Too bad the neighborly photographer took the daddy lion's head off (at least we had a great sky).
Showing posts with label Lions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lions. Show all posts
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Lions After Action
Your humble co-host third from the right up on the base of the statue.
Too bad the neighborly photographer took the daddy lion's head off (at least we had a great sky).
Too bad the neighborly photographer took the daddy lion's head off (at least we had a great sky).
Aniridia
This weekend at the Texas Lions Camp I got to meet a little girl with an astounding condition that I had no idea existed. She is the daughter (maybe 3-31/2 years old) of one of my fellow Austin Downtown Lions. I met her at lunch on Saturday. I had been painting all morning with her father while her mother walked her and her sister around the camp. It was about 12:30 and she was NOT interested in the burger and fries in front of her.
As a childless 49 year old it was clear to even me that she wanted a nap and wanted it now. Still, she was cute as she could be and her father and I started to discuss her and he mentioned that when older, she would likely qualify as someone for the camp. I looked at her and said, “What do you mean?”
He replied, “She has aniridia. She has no irises.”
I looked closely and sure enough, she didn’t. At her young age and size one has to get pretty close to her to tell. Talking to her mom and dad I learned that the only treatmets today are basically opaque contacts with a fixed aperture for the pupils and in rare cases, some kind of tattooing of the pupil that I shudder to even consider.
The good news is that we are apparently very few years away from some kind of iris implants.
For more info: www.aniridia.org .
As a childless 49 year old it was clear to even me that she wanted a nap and wanted it now. Still, she was cute as she could be and her father and I started to discuss her and he mentioned that when older, she would likely qualify as someone for the camp. I looked at her and said, “What do you mean?”
He replied, “She has aniridia. She has no irises.”
I looked closely and sure enough, she didn’t. At her young age and size one has to get pretty close to her to tell. Talking to her mom and dad I learned that the only treatmets today are basically opaque contacts with a fixed aperture for the pupils and in rare cases, some kind of tattooing of the pupil that I shudder to even consider.
The good news is that we are apparently very few years away from some kind of iris implants.
For more info: www.aniridia.org .
Monday, April 06, 2009
Coolest Thing about the Texas Lions Camp?
The pair of eagles that were flying around. They were too high to get a good picture and when they lit, they weren't really in good picture taking positions but I did get a few really good looks while painting.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Texas Lions Camp
Off tomorrow for a weekend at the Texas Lions Camp (for physically disabled, hearing/vision impaired, and diabetic children from the State of Texas, regardless of race, religion, or national origin) doing work to get the camp ready for the summer.
These kids get free trips to camp and the testimonials will make you weep.
Remember that even in these hard times we need to pick a group and help ‘til it hurts. I know I’ll be hurting on Monday.
These kids get free trips to camp and the testimonials will make you weep.
Remember that even in these hard times we need to pick a group and help ‘til it hurts. I know I’ll be hurting on Monday.
Friday, January 02, 2009
An Austin Legend passes
Feel like an active, community oriented/interested person? You just think you are. A fellow lion Willie Kocurek passed away yesterday. I met and talked to him a few times through Lions but I certainly couldn’t call him anything more than an acquaintance.
Just some snippets from today’s Austin American Statesman:
Willie Kocurek, a former Austin school board president, merchant and bow-tie-wearing pitchman recognized as a tireless civic advocate, died Thursday of natural causes at the Westminster Manor retirement home. He was 98.
Kocurek, who had an elementary school in Southwest Austin named for him in 1986, was known for his gracious personality and can-do spirit. He spent his life advocating for a variety of causes, including care for the elderly and education. He was a perpetual student, entering law school at age 67 and starting a practice at age 70.
"He didn't stick to one theme and one passion," said Joyce Lauck, executive director of Austin Groups for the Elderly, which Kocurek co-founded in 1986 to provide resources to seniors. "Underlying all of it was care and concern and making the community better."
...
Kocurek remained vigorous throughout most of his life, also working as a banker into his 90s.
...
His slogans "Where there's a Willie, there's a way" and "You don't need money, just a little bit a month," as well as hand-drawn Mr. K. newspaper ads, led him to be called one of the most visible and often-quoted men in town.
...
A newer generation of Austinites knew him on the airwaves as a promoter of education.
"He knew everybody and everybody knew Willie; he was friendly to everybody," said one of Kocurek's grandchildren, Dr. Jeffrey Kocurek, an Austin urologist. "I have patients come into my office every day saying 'I met your grandfather. Your grandfather gave me credit when no one else would."
Kocurek served on the Austin school board from 1946 to 1954, the last four years as board president. In recent decades he offered his quasi-celebrity to the Austin school district as an advocate for school bond referendums, appearing on television to urge Austinites to approve the measures at the polls.
...
