Thomas McRae Fundraiser

Fellow Lions and Friends:

On January 16, a local Marine was severely injured by a road-side bomb in Afghanistan.  While his legs and left arm were amputated and he received brain and eye injuries, our local hero has made amazing progress.  With a long road of recovery ahead of him, a Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction will help raise funds to assist in his recovery.  

This is an incredible opportunity to support a local Marine who has sacrificed himself for each one of us and our freedom.  Please join us Saturday night!  

Saturday, March 3

T&H Community Center, 3235 Hospital Drive, Juneau

Adults $10; Kids (10 and under) $5

Doors open @ 5 p.m. to Silent Auction bidding/viewing.  Bids close @ 8 p.m.

Dinner served 6-8 p.m. 

Contact Michelle Locks for tickets and/or donations (907) 321-0417 

or michellelocks@yahoo.com

Post Party

A BIG thanks to Lion Mal Linthwaite and his lovely wife, Jean, for hosting our Prospective Member Party last night.  We met two potential new members, Cherish and Kevin, who we hope will sign up as well as two others who have already signed membership applications (Jean and Nancy).  So all in all, it was a successful event and a good time was had by all!

If Flying Lions Isn't Displaying

This person worked fast and hard over the weekend to get the Club's new blog up and running.  And she was pleased with the outcome.  Monday morning when she opened The Flying Lions site to update a post.... there wasn't anything there....  Something about Google (which blogger is posted on....) upgraded their site over night and now information was not displaying, or was displaying inaccurately.  My only recourse was to switch my browser from Internet Explorer to Google Chrome.  I hope as you click on links and cruise over the site, everything is in place and in order.  If not, please leave a Comment below the post so I know or send me an email.  Thanks.

Prospective Member Party

It's true.... The Mendenhall Flying Lions take their memberhsip serious.  They have meetings to attend, committees to sit on, projects to coordinate.  Many members still work 40 hours a week on top of their commitment to the Lions Club. 

Yes, it's true....  They take the Lions motto, "We Serve," seriously. 

But now and then, ya just gotta have fun!  And who better than this group of men and women?! 

Our first Prospective Member Party of the year will take place this coming Saturday, the 25th, from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m..  This party combines a good time with good fellowship along with the Club's business. 

Members are invited to attend, along with their spouse or significant other.  This is also a good time to bring a family member, friend, or acquaintance who you think might be interested in becoming a Lion.  This will be a great opportunity for prospective members to see the Lions in a casual atmosphere, having fun. 

If you have any questions, please contact Lion Mal Linthwaite.  The member party will take place at 9402 Long Run Drive, Juneau. 

Bicycle Recycle Project

The Club's Bicycle Recycle Project is becoming quite the success!  This is Lion Mike Allison's project and he's doing a bang-up job! 

The Juneau Police Department (JPD) collects and receives abandoned bicycles from the community and, by law, need to hold them for 90 days to give the owners an opportunity to retrieve them.  Lion Mike approached the JPD with his proposal to take the bikes, restore them, and return them to the community to families in need.  Last year he collected about 25 abandoned bicycles from the Juneau Police Department and with the help of two non-Lion volunteers, spent hours restoring these bikes into a safe and ridable condition.  Out of those 25 bikes, 16 were restored and donated to St. Vincent for distribution just in time for Christmas.  What a way to end the calendar year! 

Just last week, the Juneau Police Department contacted Lion Mike again, with more bikes!  Yes.... 22 abandoned bikes ready for distribution. Lions Chad Ausel and Mike Norton retrieved the bikes and delivered them to the storage unit where they will wait their turn for a face lift. 

Thanks, Lion Mike A., for all your hard work on this project!

Oh, and, fyi -- those bikes that are beyond repair are used for parts.  What a great recycle project as well!

Alaska Health Fair--Leg Affairs

The Vision Screening season has started back up.  It seems the Club gets a little break over the winter holidays, but we've scheduled several screening events over the next few months. 

The Alaska Health Fair started this year's screenings off with Legislative Affairs.  Lions Neil Atkinson and Mike Norton headed to the Terry Miller Building on Wednesday for a morning of screening. 

Much to their dismay, they only had 15 participants in a four-hour period, with six referrals.  BUT, they were able to talk to several people about the Lions program and have two people who are interested in possibly becoming members.  We will keep you posted! 

Meanwhile, we will continue on because every person we screen and refer is a good thing. 

Our next Alaska Health Fair screening event will take place on Saturday, March 31, at the Nugget Mall.  Lions Becky and Mike Allison will take the lead on this screening.

Lion Bruce Wing

Hi fellow Lions,

47 year Lion Bruce Wing and a member of the Mendenhall Flying Lions Club was medivac'd to Anchorage on Tuesday last week for treatment of a burst gall bladder and pnuemonia (sp). Word is that he has now been moved to St. Elias Specialty Hospital for recuperation and rehab. He is still pretty weak and starting to become more aware of where he is and what's going on. Before going to Anch., he was completely sedated for almost a week.

If you have read the latest issue of the Lions magazine, you may have seen the article about the Lion who had suffered a major medical event and no Lion inquired about him. We do not want that to happen to any Lion in Alaska or anywhere for that matter.

If you're in the Anchorage area and can spare some time, please visit him at the hospital. If you can't visit him, please send him a card or note. He's at St. Elias Specialty Hospital, 4800 Cordova Street, Anchorage 99503. The phone number there is 907-561-3333. At this point, he probably isn't communicating real well yet. We also don't know how long they will keep him there, but it doesn't look like it'sgoing to be a short stay. But then you know how tough of a character he is, although his heart attacks last fall have weakened him substantially. For those of you that know him, they shaved off his beard in the process of medicating him so he may not be recognizable at first.

Let's keep him in our thoughts and prayers and lt him know that we care.

Thanks,

PCC Neil Atkinson

The Flying Lions

Welcome to the Mendenhall Flying Lions Club in Juneau, Alaska! Juneau is not a large city, for being the Capital of Alaska.  It’s a beautiful town with a community filled with giving and caring people. The Mendenhall Flying Lions have been serving our community for almost 29 years and we’re just getting started! We are honored to be a part of Lions Clubs International—the largest service organization in the world. They inspire us to do more.

Our Club is active with service projects and fundraisers all year long from litter clean up along the road that takes a million tourists to the Mendenhall Glacier, to an annual barbeque and auction that benefits the American Diabetes Association in Alaska. We sell holly and evergreen wreaths, swags, and greenery at Christmas time and give helicopter rides over the Mendenhall Valley to view Christmas lights. 

Vision Screening is an on-going project in the Juneau area and Southeast Communities. We just recently got an "in" with pre-schools and are excited to be screening kids at the ages of 3 and 4. 

We are excited about every project we take on. A new project this past year is our Bicycle Recycle program. The Juneau Police Department collects abandoned bicycles throughout the year and we have a team of Lions and non-Lions that restore and refurbish the bicycles to a safe and usable condition and then donate them to local shelters and others in need. Please check out our Club Projects link for more information on all our projects and fundraisers. 

Our Club is as diverse as the projects we take on. We have members committed to serving the community we live in, to make a difference in the lives of our neighbors every single day. At present, we are striving to bring more members into the club. With more members we can do so much more. 

I’m proud to be at the helm of this great Club, working with so many outstanding members, making a difference in our community. 

We Serve!
Michael Norton
President