LAKE OF THE WOODS LIONS CLUB: News

LOW Lions Screen Vision Of 132 Area Pre-Schoolers

Over 130 pre-school children in Locust Grove, Culpeper and Lake of the Woods had their vision checked by members of the Lake of the Woods Lions Club in mid March.

Since the three and four-year-olds aren’t able to verbalize what they see, the Lions used a Welch-Allen photo screener to detect potential vision problems. Seventeen of the children were referred for parents to follow-up with an eye doctor.

Schools participating were: Germanna Early Learning Center, Locust Grove; Culpeper Early Learning Center; Lake of the Woods Church Pre-School; and Lake Co-Op Pre-School at LOW.

Each fall, the LOW Lions Club also conducts vision screening for all Orange County students in Head Start, kindergarten, and third grades.

Leo Clubs Active at Orange High And Locust Grove Middle Schools

The Lake of the Woods Lions Club is proud to announce the operation of two Leo Clubs in Orange County, one at the Locust Grove Middle School and the other in the Orange County High School. The new high school Leo Club operates under the supervision of Teacher Advisor Rachel Freid.

The Leo Club students in the high school have been successful this year in sponsoring several activities designed to meet the needs of those less fortunate in our community by raising money and donating it to the Salvation Army. They also volunteered time in helping with the Career Fair at the high school and have plans to participate in the Volunteer Fair in the coming months.

In a short time the Orange County High School Leo Club has made its presence known. The Leo Club is open to any high school student interested in volunteering their time in service to their community. Interested students can see Mrs. Freid or let their counselor know of their interest in joining.

The Leo Club is a worldwide youth service organization numbering 5700 clubs located in 140 nations. LEO stands for: Leadership, Experience, and Opportunity.

Pianist Ryan Feng Wins Again in LOW Lions Bland Music Contest

For the second straight year, judges awarded Pianist Ryan Feng, 15, of Fredericksburg, a student at Thomas Jefferson High School in Northern Virginia, first place in the instrumental competition in the annual Bland Music Contest sponsored by the Lake of the Woods Lions Club last month.

Soprano Jaclyn Phipps, 12, of Lake of the Woods, a seventh-grade student at Locust Grove Middle School, won the vocal award.

The winners at LOW advanced to Lions zone competition March 20 at The Lake of the Woods Church. Winners there will compete in the District contest in April. The final competition at the state level – where scholarships are awarded – will be held at the Lions of Virginia Convention in May in Richmond.

The Bland Music Scholarship program was established in 1948 by the Lions Clubs of Virginia to promote educational opportunities for musically talented youths of middle- and high-school age.

LOW Lions Screen 1,038 Orange County Students

The LOW Lions Club screened 1,038 Orange County students for potential vision problems this fall.

A total of 249 kindergarten children were screened at Locust Grove, Gordon Barbour, Orange and Unionville elementary schools.. The Lions screened 123 in the Head Start program at Gordon Barbour, Prospect Heights, Locust Grove and Unionville.

A total of 308 third graders at Locust Grove, Lightfoot, and Orange elementary schools, and 358 seventh graders at Locust Grove and Prospect Heights intermediate schools were screened for both vision and hearing.

Overall, 389 students were referred for further vision examinations, and 57 were referred for follow-up hearing testing.

Lions Tree of Love

Each year, in November and December, the Lake of the Woods Lions solicit donations from Club members and the Lake of the Woods community in memory and honor of family members, loved ones, friends and neighbors. These donations are paid into a fund which is used to help needy citizens of Orange County who are facing severe financial hardship during the Christmas season.

This year each donation of $5 was dedicated to a light on a Christmas tree in the name of a person identified by the donor. The tree, donated by Meadows Farms and known as the Tree of Love, was erected in early December at the Wilderness Center and dedicated on December 11, with Pastor Tom Schafer of Lake of the Woods Church officiating. The tree remained in place until January 3.

A total of $665 was donated and 103 lights were placed on the tree and illuminated from dusk until dawn for 23 consecutive days. From these proceeds a donation of $600, in the form of supermarket gift cards, was made to a family in Rhoadesville. A 78 year-old widow, already caring for her 40 year-old mentally handicapped son, has taken on the care of 7 of her grandchildren, whose mother has been deemed unfit to care for them. The grandmother will continue to care for the children until they can be placed in foster care.

