North Shreveport
Lions Club
The Yellow
Rag
|
We meet every
Thursday at the D&W Business Center,
1434 Hawn Avenue. |
Yellow
Rag Editors
Gloria Kennedy, Mike Middleton,
Patricia Schwartz |
September
12, 2002
Opening: Lion President Max Lipscomb opened the meeting and asked
Lion Jim Peck to say a prayer. Lion
Chaplain Jim Peck thanked GOD for his many blessings and asked for
His presence, guidance and healing hand for everyone. Lion Kevin Anderson led everyone in the Pledge of
Allegiance. Lion Buddy Morehead
led the group in the First Verse with Lion Paul Little playing the
cymbals.
Guests: We had an overall great attendance today with a total of 35
folks in the room. Lion Bill
Spickerman introduced his guests: Queen Hudson of SPORTRAN and Phillip
Maxfield of Casino Cabs. Lion
Mary Howe had her daughter, Michelle Pesnell visiting with her. Lion Ed Stevenson had visiting with
him Mr. Mike Fulco. Lion Alan
Yokem brought with him Mr. Richard Liles and Mr. Alan Jordan.
Tailtwisting: Tailtwister Lion Bill Archambeau did a wonderful job. The long-time missing “pot” has been
returned by Lion Scott Harkey – it was repaired with a shiny new brass
handle by Randy Nash – husband of Lion Lisa Nash – thanks. The usual late fines were plentiful…. Lion Kevin Anderson was chastised for
not saying “place your right hand over your heart” and “face the flag.” The TT went light on us today with the
trivia questions and only went about 10 minutes with Lion Gabby Garbarino
in tow with the returned pot with the shiny brass handle. Lion Bill Spickerman received
special recognition for his dress attire including his Lion lapel pin. It was an overall fun session!
Program: Lion Bill Spickerman presented our speaker, the Mayor of Shreveport
– Mayor Keith Hightower. The
Mayor spoke favorably about the upcoming sales tax propositions regarding very
small sales tax increases for police, fire and he even threw the sheriff’s
office into the mix…A big problem is that larger agencies are draining away the
city experienced officers and deputies in which we are a training grounds for
these many agencies – public servants need better pay in order to retain them,
their training and experience. The
Mayor expressed concern about voting apathy citing a recent election in which
less than 10% of the voters turned-out.
He provided a condensed state-of-the-city update and how he remains in his
commitment to getting kids to return to their community. A Q&A session dealt with: the Neon
Bridge; gang problems; city appearance-abandoned property; sales tax additional
questions; his best accomplishment: a change for a better attitude by the area’s
inhabitants; the disappointment: how long it takes to get through the red tape
of getting projects completed. We
appreciate the great work Keith has done and we wish him the best of luck in
his career.
Drawings: Lions Pete Copes and Bill Archambeau won $5.00 each for attendance. Guest Queen Hudson got the chance at the Queen of Hearts – NOT, so the bucks keep getting higher. Lion Ray Cook would have received the attendance prize.
MAJOR PROJECTS: Louisiana
Lions Childrens’ Camp, LSU 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 – May