Eventually, he bought that service station and expanded it from a place that sold gas and lube jobs to what became the Willie Kocurek Co. Kocurek also began wearing a leather bow tie.
"The reason it was leather was oil could be wiped off," he recalled once. That evolved into red cloth bow ties sewn by his wife Maurine, an Austin native whom he married in 1934.
...
Indeed, Kocurek enrolled at the University of Texas School of Law in 1977. He had gone to law school in 1943, but his work schedule and service in the U.S. Navy during World World II interrupted his studies.
In the 1980s, Kocurek chaired the Austin school district's Forming the Future long-range planning project, which involved 14,000 Austinites developing goals and building plans for the district. From that came a $210 million bond issue that voters passed overwhelmingly in 1983.
He later chaired an $80 million bond election drive for the school district in 1986.
...
J.P. Kirksey, past president of the Austin Founders Lions Club, a group Kocurek belonged to since 1939, once told the American-Statesman: "He gave an unselfish sharing of himself."
Just some snippets from today’s Austin American Statesman:
Willie Kocurek, a former Austin school board president, merchant and bow-tie-wearing pitchman recognized as a tireless civic advocate, died Thursday of natural causes at the Westminster Manor retirement home. He was 98.
Kocurek, who had an elementary school in Southwest Austin named for him in 1986, was known for his gracious personality and can-do spirit. He spent his life advocating for a variety of causes, including care for the elderly and education. He was a perpetual student, entering law school at age 67 and starting a practice at age 70.
"He didn't stick to one theme and one passion," said Joyce Lauck, executive director of Austin Groups for the Elderly, which Kocurek co-founded in 1986 to provide resources to seniors. "Underlying all of it was care and concern and making the community better."
...
Kocurek remained vigorous throughout most of his life, also working as a banker into his 90s.
...
His slogans "Where there's a Willie, there's a way" and "You don't need money, just a little bit a month," as well as hand-drawn Mr. K. newspaper ads, led him to be called one of the most visible and often-quoted men in town.
...
A newer generation of Austinites knew him on the airwaves as a promoter of education.
"He knew everybody and everybody knew Willie; he was friendly to everybody," said one of Kocurek's grandchildren, Dr. Jeffrey Kocurek, an Austin urologist. "I have patients come into my office every day saying 'I met your grandfather. Your grandfather gave me credit when no one else would."
Kocurek served on the Austin school board from 1946 to 1954, the last four years as board president. In recent decades he offered his quasi-celebrity to the Austin school district as an advocate for school bond referendums, appearing on television to urge Austinites to approve the measures at the polls.
...
Eventually, he bought that service station and expanded it from a place that sold gas and lube jobs to what became the Willie Kocurek Co. Kocurek also began wearing a leather bow tie.
"The reason it was leather was oil could be wiped off," he recalled once. That evolved into red cloth bow ties sewn by his wife Maurine, an Austin native whom he married in 1934.
...
Indeed, Kocurek enrolled at the University of Texas School of Law in 1977. He had gone to law school in 1943, but his work schedule and service in the U.S. Navy during World World II interrupted his studies.
In the 1980s, Kocurek chaired the Austin school district's Forming the Future long-range planning project, which involved 14,000 Austinites developing goals and building plans for the district. From that came a $210 million bond issue that voters passed overwhelmingly in 1983.
He later chaired an $80 million bond election drive for the school district in 1986.
...
J.P. Kirksey, past president of the Austin Founders Lions Club, a group Kocurek belonged to since 1939, once told the American-Statesman: "He gave an unselfish sharing of himself."
Friday, May 09, 2008
Re: Lions/Service Organizations
Ended up there by default more than any other reason. I had been a board member on a local charity here for a couple of years and wasn't really interested in looking elsewhere...but THE FIRM required that I get out there into a group with more, shudder, "networking" possibilities. ("The other group just helps poor people...how are you ever going to get clients from there?")
The firm had most of the area Rotary clubs covered. I was in the youth Kiwanis (Key Club) in high school so I considered them but had difficulty finding anything about them here in the Hill Country. Easily found info about Lions and joined in around September '03. They saw me coming because I was club secretary about a month later and will start my 4th full year as sec. on July 1.
I may have joined kicking and screaming but within a very short time I was very happy to be there. I really enjoy the weekly lunches/speakers and roughly quarterly projects but mostly I enjoy the other members more than anything else. As the "oldest, continually chartered" Lions Cub in the world, we have a few members well into their nineties. The don't make it to the projects any more but almost never miss a lunch. Surprisingly to me, I love talking to those guys. Former biz scions and congressmen, they can teach me a lot. We also have a pretty good smattering of members in their thirties but I'd say most are in the 40-60 range with the next largest segment being the recently retired set. I'm 48.
We just sponsored a new club in the SW part of town that already has about 25 members and I'd say the age range there is 25-40.