LOW Lions Present Innovation Grants to Seven County Teachers

The LOW Lions Club presented its first Teacher Innovation Grants, totaling $1,500, to seven Orange County Public School teachers at its November 18 at the LOW Clubhouse. The recipients were selected from 28 applicants.

The grants, approved by the Lions board earlier this year, are designed to assist with the development of projects to increase achievement, promote tolerance, and exhibit new technology in the classroom. Or, in the words of Lion Beth Ridpath who came up with vision for the program, it is designed “to strengthen the quality of education for children in Orange County.”

In bringing her vision to life, Ridpath chaired the LOW Lions committee that selected the teachers to receive the grants.

“The Lake of the Woods Lions Club is making two very powerful statements with the teacher innovation grants program, said Robert Grimesey, superintendent of Orange County Public Schools. “First, the Lions are investing in innovative teaching at a time when many other sources of financial support are dwindling. Second, they are stating their confidence in public school teachers at a time when the popular media and many in government are criticizing them with increasing regularity.”

The Orange County Education Foundation also has been inspired by the LOW Lions Club, Dr. Grimesey added. He said the Foundation board, which endorsed the LOW Lions program, has engaged in a fundraising campaign in an effort to match the Lions’ $1,500 commitment to the teacher innovation program. The Foundation hopes to issue a call for another set of grant applications after January, 2011, Grimesey said.

Winners of this fall’s teacher innovation grants, representing four different schools and the head start program, were: Chrys Dermody, Orange County High School, $150 to enrich the foreign language curriculum through study of Hispanic Artists; Karyn Spahr, also from OCHS, $230 to purchase Study Island, a web-based Standards of Learning test preparation program; Michael Rogers, Prospect Heights Middle School, $250 to field trip experiences in experimental learning; Faithe Foster, Locust Grove Middle School, $250 for a Collaborative Communication program to promote cross county research projects; Cheri Norris, Locust Grove Elementary School, $140 for a subscription to News-2-You, an online newspaper; Peggi Knight, Locust Grove Elementary School, $250 for I-Pod Shuffle Phonemic Awareness program to promote reading to students; and Carol Jewell, Head Start, $230 to purchase books and education materials to support her What is Kindness? program.

Proceeds From LOW Lions Yard Sale Used To Serve Others

The LOW Lions Club extends its thanks to the community for its donations over the past year, and for its tremendous support for our annual Yard Sale on October 2 at Germanna Community College.

The event was a huge success, generating over $7,000 for the Lions Benevolence Fund.

To give you an idea of how the Lions Club uses proceeds from the Yard Sale and its other fundraising activities to serve others, here is a list of our charitable programs and projects:

Sight Conservation: Eye exams and glasses for the needy; screening of all Head Start, Kindergarten, 3rd & 7th graders in Orange County; eyeglass recycling center produces 43,000 pair every year; Sight & Hearing Mobile Screening Unit; Lions of Virginia Rural Area Medical clinic for the needy; financial support for Virginia Lions Sight Foundation and Old Dominion Eye Bank; support for the Leader Dog School in Rochester, MI.

Hearing: Exams and hearing aids for the needy; hearing education for 4th graders in Orange County; financial support for Virginia Lions Hearing Foundation and Research Center at UVA.

Food Pantry: Lions and Lioness Clubs serve needy families at the Wilderness Food Pantry at Locust Grove Town Center on Rt. 20.

Medical Equipment: Club loans hospital beds, wheel chairs, etc., to area residents.

Youth Programs: Scholarships for Orange County High School and Germanna Community College students; annual Bland Music Scholarship contest for vocal and instrumental students; sponsors Leo Clubs at Orange County Schools; financial support for youth activities – Lake Youth Foundation, Ski Club, scouts, etc.

Community Service Programs: Blood pressure clinic at Clubhouse and LOW Church; emergency financial assistance for needy area families; provides house address posts to assist Fire & Rescue; assists American Red Cross Blood Donor Drives; supports LOW Fire & Rescue, homeless shelter, Hospice.

Disaster Relief: Provides financial support for Lions or Virginia Foundation, and Lions Clubs International Foundation for disaster relief, research and humanitarian programs.

