Kimberton Lions Welcome Page

Please Note: As a continuing fundraiser for our projects and charities, the Kimberton Area Lions Club is offering club members, family members and friends the opportunity to purchase famous Fuller Brush products on-line. This is not your grandfather's Fuller Brush Company. Tremendous variety of products and same quality that made Fuller Brush famous, You can order on-line, select a payment method and have the products delivered directly to you or a designated address. Just go to the following web site and check it out:

http://www.fullerdirect.com/1112571

And remember, you'll be supporting the Kimberton Area Lions by helping us help others.

Lions are members of community service clubs, dedicated to the idea that the men and women who live in a community are in the best position to know who needs help and why. More than 46,000 strong, these local clubs are part of the world's largest such organization, with 1.4 million members serving in more than 190 countries and areas. The association is both non-political and non-sectarian. Lions are now best known for their sight-related programs, including SightFirst, the world's largest blindness prevention program.

Each and every dollar raised by the Kimberton Lions is donated to local Phoenixville, Valley Forge and Kimberton area community and charitable organizations. A totally separate fund, comprised of member dues, is used for the administration of the Club.

Over $14,000 was donated to charities during 2011 by the Kimberton Lions.
Also, several contributions are 'ear marked' for 2011 on an as-needed basis including:
Eyeglasses for our neighbors, Assist Dog, East Pikeland Police Outreach, and other individuals and families
in need of assistance. In addition to monetary contributions, we collected 72 pounds of eye glasses for the Lions Eye Glass Recycling Program.
For a list of charitable recipients, please click here.

If you would like to become a member of the Kimberton Lions,
please call: 610-935-2346 or send us an e-mail .....

Event Date	Event	Leader/Contact
January 25, 2012	Regular Meeting: Spring Hollow Golf Course, starts 7 PM.	Bob Toff
February 8, 2012	Regular Meeting: Spring Hollow Golf Course, starts 7 PM. Speaker:	Bob Toff
February 22, 2012	Regular Meeting: Spring Hollow Golf Course, starts 7 PM. Speaker: PA Sen. Andrew Dinniman (rescheduled from February 8)	Bob Toff

Following are the 2011-2012 meeting dates.
All meetings are held on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month
at the Spring Hollow Golf Course; 3350 Schuylkill Road (Route 724), Spring City.
Meetings start 7:00 P.M.

September 14, 2011 September 28 District Governor Visit		March 14, 28, 2012
October 12, 26, 2011		April 11, 25, 2012
November 9, 2011		May 9, 2012
December 14, 2011		June 13, 2010
December 28, 2011 Holiday Dinner at Spring Hollow GC		June 27, 2012 Bar-B-Q
January 11, 25, 2012		July 29, 2012 Family Day
February 8, 22, 2012

Another great evening on December 28, 2011 when members and spouses/dates attended our annual Holiday Dinner at Spring Hollow Golf Club. The venue was beautiful, the food was delicious and the company was the best! Once again we held a Weird Pollyanna, sometimes known as the White Elephant Pollyanna. What was really weird is that almost everyone was happy with the gift they selected. No one traded a gift until the Santa's hat selected by John Naborak found its way to Babe Eves and then Tom Mitchell. The fire works selected by Bob Toff was tested at the insistance of Gus Meyer. Making sure that Rich Fagley wasn't paying attention, several of us went outside and ran a test. It worked! The little rocket type thingy went straight up to Mars. It really doesn't take much to keep us entertained.

At our December 14, 2011 meeting, we were pleased to host PID Gene Polgar, SVP of the Lions Eye Bank of Delaware Valley Association.
Gene (pictured) was introduced by PDG Dave Smith, past CEO of the Lions Eye Bank of DV Association.
Gene gave us a very informative presentation about the Association. While most of us know of the Association few of us know what they do and how they do it. Gene's presentation answered many questions on the minds of those in attendance.
At the conclusion of PID Gene's presentation, PDG Dave invited the Kimberton Lions to visit the Association's facility in Philadelphia.

Mission of the Eye Bank

“The Lions Eye Bank of Delaware Valley is committed to enhancing a person’s quality of life by restoring or improving vision through corneal transplantation, medical research and education.”

