North Shreveport Lions Club

The Yellow Rag

a weekly newsletter

We meet every Thursday at the D&W Business Center, 1434 Hawn Avenue.

Yellow Rag Editor Mike Middleton

“Liberty, Intelligence, Our Nation’s Safety”

July 10, 2003

Opening: Presiding: President Lion Ed Ball; Prayer: Lion Bob Allen; Pledge: Lion Jerry Paige, Leading the song was Lion Russ Peterson with PDG² Lion Paul Little playing the cymbals and Lion Robbie Raiford playing the piano.

NEXT WEEK’S PROGRAM: U.S. Assistant District Attorney Ross Owen.

Visitors: Visiting with Lion Jerry Paige was a long-time friend, Mr. Gerald Joshua.

NOTES/Remarks:

• Board meeting yesterday (07/10/2003):
• After a reconsideration of the make-up of the Board and the allowed votes for each position, we DID have a quorum. There are 19 voting positions on the Board. There were 11 members in attendance yesterday.
• The 2003-2004 Budget was voted on and accepted.
• The Board is looking for ways to help raise funds for the Camp and Eye Foundations. We are looking for ways to get more participation from the public. PDG Gleason recommends letters to be sent to all eye-care professionals informing them of the needs. This is a work-in-progress.
• Governor’s Board Meeting at the Camp (this) Sunday, July 13^th from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. The more members and officers who attend the meeting yields points for the club in the Governor’s contest. Anyone interested in “pooling” should meet in front of Home Depot on Bert Kouns at 12:00 noon on Sunday.

WE NEED MEMBER PARTICIPATION IN OUR WEEKLY MEETINGS!!!

• Big Bass Rodeo… Sell tickets and the Rodeo is September 27^th.

Tailtwisting: Lion TT Bill Archambeau with Lion Gabby Garbarino passing the pot. Lion Prez Ball fined for a late start. All members present today who were supposed to be at yesterday’s Board Meeting were fined. Then onto the Who Wants To be a Millionaire. Lots of questions and the Tailtwister is on his way to making his budget.

Program: Lion PDG Bryan Self introduced a long-time resident and activist for business related development – Mr. Al Kessler. He is very active on the issues concerning the expansion of I-49. The dream is to have a single, north/south interstate from New Orleans to Winnipeg. The overall project is over $300 million. Most immediately, Arkansas will have all but about 5 miles completed from Louisiana. They will not continue the southerly construction until Louisiana commits to the 34 miles from the state line to I-220. Our lame duck governor has made a commitment to help this happen as much as possible within his lasting administration – talks are underway with most gubernatorial candidates to ensure they will also continue this commitment. Hopefully, the 6.5 miles from the state line to Mira (LA) will be forthcoming as soon as possible – then it will be only the last 28 or so miles to the Shreveport interchange… There is a coalition of mayors, etc. from New Orleans to Kansas City being assembled to further this project. The projection for the future is that over 14,700 additional trucks will be traveling the completed segments on a daily business – right through Shreveport.

Call for action: Write our Congressional and State leaders and ask to ensure that they support all issues which gets I-49 completed in the fastest manner possible.

Ticket Drawings: The red ticket winners were: Lions Bryan Self and Bud Byrd.

BLUE TICKET: Lion Larry LaBorde -- NOPE, the pot is getting bigger!

Attendance Prize: Lion Paul Little won the attendance prize!

MAJOR PROJECTS: Louisiana Lions Childrens’ Camp, LSU Lions’ Eye Foundation, Northwest Louisiana Eye Bank, Louisiana Association for the Blind, Northwood High School Leo Club, Scholarships for Northwood and Green Oaks High Schools

FUNDRAISERS: Chicken Charbroil – October; Candy & Nuts – November;

Irish Auction – March; Rose Sale – April

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