Serving others is what we do with the proceeds from our fundraisers. And we couldn’t do it without the great support we receive from the community. THANK YOU!

Lions Golf Tournament Raises $7,400 To Support Charitable Programs

The golf tournament on September 10 to benefit the LOW Lions Club’s many charitable services was a huge success, thanks to the 104 golfers who participated and the 55 businesses and individuals who were sponsors of the event at the LOW Golf Course.

The tournament produced net proceeds of $7,400 for the LOW Lions Club’s benevolence fund, which supports sight and hearing programs and other charitable activities at LOW and the surrounding area.

Two teams posted scores of 58, but the tie was broken with a putting contest. The winning team of Ernie Johnson, Fred Getty, Rich Harrington and Paul Hibbs III won a free round of golf for a foursome at LOW Golf Course.

In addition to second and third place prizes – free rounds at Meadows Farms and Fawn Lake courses – golfers were rewarded for being closest to a line and closest to the pin on selected holes. And raffle prizes valued at over $1,000 were presented to 13 lucky winners.

Major tournament sponsors were: Marvin & Bonnie Snoddy, Sunset Builders, Fredericksburg Distributing Co., Coca Cola Distributing Co., Johnson Funeral Home, Realtor Tom Roach, Hugh Teller, DDS, and Senator Ed Houck.

Hole sponsors were: Belmont Farms of Virginia, Car Doctor, Dunaway’s Heating & Cooling, Golden Girls, Realtor JoAnn Hargrave-Roth, Johnson Funeral Home, Laurel Hill Funeral Home, District 5 Supervisor Lee Frame, Log Cabin Tax Service, McDonald’s of Orange & Locust Grove, Mid-Atlantic Securities, Wilderness Pharmacy, Realtor Catherine E. Welch, Robinson’s Tavern, Dr. Michael Lessly Optometrist, Wachovia Bank, Connor’s Pest Control, Stellar One Bank, Total Eye, Dominion Floors, Reliant Property Services, Lakeside Manual Physical Therapy, Car Doctor, LOW Marine & Service Plaza, CINTAS, Moose Lodge of Fredericksburg, PDQ Copy & Printing, Cork & Martha Grandy, John & Cindy Quattlebaum, John & Jean Stutz, and past and current officers, LOW Lions Club.

Sponsors providing prizes were: LOW Golf Course, Meadows Farms Golf Course, Fawn Lake Golf Course, Lake of the Woods Association, Fredericksburg Golf Center, Lucio Restaurant, Mama’s Pizza and Subs, Play It Again Sports, T.G.I. Friday’s, Clearwater Grill, The Pub, Domino’s Pizza, Cracker Barrel, Dominion Auto, Jack Kelly Insurance, Attorney Fred Getty, Ken & Joan Burnett, and LOW Golf Pro Rea Hargraves.

Many thanks to the planning team – Chuck Smith, Chuck Liddick, Tom Walker, Bernie Oravec, Carol Curry, Selven Powell, John Quattlebaum, Orville Dee, John Baer– and the many other volunteers who made this event such a success.

LOW Lions, Lionesses Serve Needy At Giant Health Clinic in Appalachia

The Wise County fairgrounds in southwestern Virginia was converted to a giant health clinic for over 2,340 people from the Appalachian region of Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia for three days last month. The unemployed, uninsured and underinsured drove hundreds of miles – sleeping in their cars overnight in many cases -- to get free health care for themselves and their children.

The 11th annual Rural Area Medical (RAM) Health Fair at Wise also attracted over 1,490 volunteers, including doctors, dentists, nurses, technicians, and many others there to help in any way they could.

Lake of the Woods was well represented by 13 members of the LOW Lions and Lioness clubs. Most worked in the Lions District 24C Sight & Hearing Mobile Unit, screening 349 patients for vision and hearing problems; others registered patients or escorted them from place to place.

Of the 1,063 people screened for vision by three Lions mobile units, 928 went home with a new pair of eyeglasses they likely had needed for a long time.

The 2,347 patients took advantage of many types of free health care, adding up to 6,869 patient “encounters” over the three days. Children were 2.6 percent of the patients Dental care was provided to 1,466 patients – 2,643 extractions, 1,551 fillings, and 154 cleanings. Officials estimated that the value of the health care received was over $1.446 million.