Every year in the United States more than 34,000 people have their sight restored through corneal transplantation, and hundreds of thousands of people benefit from medical research and education made possible by donated eye tissue. In our area, the Lions Eye Bank of Delaware Valley works 365 days a year to provide local residents with the highest quality and safest corneal tissue available. In fact, since 1957 we have helped coordinate more than 30,000 surgeries. We uphold the highest eye tissue quality standards and work diligently to make the corneal transplant process as easy as possible for all of our recipients.

At our November 18, 2011 James E 'Bing' Miller Charitable Foundation Annual Dinner and Fundraiser, the Kimberton Area Lions Club was honored to present the Foundation with a check for $2, 350. Pictured are Bob Toff, Kimberton Lions President and Gus Meyer, Bing Miller Foundation Board President.

At our October 12 meeting, four (4) people were inducted as members of the Kimberton Area Lions Club.

Each new member was encouraged to participate in functions of the club and, to the best of his ability, abide by the Lions Code of Ethics, attend meetings whenever possible and contribute his share to the programs of our club, district and Lions Clubs International.

Pictured are, standing l-r, Bob Toff, Kimberton Lions President, new members Don Gracia, Bob Albright, Ron Hedges and sitting, Tom Mitchell.

Congratulations and welcome to the best club in the best organization in the world.

The Kimberton Lions hosted our new District 14-P Governor Phil Shober at our September 28, 2011 meeting. DG Phil was accompanied by our Zone Chairman Len Crowther and Lion Candy Schober.

DG Phil spoke of his meeting with Lions International President Wing-Kun Tam. IP Wing-Kun Tam's motto is 'I believe' which, after participation from all of the members will turn into 'We Believe'. DG Phil presented Kimberton Lions President Bob Toff with an 'I Believe' pin. IP Wing-Kun Tam requested that this pin be given to each Lions Club President.

DG Phil spoke of his project, KidsSight. Equipment has been purchased and rollout of the program should begin soon. One of the projects of IP Wing-Kun Tam is the planting of trees to support the environment. His want Lions to plant of 1 million trees. DG Phil stated the District 14-P will plant at least 500 trees. DG Phil stressed the retaining of members and the use of modern methods to do so such as web pages and Facebook. ZC Len stated that all clubs in our zone have web sites. Of course, Kimberton was among the first in the district. We'll also have a Facebook presence very soon.

The above picture shows, from left to right, ZC Len Crowther, DG Phil Shober and Kimberton Lions President Bob Toff.

A beautiful day at Water World for our annual Family Day. Members, spouses, children and grandchildren had a great time enjoying the refreshing pools, delicious food and, of course, wonderful company. Thanks to all who attended and contributed to a super event. Special thanks to Gus Meyer for providing all of the Water World facilities to assure a great day.

Dogwood Fair Concession Fund Raiser - May 16 - May 21, 2011

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Another 'WOW' event. This year the Kimberton Lions once again sold hamburgers, hot dogs and birch beer at the Phoenixville Dogwood Fair. This was a great year! Thanks to all of the volunteers and customers, we sold over 2,000 hamburgers, 800 hot dogs and 80 pounds of cheese. We netted nearly $2,400 for our charities.

A big THANK YOU to all of the helpers. We couldn't have done it without you.

A great big THANK YOU to Tom Mirabile of Superior Beverages who donated the birch beer.

Foresta's Market, Phoenixville Federal's Route 113 Branch and the intersection of routes 23 and 724.

The weather didn't exactly cooperate; but, thanks to all who purchased and helped sell our flowers, we raised nearly $2,400 for our charities. And a special 'THANK YOU' to our chairpersons Josh Lord, Don Szabo and Gus Meyer. We also want to thank Phoenixville Federal, Foresta's and the townships of Schuylkill and East Pikeland. It couldn't be done without everyone's participation.

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The Kimberton Lions Club had a day of service by helping the Phoenixville Area Community Service organization with their fundraiser, The American Classic Festival. Our duties included the registering of the classic cars, handing out voting tickets and tallying the results.

