Kimberton Lions Welcome Page

It's with great sadness to report the untimely death of our friend and fellow Lion, Wally Heidelmark. His quick wit and jovial spirit will be greatly missed. We will all remember his good sportsmanship as demonstrated by his portrayal of the 'lovely' Kim Berton (click for pictures). Always ready to put a smile on our face... we will miss you, Wally!
Please click here for Wally's obit and service details.

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.

Almost $8,200 was donated to charities during 2008/2009 by the Kimberton Lions.
Also, several contributions are 'ear marked' for 2010 on an as-needed basis including:
Eyeglasses for our neighbors, Assist Dog, East Pikeland Police Outreach, PACS, Kimberton Fire Co., Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, Scholastic Achievement Awards - CAT Pickering.
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
September 8, 2010	Regular Meeting: First meeting of new season; Spring Hollow Golf Club. Starts 7 PM.	Bob Toff
September 22, 2010	Regular Meeting: Spring Hollow Golf Club. Starts 7 PM.	Bob Toff
September 25, 2010	Twelfth Annual Kimberton Run	Bob Toff; Wayne Wisdom See: www.kimbertonrun.com

Following are the 2010-2011 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 8, 22, 2010	March 9, 23, 2011
October 13, 27, 2010	April 13, 27, 2011
November 10, 2010	May 11, 25, 2011
December 8, 2010 District Governor Visit	June 9, 22 Bar-B-Q, 2011
January 12, 26, 2011	July 26 Family Day, 2011
February 9, 23, 2011

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.

Dogwood Fair Concession Fund Raiser - May 10 - May 15, 2010

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 over $3,000 for our charities.

A 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.

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.