Members of the LOW Lions Club who served were Tom Walker, Sue Simmons, Jerry Davis, Orville and Mary Dee, Larry Deem, Joe and Nola Davidson, Lee Frame and Don Namuth. Participating from the LOW Lioness Club were Millie Davis, Ann Walker and Joann Deem.

Bernie Oravec Installed President of LOW Lions Club

Bernie Oravec was installed as the 29th president of the LOW Lions Club at the club’s annual Charter Night June 17. Oravec succeeds Jerry Davis as King Lion of the 120-member club – the largest in the state.

Other officers installed were: Orville Dee, first vice president; George Schneider, second vice president; Dave Francis, third vice president; Sue Simmons, secretary; Bill Walker, treasurer; Jim Logan, Lion tamer; Cindy Quattlebaum, tail twister; and Curry Curry, membership director.

Beth Oravec and Eldon Rucker were installed as one-year directors, and Henrick Thode and Tom Roach as two-year directors. Immediate Past President Davis will also serve on the board.

LOW Lions past president Richard Hornaday was presented posthumously the Melvin Jones Award—the highest recognition in Lionism-- at the dinner. Bill Ward received the club’s Lion of the Year Award; Joe Davidson the Lions of Virginia Distinguished Humanitarian Award; and Hank Lewis was honored with the Non-Lion Community Service Award.

Marty Stoll and Ed Harn, charter members who still are active in the club, attended the dinner, and Stoll received the club’s Distinguished Service Award.

The LOW Lions Club, which has been serving the community for over 28 years, is part of Lions International, the largest service organization in the world.

Lions Center at LOW Recycles 42,300 Eyeglasses in Past Year

In the past year, the Lake of the Woods Lions Club Eyeglass Recycling Center has brought back to life 42,300 pair of glasses for distribution to needy persons throughout the world, many of whom had never had glasses before.

This brings to 388,750 the number of eyeglasses that have been recycled since the Lions Club opened the center here ten years ago. Members of the Lions Club and Lioness Club have staffed the center four mornings a week for the past seven years, and members of the AARP chapter one morning a month during most of that period.

Members of the Lions and Lioness clubs and AARP devoted over 2700 hours of volunteer time to this project in the past year.

The recycled eyeglasses have been returned to the regional center in Arlington, where they are shipped in response to requests from various countries in the western hemisphere.

In addition to eyeglasses donated in boxes located at area businesses, the Lions Club picks up other glasses monthly from the regional center in Falls Church. Area residents may donate used glasses at Lions boxes at Wachovia Bank, Lessly Eye Care, Wilderness Pharmacy, LOW Hair Studio, Front Gate Security at LOW, Eyeglass Doctors of Optometry in Central Park, and Dr. Stephen Lord in Orange.

At the LOW recycling center, glasses are washed, checked for scratches, dried, and the prescriptions read by three lensometers owned by the LOW Lions Club. The recycled glasses are placed in individual plastic envelopes with the type lens -- single or bi-focal -- and the prescription designated on each envelope.

The project at LOW gives Lions and Lionesses a global opportunity to serve others.

Children Hear About Noise Dangers and the Stirrup, Anvil, and Hammer

What is the smallest bone in the human body? If there's a child in your house who has just completed the fourth grade, the chances are that he or she knows.

That's because the LOW Lions Club, in the person of Lions Hearing & Speech Committee Co-Chairman Sue Simmons, recently taught a class called "Noise and You'' to fourth graders throughout Orange County. Simmons, aided by other Lions who worked a slide projector, appeared before 371 students in the Locust Grove, Gordon-Barbour, Lightfoot, and Orange elementary schools.

The one-session class was designed by the Virginia Lions Hearing Foundation & Research Center in Charlottesville. This is the seventh year that the LOW Lions have presented it, as part of the club's efforts to promote good hearing. The club also screens children and others for hearing defects, using sophisticated equipment.

Simmons told youngsters how sound is measured and how repeated exposure to loud noise, whether from amplified music or lawnmowers, motorcycles or jackhammers, can result in hearing loss. She also told how using earplugs, earmuffs, or ear canal caps, as well as muffling noise or moving away from it, can provide protection. In addition, she distributed pamphlets to take to parents, to inform them about hearing impairment and even deafness among children. Some kids need hearing aids, implants, or surgery, the pamphlet points out.