We were very pleased that two of our own members were awarded trophies. Lion Irv Raskob took second place in the Hot Rod category for his Muscle Car, a 1971 Chevy Nova with a 502 CC engine that builds a whopping 505 horse power. Lion Richard Rosmos' classic 1956 T-Bird won Best In Show. Congratulations to both gentlemen.

In the first picture above are (l to r) Lions Irv Raskob, Frank Small and Bob Albright. The second picture shows Richard Rosmos and his T-Bird. The third picture shows Irv Raskob and his Nova.

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During the meeting of March 23, 2011, current president Bob Toff was pleased to present a plaque to Don Szabo in appreciation for his service to the club as president for the 2009 & 2010 seasons.

After much struggling and most necessary caution, Don presented the club with the lost lion. See the video for this nerve-racking event.

This year's special meeting to attract potential new members of the Kimberton Lions was held on March 9, 2011 at our usual meeting place, beautiful Spring Hollow Golf Club.

After the welcome by Lion Jim Kovaleski and the meeting opening by President Bob Toff we enjoyed the hors d'oeuvres and conversation among the current and potential members.
We then moved to the banquet room for a most informative and inspiring presentation of the Lions' history by Past District Governor Carl Gundrum. This was followed by a tongue-in-cheek slide show of our own members by Lion Ernie Basile. All in all it was a very enjoyable and successful evening. Of the five potential members who were able to attend, we received four completed applications. The fifth application will be coming soon.

The picture shows PDG Carl doing his thing. Click the picture to make it larger. Also, click here for more pictures.

On Wednesday, December 22, 2010 we held our Holiday Dinner at Spring Hollow Golf Club for members and spouses/dates. The dinner began at 7 PM and was preceded by a pay bar. The highlight of the night was the 'Weird' Pollyanna, sometimes called the White Elephant Pollyanna and other names. All the gifts were so good that the first trade didn't take place until more than half the people had picked a gift. Gus Meyer was thrilled with his box of chocolates. So, Jim Woodall took it from him. Jim was so happy with the candy that Dick Bader took it from him. Bob Toff was very happy with the singing Santa Clause hat. So, Kara Woodall, who brought the gift to begin with, took it from him. WHAT?? However, feeling sorry for Bob but telling him that his grand children would enjoy it and that her children already had one, Kara gave the hat to Bob. Whatta gal!!
The food was outstanding and included salad, pre-choice of a 11/4 pound whole Main lobster, breast of chcken w/brandy cream and mustard, talapia stuffed with crabmeat and filet mignon with port wine demi-glace. All followed with chocolate cake and cheese cake. WOW!!

The Kimberton Lions Club was pleased to host District Governor Nancy Gauthier at our December 8, 2010 meeting.
Also in attendance were 1^st Vice District Governor Phil Shober, Zone Chairman Len Crowther, District Secretary Dave Deihm and DG Nancy's husband Lion Dave.

During the meeting, DG Nancy formally welcomed new members Cookie Fagley and Rhonda Martin. DG Nancy also presented Bing Miller Awards to Jim Woodall, Wally Kohansby, Roger Rapp, Ernie Basile and Richard Rosmos. Congratulations to all!

Pictured above are (left to right) ZC Len Crowther, DG Nancy Gauthier and Kimberton Lions President Bob Toff.
For a slide show of the evening's festivities, please click here.

On Saturday, September 25, 2010 over 140 racers, walkers and kids participated in the Twelfth Annual Kimberton Run. This 5K Run/Walk and 1/2 mile Kid's Run gain took place on a perfect day for running in lovely East Pikeland Township in Chester County, PA.

This is a great run or walk through the beautiful countryside of East Pikeland including over an historical covered bridge.

Thanks to the racers and great sponsors, this year we raised nearly $2,000 to support the various charities of the Kimberton Lions.

On July 1, 2010, the Kimberton Lions presented 100 Reading Phillies tickets to the Phoenixville Parks and Recreation organization. The tickets are for the Lions District 14-P Eyeglass Collection Night. Each ticket holder is asked to bring an old pair of eyeglasses as a stipulation for free entry to the Reading Phillies baseball game.
Pictured above are Kimberton Lions President Bob Toff and Melissa Gibbons, Director of Parks and Recreation. The picture was taken in the Phoenixville Rec Center.