I used to volunteer teach when I lived in Denver and that took about 10 hours a week in prep and teaching time for 32 weeks a year. That was a bit taxing. I certainly couldn't do that year in year out.
Weekly lunch, monthly board meeting, 10-12 days (mostly on weekends) worth of projects per year and maybe another 2 weekends worth of training and regional or statewide events. Much easier and I still get to pretend I'm a better person than Michael or LJ because of it.
The firm had most of the area Rotary clubs covered. I was in the youth Kiwanis (Key Club) in high school so I considered them but had difficulty finding anything about them here in the Hill Country. Easily found info about Lions and joined in around September '03. They saw me coming because I was club secretary about a month later and will start my 4th full year as sec. on July 1.
I may have joined kicking and screaming but within a very short time I was very happy to be there. I really enjoy the weekly lunches/speakers and roughly quarterly projects but mostly I enjoy the other members more than anything else. As the "oldest, continually chartered" Lions Cub in the world, we have a few members well into their nineties. The don't make it to the projects any more but almost never miss a lunch. Surprisingly to me, I love talking to those guys. Former biz scions and congressmen, they can teach me a lot. We also have a pretty good smattering of members in their thirties but I'd say most are in the 40-60 range with the next largest segment being the recently retired set. I'm 48.
We just sponsored a new club in the SW part of town that already has about 25 members and I'd say the age range there is 25-40.
I used to volunteer teach when I lived in Denver and that took about 10 hours a week in prep and teaching time for 32 weeks a year. That was a bit taxing. I certainly couldn't do that year in year out.
Weekly lunch, monthly board meeting, 10-12 days (mostly on weekends) worth of projects per year and maybe another 2 weekends worth of training and regional or statewide events. Much easier and I still get to pretend I'm a better person than Michael or LJ because of it.
Service Organizations
I'd like to hear from Scooter about how/why he selected the Lions Club and from anyone else who's a member of a service organization as to how you made your selection. Also interested in hearing what you think about your experience and your club.
My dad was a Kiwanis member. It's occurred to me on occasion that I ought to look into it. Scooter's mentions of the Lions Club got me a little more curious.
My dad was a Kiwanis member. It's occurred to me on occasion that I ought to look into it. Scooter's mentions of the Lions Club got me a little more curious.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
If it doesn’t hurt, you’re not giving enough
Stephanie’ post reminds me that I haven’t blegged for any of my for my favorite groups in a while. Links to each and text pilfered from their websites.
Secular:
Texas Lions Camp
Texas Lions Camp is a residential camping facility for children with physical disabilities, type 1 diabetes and cancer. The Camp is located on over 500 acres in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, and is designed to introduce the "Can Do" philosophy to children dealing with special medical conditions.
Children with special needs from all over the State of Texas are invited to attend one of 9 weeks, which we hope will become one of their life-long childhood memories. A week designed for fun, exploration and challenge.
Foundation Communities
Creates high-quality affordable housing and empowers low-income families and individuals with programs that educate, support and improve financial standing.
Not so secular ("sacred" always sounds so haughty):
Austin’s City School
The school provides a custom-tailored education that results in students who love to learn, learn to lead, and lead to serve. The school is accessible to students from most ability and income levels. City School parents and students are co-producers of a joy-filled education.
Community New Start
We are investing in the future of the St. John community by investing in the lives and families that live here. We believe that each caring relationship developed significantly adds to a community’s health. These relationships are built by expressions of service and commitment to the schools, churches, and people within the community. We use Biblical principles to guide us as we work to address the unique needs of the communities we serve, and these principles are constant. The methods have grown and changed through the past decade as we invest deeper into the strategies that have been the most fruitful.
Secular:
Texas Lions Camp
Texas Lions Camp is a residential camping facility for children with physical disabilities, type 1 diabetes and cancer. The Camp is located on over 500 acres in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, and is designed to introduce the "Can Do" philosophy to children dealing with special medical conditions.
Children with special needs from all over the State of Texas are invited to attend one of 9 weeks, which we hope will become one of their life-long childhood memories. A week designed for fun, exploration and challenge.
Foundation Communities
Creates high-quality affordable housing and empowers low-income families and individuals with programs that educate, support and improve financial standing.
Not so secular ("sacred" always sounds so haughty):
Austin’s City School
The school provides a custom-tailored education that results in students who love to learn, learn to lead, and lead to serve. The school is accessible to students from most ability and income levels. City School parents and students are co-producers of a joy-filled education.
Community New Start
We are investing in the future of the St. John community by investing in the lives and families that live here. We believe that each caring relationship developed significantly adds to a community’s health. These relationships are built by expressions of service and commitment to the schools, churches, and people within the community. We use Biblical principles to guide us as we work to address the unique needs of the communities we serve, and these principles are constant. The methods have grown and changed through the past decade as we invest deeper into the strategies that have been the most fruitful.
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