The smallest bone? The children learned it's the stirrup, which is comparable in size to a ballpoint pen's point and which is named for its shape. Along with other middle-ear bones called the hammer and the anvil, the stirrup picks up sound vibrations that are passed on to fluid that creates electrical impulses that we "hear.''

Some children told Simmons about dads or granddads who have been exposed to excessive noise in the workplace and now wear hearing aids. One had a question: Since the stirrup is so small and is exposed to so much vibration, why doesn't it break? Simmons is going to have to do some research.

LOW Lions Induct Seven New Members

The LOW Lions Club, at its June 3 meeting, inducted seven new members--the most at one time in recent memory. They brought the service club's membership to 122.

In all, the club has added 21 members in the past year. However, it has lost 19 in the same period, principally because of death, ill health, or moves away from the area. The seven new Lions: Howard Balogh, Charles Gane, Olga Gane, Harry Lovell, John Pierce, Danielle Schneider, and Sally Shope.

Local Winner in Lions' Contest Reaches State Level--Again

Soprano Megan Buhmann placed third in the vocal competition at the Lions of Virginia state convention in Roanoke. It was the second time that Megan, having won top honors in a preliminary Bland contest here, won a $1,500 third- place scholarship at the state level. A Massaponax High School senior, she will attend Christopher Newport College in the fall.

Tots Screened for Vision Problems

LOW Lions Club vision screenings at four local early learning centers this spring have disclosed eye problems that resulted in 15 youngsters being referred for professional evaluation. The 15 were among 114 children, age 3 to 5, examined at the LOW Church and LOW Co-Op preschools and the Germanna and Culpeper early learning centers.

The Lions have been conducting such screenings for more than a decade. This year's effort, conducted by six club members, was enhanced with new technology: An eye test's results appear on a thermal paper printout and are compared to a chart that reveals whether the child passed or failed the test. Previously, pictures of a child's eyes were evaluated.

This fall, the Lions will be conducting similar vision screenings among youngsters in the Head Start program.

Lions Clean Up Stretch of Route 3

If you used to notice trash along the roadway as you headed west from LOW on Route 3, but don't see it now, you can thank the LOW Lions Club. A six-member cleanup team--four Lions and two members of the LOW Lioness Club--were out on a recent Saturday, toting 45-gallon bags and grabbers for picking up unsightly items.

In roughly 90 minutes, they covered a mile--both sides of the highway and the median strip, starting from the LOW main gate--and filled 12 bags with beer bottles, plastic cups, cans, and other material that never should been tossed out car windows. The Lions Club plans another cleanup, on the same stretch, this fall.

Screenings for the "Silent Killer" Improves as NUNs, Lions Team Up

The LOW Lions Club's free blood-pressure screenings, offered for lo these many years in the Clubhouse foyer two Wednesday evenings a month, have entered a new era. It features:

- New locations plus a change in day and time for one screening.

- Screeners with vastly more training using more sophisticated equipment.

One monthly screening is still being held on the first Wednesday in the Clubhouse, at the same time, 5:30 to 6:30 PM. It has moved from the foyer, hower, to the Presidential Room, just off the entrance to the foyer. The second screening is now being held in Room 216 at the LOW Church, on the third Sunday, from 9:30 AM to 11.

Doing the screening now are members of a group of retired nurses, the NUNs--Nurses United Networks--and they are reading blood pressure the way it is done in doctor's offices and hospitals. The Lions who conducted the screenings before did so with electronic home-use monitors, which can give erratic readings if used again and again in a short period.

Lions still play an important role in the screenings, steering people to them and helping out in other ways as needed. The NUNS, led by Lioness Zoila Ortega, were formed among LOW Lioness Club members and have been joined by other retired nurses who are not Lionesses. They are providing cards on which 12 monthly readings can be recorded, for sharing with doctors.

Their offer to partner with the Lions in the screenings was enthusiastically accepted. Peter Williams, who co-chairs the Lions' blood pressure committee, says the club is grateful not only to them, but to the LOW Church. Its location can be reached without a significant drawback that the Clubhouse location has: Climbing steps from the parking lots before taking the test can elevate readings. Also, some people who frequently attend the church might only rarely visit the Clubhouse.