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Our annual Water World meeting was held on June 23, 2010 for Kimberton Lions' members and spouses. In addition to great food, weather and, most importantly, great people, four of our members were awarded the prestigious James E. 'Bing' Miller award for outstanding service to Lionism. The awards were presented by the James E. 'Bing' Miller Foundation President Gus Meyer to: Dick Bader, Dennis 'Babe" Eves, John Neborak and Eugene 'Bucky' White.

At this meeting the membership unanimously voted to make a donation in the name of our recently deceased member and friend, Wally Heidelmark, to his wife Janet.

Pictured above are: Dick Bader, Babe Eves, Kimberton Lions' President Don Szabo and John Neborak.
Click here for a slide show.

Foresta's Market, Phoenixville Federal's Route 113 Branch and the intersection of routes 23 and 724.

WOW! Thanks to the great weather and thanks to all who purchased and helped sell our flowers, we raised nearly $2,800 for our charities. And a special 'THANK YOU' to our chairpersons Josh Lord, Don Szabo and Gus Meyer. We also want to thank Phoenixville Federal, Foresta's and the townships of Schuylkill and East Pikeland. It couldn't be done without everyone's participation.

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Once again, during the month of April, 2010, we collected food and non-perishable items for PACS.

We are pleased to report that our PACS Drive resulted in delivery of over 625 food and non-perishable items. Thanks to all the contributors and collection sites for their kind support.

The Center of Attention- Route 113, Kimberton
G Lodge - Route 23
Phoenixville Federal Savings and Loan- Main St. Branch
Phoenixville Federal Savings and Loan- Kimberton Branch
Rocco’s Pizza- Route 113, Kimberton
VFW- Starr Street, Phoenixville
Your Shear Pleasure Salon- Route 23
YMCA - Phoenixville

At our March 24, 2010 meeting, President Don Szabo welcomes our newest member, Rhonda Martin. Rhonda is currently our only female Lion.

At the same meeting, a President's Appreciation Award was presented to Wayne Wisdom for his oustanding service as club President for the two years of 2006 & 2007.

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Wow; what a great time! If you were there, you know what I mean. If you weren't, too bad!
You missed a great time. Great place; great food; and, most of all, great company.
A highlight was the presentation of a check for over $2,400 for our sale of the calendars. The picture on the left shows Russell Sipes presenting the check to our president Don Szabo.

Please note that our next meeting (Wednesday, January 13, 2010) is being held at Spring Hollow. There is a possibility that we will be changing back to Spring Hollow for future meetings and that all meetings will once again be held on Wednesdays.
STAY TUNED!!

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At our September 10 2009 meeting we were honored by the presence of District Governor Jim Dallesandro, Second Vice District Governor Phil Shober and Zone Chairman Art Pecht. Pictured above (l-r) are VDG2 Phil Shober, DG Jim Dallesandro and Kimberton Lions Club President Don Szabo.
ZC Art reminded us that the State Convention ,that our district is hosting, is being held on May 13 of next year. We are hosts every 18 years.
VDG2 Phil presented our club with both a Diamond Award and a Sight Seeker Award. Both are for our outstanding effort in support of the Eye Bank of Delaware Valley.
DG Jim spoke of a general downturn in membership and the need for funds by Beacon Lodge. He also talked about his trip to Leader Dogs and described some of the incredible things that these dogs can do. He asked for support of his personal project to help a young man who has a desease that made him incapable of helping himself. He is in need of a special stroller and asked for $50 from each district club. Ernie Basile made a motion that was unanimously passed to provide $100 to this project. DG Jim suggested we look into starting a LEO club in our local high school. This is a great source of future Lions.

Meeting of 05/28/2009 - Very Special
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We were pleased to host several guests at our May 28, 2009 meeting. In the picture above, Kimberton Area Lions Club President Don Szabo and Director Gus Meyer present a check to Sue Kamerdze. Sue contracted Lyme's Desease several years ago and has been the inspiration behind our fight against this dreaded condition.

