We collect used glasses throughout the year. There's a big YELLOW mailbox in front of Stop N Shop as well as smaller white and blue Lions Club boxes in Town Hall, Post Office, Liberta's Spirit Shoppe, Opticare, Dr. Amatuzzi's office, Dr. Berman's office (Family Eye Care), Dr. Doty's office, Ridgefield Bank (Danbury Road) and Dr. Reynold's office. The glasses are sent to a school for the deaf in New Jersey where they are cleaned, read and packaged to be distributed to people in third world countries by Lions and opticians. Our club collected over 4,800 pairs of glasses since we started counting 2 years ago .This is an ongoing project for our club.
~At our January dinner meeting, the PEACE POSTER winner is invited and presented a check for their effort. The posters are hung in the Ridgefield Library the latter part of October for the community to enjoy. A committee of local artists judge the entries. This is the month that we place a letter in the local paper asking any town organization that needs a tangible item or items for them to operate better, to submit a request for funds. 2010 will find us trying a new fundraiser. We will be working in conjunction with Piccolo's Pizza. They will give the club 50% of their receipts for 2 consecutive days for people who eat in, take out or have a delivery that present a flyer made by the club.
~February finds us conducting a VALENTINE DAY FOOD DRIVE. A few years ago our Social Services Director told us that many groups give food to the elderly and poor during the holidays, but than forget them the rest of the year, thus we started our Valentine Day Drive. The local schools gather non-perishable food that we collect and deliver to the Ridgefield Food Pantry. Some of our members attend the MID-WINTER CONFERENCE. This year found us in full force to support the nomination of the 2nd Vice District Governor---our own LION LINDA MAGGS! Lion Mike Liberta gave the nominaton speech and Lion Joyce Ligi made the seconding speech. Lion Linda is on her way!!!!!
~In March of 2008 we started a new fundraiser--ANNUAL ART AUCTION. It proved to be profitable as well as fun. The price of a ticket includes food, beer, and wine in addtion to be able to participate in a silent auction, raffle and bidding on 125 pieces of art work of all kinds. March 20th is the date for our 2010 auction at the Ridgefield Community Center. March is also when we present checks to representatives of the various organizations selected to receive monies by our allocations committee. Checks can be from $500.00 to $5,000.00.
~April finds members of our club participating in RID LITTER DAY that our town does. We clean debris from the area of our ADOPT-A-ROAD project. Members also shake the cans for SIGHT SAVER DAY throughout town. Many members participate in the annual VNA HEALTH DAY FAIR doing eyescreenings for people in the community.
~Our largest income producing fundraiser is held each May--ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT. We had our 17th annual tournament this past May. 2010 tournament will be May 19th at the Ridgefield Golf Course. We hold our annual AWARDS DINNER at our May dinner meeting where distinguished members of the club are awarded the Melvin Jones Fellow, Ambassador of Sight, Knight of the Blind and Fideco Fellowship awards. The club boasts 27 Melvin Jones Fellows, 10 Knights of the Blind, 6 Ambassadors of Sight and 2 Fidelco Fellowships. Some of our members attend the annual STATE CONVENTION. Look for the RIDGEFIELD LIONS in full force at the 2010 convention to cheer on our own LION LINDA MAGGS FOR 2ND VICE DISTRICT GOVERNOR!! Many of our members march in the annual Memorial Day parade with one member dressed in our lions costume.
~June gives us the pleasure of presenting our SCHOLARSHIP to a graduating Ridgefield High School senior at Senior Awards night at the school. Our scholarship committee spends countless number of hours selecting the person that fulfills all the requirements. Our new officers and board members are inducted at our monthly dinner meeting. This year some of our members attended the SPECIAL OLYMPICS and conducted eye screenings for the athletes which was very rewarding.
~Some of our members attend the INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION which is always a treat. They report back to the club on all they learned, saw and did. The new officers and board present a yearly budget for the club's approval and a new year begins for us "TO SERVE".
~ Our annual FAMILY PICNIC is in August. We have alot of great chefs in our club!! This year the members of the LITTLE LEAGUE team that we sponsor attended and presented the club with a trophy and plaque they received for their winning season. Our SCHOLARSHIP winner was presented her check at the picnic this year.
~We are trying a new fundraiser this September--a PASTA DINNER that will be held September 10th at the Ridgefield Parks and Recreation Center. Tickets are only $10.00 per adult and $5.00 for children. The menu consists of salad, pasta, meatballs, bread & butter, cake, coffee and soft drinks. We'd love to see you there. We are planning a fun night with family, friends and good food.
It was a huge success!! We are planning to make this a yearly event!!!!
