Our Sept. 23 meeting was called to order by King Lion Duane. The 26 Lions in attendance were treated to a superb meal of American chop suey prepared by Lions Pete, Wally and Jim.

A moment of silence was held for Lion Gary Tilton, who passed away last June. He was a very active and giving member of our group and is sorely missed.

Lion John presented the treasurers report. He was complimented by fellow Lions for his attention to detail and supplying the members with up-to-the-minute accounting of our finances.

The speaker for the evening was former Lion and past president Steve Berger, who impressed the Lions with a great presentation. He and his son, Karl, completed the arduous hike of the Appalachian Trail. They started in Georgia and, three pairs of boots later, finished in Maine. He had great anecdotes about wildlife, fellow hikers, hiker names, creative packing, and other interesting aspects of the walk. We especially enjoyed his story of “trail magic” where people would leave coolers of food along the trail or even serve hikers a full hot meal off the side of the trail.

Fundraising was again a major topic of the meeting. T-shirts will be available at the Fall Foliage Fair where we plan on again having our popular fish chowder for sale. We sell out every year. Following the successful August Daily raffle we will have the Twelve Days of Christmas Raffle. It will be similar to the August raffle format where prizes are awarded each day. Tickets will be available soon so ask your local Lion. Also under discussion was the possibility of raising money for a vision machine for our area. Vision is a key area of concentration for the BRLC and the machine is a wonderful way to find the potential vision problems in children. These may be treated more effectively when discovered early and perhaps help prevent problems in the child’s education. President Lion Duane suggested that we have a special committee to focus on more ways of getting out in the community to build awareness of what we do and to learn how to be even more effective.

The 50/50 raffle was won by Lion Tom, who was not in attendance, so the winnings went into the kitty for the next drawing.

The cheer raffle was won by Lion Liz, who donated her winnings back to the club.

If you would like to be a part of a great group of people and have the desire to help our community and others, please contact any Boothbay Region Lion, or membership chairperson, Lion Mary Tilton. We meet the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at our clubhouse on Lakeview Road in Boothbay Harbor.