Also attending our meeting and pictured here was Rob Chisholm, Founding Director of Compeer Chester County. Compeer Chester County is a project of the Mental Health Association of Southeastern PA. Their mission is to promote maximum recovery by persons receiving mental health services through matching them in friendship relationships with caring, trained adult volunteers. Through its volunteer recruitment efforts, Compeer educates the public about mental health illness, striving to eliminate stigma and increase understanding, tolerance and acceptance of individuals with psychiatric illnesses. For more information about Compeer, go to their website here.

Rounding out the evening's festivities and pictured here was Bill Lockard of the Center on Hearing & Deafness, Inc. Bill is also VP of the West Chester Lions Club. CHAD's mission is to improve the quality of life for individuals who are Deaf or hard of hearing and their families through information, social services, education and advocacy. CHAD is also associated with the Lions Club International AHAP program. AHAP, Affordable Hearing Aid Program, provides high-quality, low-cost hearing aids to people of limited income.
For more information about AHAB, please click here. For more information about CHAD, please click here.

We are pleased to report that our PACS Drive resulted in delivery of over 1700 food and non-perishable items. Thanks to all the contributors and collection sites for their kind support.

PACS Representative Joann Miller attended our February 26 to officially kick-off our collection drive which will run from March 2 through Easter Saturday, April 11.

Following is the press release that was printed in the February 26 edition of The Phoenix.

The Kimberton Lions have announced that they will be launching a NON-PERISHABLE FOOD DRIVE to benefit local families in need. The drive will start on March 1, 2009 and end on April 12, 2009. All items collected will be given on a weekly basis to PACS (Phoenixville Area Community Services) for distribution. According to Joann Miller, PACS representative, they are currently serving over 400 individuals on a weekly basis and the amount of new individuals needing short term assistance is growing at approximately 100 per month. Items that are of the greatest need include cereal, canned goods such as tuna and hearty soups, cereal, beans, pasta, macaroni and cheese along with toilet paper. The Kimberton Lions will have collection boxes at the following sites:

Phoenixville Federal Savings and Loan- Main St. Branch
Phoenixville Federal Savings and Loan- Kimberton Branch
New Century Bank- Bridge St. Phoenixville Branch
New Century Bank- Rt 113 Kimberton Branch
Rocco’s Pizza- Kimberton
Tony’s Restaurant- Route 724
Your Shear Pleasure Salon- Route 23
YMCA - Phoenixville

The Kimberton Lions will also be collecting items at their upcoming EASTER FLOWER SALE that runs from April 9, 2009 thru April 12, 2009. Sale locations will be announced. In lieu of non-perishable items, monetary donations will be accepted by PACS. For further information, please contact the www.kimbertonlions.com or www.pacsphx.org

Shown in the picture below are PACS Representative
Joann Miller and Kimberton Lions President Don Szabo.

This year, in spite of the cold weather, we raised over $2,700 for the charities of the Kimberton Lions. Thanks to all who purchased and helped sell our flowers. And a special 'THANK YOU' to our chairpersons Josh Lord and Don Szabo and our Easter Flower Sale Mentor Gus Meyer. We also want to thank Phoenixville Federal, Foresta's and the townships of Schuylkill and East Pikeland. It couldn't be done without everyone's participation.

On January 22, 2009 a meeting was held at the newly renovated Spring Hollow Golf Course. Lion Ernie Basile was a gracious host and presented an entertaining and rather hilarious slide show and movie of some of our club's 'history'.

The new restaurant, bar and banquet facilities are, in my opinion and that of all the members I questioned, absolutely beautiful. The food was scrumptious.

The picture above is that of our guest Jim Burns, president of the Spring City Lions. Jim presented some of the many fundraisers and other events of his club. Perhaps we can learn from each other? That's the plan.

The next meeting will return to the VFW. Lion Ernie will prepare a proposal to hold future meetings at Spring Hollow.

The Kimberton Lions Club is proud to be the recipient of the coveted
Lions Webring Award.