The snowbirds are heading south, but here's the odd thing — attendance at our meetings is actually increasing. We had 37 people at our November 13 meeting, including guest Wendy Greenleaf, our guest speaker Justin Fowlie and his wife Meredith, and three new Lions Club members: Winn and Lori Mitchell and April Danielson. Welcome aboard, new Lions!

Fowlie is a game warden for the Maine Warden Service. He grew up playing outdoor sports and realized at a young age that he wanted to be a game warden. It's a tough life. He's always on call and he and his family have had to move around the state a lot. He's a supervisor now, responsible for a group of wardens, each of whom cover six to seven towns (wardens further north cover even larger territories).

With only 85 wardens for the entire state, the service relies on the public for information and assistance and works closely with the state and local police. Search and rescue is a big part of what they do. Fowlie showed us a recruitment video, which helped to provide an idea of what wardens do, and explained the new trail camera that went into effect earlier this year.

It was a great talk. Thanks, Justin, for coming out to speak with us!

In other news, our blood drive on November 7 was a success, with about 50 donors. Lion Norm Irish, who coordinated our volunteer efforts, thanked all who came out to help or donate.

Our turkey and quilt raffles are still ongoing, but time is running out. Check in with any Lion if you'd like to purchase raffle tickets.

The second annual Christmas Party with Santa will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 11. Once again, Santa and his elves will be on hand with free snacks and gifts for all the boys and girls of the community, while supplies last. This is a free event and everyone is welcome. Doors open at 6 p.m. We hope to see you there!

In donations news, the Lions have adopted a local family for Christmas. This is a fun opportunity that every Lion is helping to make a success. We also made a donation to the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library and made a commitment to a donation to help recovery efforts for the recent Philippines typhoon.

Fines were heavy this week, going to an uncommonly large number of members who forgot to wear their name badges. Gary Blake paid a fine for winning both the 50/50 and the cheer raffle (he donated his winnings back, too).

Our next meeting will be held on Monday, Nov. 23, when we'll have a simple pre-Thanksgiving get-together. We'd love to have you join us. For more information on the Boothbay Region Lions Club, please contact club president Mike Giles or any other Lion, find us on Facebook, or visit us at www.e-clubhouse.org/sites/boothbay/index.php.