. If each house visited has only one pair of eyeglasses to donate, that’s 900 eyeglasses to go to the needy.

If you would like to learn more about Sight Night, visit www.SightNight.org.

If you would like to help the Horsham Lions with this Sight Night initiative, contact us at the email address above!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Todd Stephens Visits

During our September 18th meeting, candidate
Todd Stephens visited our club.

Todd is running for State Representative this fall in the 151st district. The Lions thank Todd for filling in as a guest speaker at the last minute, due to a cancellation.

Todd spoke to us primarily about the fate of the Willow Grove Air Base, which is of great concern to all Horsham residents. He urges us as citizens to fight for our right to have a say in the fate of the property that is in our very backyards.

He also spoke about the importance of legislation and funding for schools and roads, "Education and Transportation", which are clearly very important issues to Todd. He also aims to do his best to reform our government in Harrisburg, and fix many of the activities and habits that have persisted for years yet make no common sense.

Todd is a local guy, born and raised in Horsham. He's personable and friendly, vibrant and witty. We thank him for the visit.

*** CLICK HERE for Todd Stephens' Website ***

 

Friday, August 29, 2008

Upcoming Guest Speakers

It's going to be a busy fall schedule for the Horsham Lions!
  • Colonel Comtois from the Willow Grove Air Base is coming to speak to us during our October 2nd dinner meeting. He will be briefing us on the fate of the air base. Our air show parking fundraiser is our key fundraiser, so the potential loss of the air base is important to the Lions.
  • Representative Tom Murt (R) is coming to speak to us during our October 16th dinner meeting.
You don't have to be a member to attend these meetings. Just contact us, and let us know you're coming! Click Here for full information on our meetings.

Roh-Max Donates MORE Eyeglasses


Horsham-based chemical services company Roh-Max (aka Evonik) dropped off YET ANOTHER whole box of used eyeglasses. They’ve hosted one of our collection boxes since March, and have donated over 100 pair so far. Join us in thanking them for helping others to SEE. If you know Ralph Rondeau, give him a pat on the back! Great job!!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Meet Our 2008 Scholarship Recipients

In July 2008, the Horsham Lions Club presented $1,000 scholarships to three seniors, and $2,000 to one senior from the Horsham area, totaling $5,000 in scholarships.

Pictured above, left to right are: Dan Murphy from LaSalle College High School, and Dana Farrell and Katie Sciandro, both from Hatboro-Horsham High School. A fourth student, Brittany Schlorff, could not attend.

The club strives to present several scholarships to local students each year, in an effort to assist in furthering the education of community-minded young adults. The students were chosen anonymously, and the choice was made not only on academic merit, but on the level of community and humanitarian involvement the students have displayed. Since beginning the scholarship program, the Horsham Lions Club has presented more than $140,000 in scholarship money to local students.

Ms. Sciandro received the sole $2,000 scholarship, which was named in memory of Max Hankin (deceased), longtime Horsham entrepreneur and participant in the Lions Club. He and his wife Janet Hankin (also deceased) have helped the Lions in our cause by permitting use of their property to park cars during air shows. Without their support and the support of their family, scholarships such as these would not be possible.

** MORE PHOTOS -- CLICK HERE **

Katie Sciandro attended Hatboro-Horsham High School. She will be attending Syracuse University this fall, studying communications. She wants to be a director after college. She has worked with the television studio at the high school, and belongs to the Interact Club, World Affairs Club, National Honor Society, and Student Council. She was also an editor for the school newspaper. She’s done plenty of volunteer work, including diabetes walks, Relay for Life, and Adopt a Family. She also tutored elementary students in math.

Dana Farrell also attended Hatboro-Horsham High School. She plans on attending Temple University this fall, studying communications as well. She wants to work in a news studio someday. Dana had a childhood illness which forced her to work harder than many other kids. Her determination is commendable. She’s been very involved in school activities, including the student advisory board, school musicals, theater club, and Interact Club. She also participates with Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and Future Business Leaders of America.

Dan Murphy attended LaSalle College High School. He’ll be attending Pitt this fall, studying civil engineering. He’s studied at engineering camp at Drexel and has already interned at a civil engineering firm. He wants to work for a firm which focuses on the environment, and also wants to take his expertise to Bolivia to provide engineering assistance someday. Dan has worked with special needs children and the homeless for a long time. He’s also volunteered for the Special Olympics and several homeless shelters. He’s been on student council, National Honor Society, president of the History Club, and attended leadership camps.

Brittany Schlorff attended Hatboro-Horsham High School, and will be attending Bucknell University in preparation for medical school. She wants to be a resident doctor at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and eventually become a pediatrician. She’s volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, and is also very active in her church. Brittany also had to fight a childhood illness in order to succeed. She’s very involved with softball, and is a member of the National Honor Society, Key Club, and is also a senior mentor. All while maintaining top-notch grades in school.

Brittany is pictured below with scholarship committee chairman Joe Nemath.

Please join us in congratulating these students and encouraging their continued growth!

Editorial Note: This is the first year that our club has opened scholarship applications to students outside of Hatboro-Horsham High School, however all applicants must be residents of Horsham. Also, the scholarship application was revamped this year, including more questions and focusing on different areas than in years’ past.