Williams says he hopes the changes will encourage many more LOW residents to take tests that will help protect them against the "Silent Killer'', as high blood pressure has been called.

19 Area Students Impressive in Lions' Bland Music Contest

Nineteen talented students from our area participated in the annual Bland Music Contest sponsored by the Lake of the Woods Lions Club, on February 28 at the LOW Church. Their competition in vocal and instrumental categories drew lengthy applause from an audience of nearly 100.

Pianist Ryan Feng, 14, of Fredericksburg, a student at Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax, won first place in the instrumental catgory. Soprano Megan Buhmann, 17, of Fredericksburg, a student at Massaponax High School, won first place in the vocal category – for the second straight year.

Both advanced to a Lions zone competition on March 21 at Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Madison. Winners there will compete in a Lions district contest April 11 at James Madison University. The final, state-level competition– where scholarships are awarded – will be held at the Lions of Virginia Convention in May in Roanoke.

The Lions Clubs of Virginia established the Bland Music Scholarship program in 1948 to promote educational opportunities for musically talented youths of middle- and high-school age.

Photo by Chuck Schulle

Eighteen of the 19 contestants are shown following the event at LOW Church. Ryan Feng, fifth from left in the back row, won in the instrumental category, and Megan Buhmann, second from right in first row, finished first in the vocal category.

Leo Club Being Formed at High School

A Leo Club, in which students perform services to the community and can earn credit toward graduation by doing so, is being established at the Orange County High School under LOW Lions Club sponsorship.

Some of its recruits are expected to be students who joined a Leo Club formed at the Locust Grove Middle School last year--also under the LOW Lions' sponsorship--and who have now entered high school. A Leo Club must have 20 members to receive a charter from Lions Clubs International, governing body of all Lions clubs,

Social studies teacher Chad Phares is scheduled to supervise the new club, whose name stands for Leadership, Experience, and Opportunity. The LOW Lions thank Orange High Principal Eugene Katulka for giving them the opportunity to establish it. They also thank Middle School Principal Martha Roby for her continuing support of the Leo Club at her school.

Where the Money Goes: How Your Support Helps LOW Lions to Serve

The LOW Lions Club extends its thanks to the community for its donations over the past year, and for its tremendous support for our annual yard sale on October 3 at Germanna Community College. The event was a huge success, generating almost $7,000 for the Lions Benevolence Fund. To give you an idea of how the club uses proceeds from the yard sale and its other fundraising activities to serve others, here is a list of our charitable programs and projects:

SIGHT CONSERVATION - Eye exams and glasses for the needy; screening of all Head Start, kindergarten, and third-and seventh-grade students in Orange County; eyeglass recycling center produces 43,000 pairs every year; Sight & Hearing Mobile Screening Unit; Lions of Virginia Rural Area Medical clinic for the needy; financial support for Virginia Lions Sight Foundation and Old Dominion Eye Bank; support for the Leader Dog School in Rochester, MI.

HEARING - Exams and hearing aids for the needy; hearing education for Orange County fourth- graders; financial support for Virginia Lions Hearing Foundation and Research Center at University of Virginia.

FOOD PANTRY - Lions and Lioness Clubs serve needy families at the Wilderness Food Pantry at Locust Grove Town Center on Rt. 20.

MEDICAL EQUIPMENT - Club lends hospital beds, wheelchairs, etc., to area residents.

YOUTH PROGRAMS - Scholarships for Orange County High School and Germanna Community College students; annual Bland Music Scholarship contest for vocal and instrumental students; sponsorship of LEO Clubs at Orange County schools; financial support for youth activities: Lake Youth Foundation, Ski Club, Scouts, etc.

COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAMS - Club operates blood pressure clinic; gives emergency financial aid to needy area families; provides house address posts to assist LOW Fire & Rescue; assists American Red Cross blood donor drives; supports Fire & Rescue, homeless shelter, Hospice of the Rapidan.

DISASTER RELIEF - Provides financial support for Lions of Virginia Foundation and Lions Clubs International Foundation for disaster relief, research and humanitarian programs.

Serving others is what we do with the proceeds from our fundraisers. And we couldn’t do it without the great support we receive from the community. THANK YOU!