~October is another busy month for the Ridgefield Lions. We will once again be doing MONTH FOR SIGHT when we place more collection boxes for used glasses throughout town, especially for the Halloween Walk. We also try to encourage the schools to do the project to teach the children about helping others less fortunate and recycling. Our annual SENIOR DINNER is also held in October at Ballard Green recreation room. We serve the seniors a lasagne dinner. The Gaslight Gang banjo players entertain the seniors that night. It's a most rewarding project. This year we will try another new fundraiser-- a WINE TASTING. This will be held on October 28th at Sarah's Wine Bar at Bernard's from 6-7:30 pm. The entrance fee is $10.00 which Sarah donates to the club. Plan to join us for a fun and informative evening. Our PEACE POSTER CONTEST is held. All children between the ages of 11-13 at East Ridge Middle School, Scotts Ridge Middle School and the Ridgefield Boys and Girls Club are eligible to take part in the contest this year. Once again their work will be hung at the Ridgefield Library. The works of art will be judged by local artists.
~November finds our key members attending the Leadership Training Seminars to help them with their jobs in the club. No big projects are undertaken during the month as we are recouping from October and getting ready for a busy December.
~The first weekend of December finds us doing POSTCARDS FOR THE TROOPS during the annual Holiday Stroll that the Downtown Ridgefield Merchants conduct every year. We print postcards of scenes in town that will bring pleasant memories to our hometown troops. People attending the stroll address and write to the Ridgefield troops which our club than mails. Last year we sent goodie packages to the hometown troops overseas also. Members also participate in the BREAKFAST WITH SANTA project where we help with back drops for the pictures, blow balloons, serve food, and whatever else needs our help. This year we are the sponsors for a 5K Race with the proceeds going to a boy in the community that has cancer and is struggling to survive as well as not losing his leg. The second Saturday of the month will find members RINGING THE SALVATION ARMY BELLS throughout town. It is most rewarding even though we usually freeze!! Our annual HOLIDAY PARTY started a new feature a few years ago. Father Peter, once a priest in Ridgefield, now is at a poor parish in Stamford. While talking to him one day he told me that the children of his parish receive little or no gifts at Christmas due to the poverty in the area. Members of the club now bring new, unwrapped toys to our holiday party that Father Peter gives to the children of his parish on Christmas Eve.
In addition to everything we do for the community, we also contribute to Lion sponsored projects such as: Camp Hemlocks, Clerf, CRIS, Fidelco, Low Vision, LPCCI, LCIF, District Pride, and the Governor's project.
Some of the organizations that we have helped in the area are: Danbury Hospital Woman's Heart Clinic, VNA, Meals on Wheels, Ridgefield Library, EJ Carfi House, Southbury Training School, eye glasses for the needy in town, holiday lights for the trees at the Community Center, Founders Hall, Ridgefield Theatre Barn, Ridgefield ABC, Ridgefield Chorale,The Discovery Center as well as "sweat equity" for the Ballard Greenhouse and Ability Beyond Disability, to name a few.
Committees and Chairs for 2009-10 Projects
ADOPT-A-ROAD LOU-ANN SMITH
ALLOCATIONS JOYCE LIGI
ART AUCTION ART MEYER/PAUL TEPFER
CARDS FOR THE TROOPS JILL JOHNSTON
DINNER AT PICCOLO'S ANN SLADE
ELECTION AND AWARDS PAUL TEPFER
EYEGLASS COLLECTION JOANNE CLARK
FAMILY PICNIC ART MEYER
FEBRUARY FOOD COLLECTION LOU-ANN SMITH
FINANCE
GOLF TOURNAMENT GARY SMITH
GOLF RAFFLE PRIZES CHUCK HANCOCK
HOLIDAY PARTY LINDA MAGGS
JUNGLE CHATTER TERI LIBERTA
MEMBERSHIP JILL JOHNSTON/COLLEEN VELEZ
MEMORIAL DAY PARADE PAUL TEPFER
MONTH FOR SIGHT NITA MOHLER
PASTA DINNER MIKE LIBERTA/CHUCK HANCOCK
PEACE POSTER CONTEST DANTE LIGI/HAROLD HVAL
PHOTOGRAPHY HAROLD HVAL
PUBLICITY BOB LOWELL
SANTA BREAKFAST KAREN FACINI
SALVATION ARMY BELLS CHARLES RIO
SCHOLARSHIP LINDA MAGGS
SENIOR DINNER MICHELE JESSUP
SIGHT SAVER DAY JILL JOHNSTON
SPEAKERS BARBARA SERFILLIPI
SPECIAL OLYMPICS PAUL TEPFER
SPRING AWARDS DINNER CATHY SCHABERG
VNA HEALTH DAY ANN SLADE
WEBSITE TERI LIBERTA
WINE TASTING AT BERNARD'S COLLEEN VELEZ
