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Lions And Leos Sell Chocolate For The Blind

Photo courtesy of the Brandon Lions Club

Fred Brown, right, of the Brandon Lions Club, sells chocolate candy bars on a cold January day with Ashleigh Hall, far left, and Lauren Eberhart of the Bloomingdale Leo Club at a Publix Super Market. The funds raised are going toward projects that help the blind.

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By BARBARA ROUTEN

Tribune correspondent

Published: February 25, 2009

BRANDON - Members of the Brandon Lions Club and students from Brandon and Bloomingdale high schools' Leo Clubs donned warm clothing on a chilly Jan. 31 to sell more than 2,000 milk chocolate, caramel, almond and crispy candy bars at six area Publix Super Markets to raise money for projects that help people with visual impairments.

Shivering helpers at the Publix at the Bloomingdale Plaza shopping center included Lions Fred Brown, a two-year director, and Arthur Schmidt, a three-year director, and Bloomingdale Leos Ashleigh Hall and Lauren Eberhart.

"There were many persons who donated money rather than purchase the candy bars," Schmidt said.

The Brandon Lions Club has been serving the community in a variety of ways for 55 years. Members coordinate the vision, hearing and scoliosis screening programs at area schools, sponsor the annual countywide, Don Bishop Invitational cross country meet at Brandon High School, educate people about blindness prevention and help people with vision problems.

The club meets at 7 p.m. the first and third Thursdays of each month in the historic Lions Clubhouse, 610 Limona Road.

For more information or to inquire about membership, visit www.brandonlions.org.

Brandon Rotary Hosts Game Night

PLANT CITY - The Rotary Club of Brandon will hold its 33rd annual Wild Game Night at 6 p.m. Friday at Lupton's Boggy Bottom Event Ranch, 8407 Lupton Place. Wild hog, venison and possibly even quail will be served.

There will be an open bar, door prizes, drawings, exhibits by vendors of outdoor equipment and an auction of hunting knives, fishing gear and guns.

This always has been and remains a stag event - not a reference to the venison, even though the club's membership now includes women.

"There are no wild games," said member Derrell Curry. "It's just a bunch of guys getting together for a fun night out and to raise money for a good cause."

Make that several good causes. The money raised at last year's Wild Game Night brought in $50,000, which was distributed to Rotary's Camp Florida, the Brandon Outreach Clinic and the Emergency Care Help Organization, among others. About 900 men attended the 2008 event.

The "Wild Game, Not Wild Games, Cookbook," published by the Rotary Club of Brandon, has recipes collected by Curry for Florida game delicacies, such as roast armadillo, barbecued porcupine, alligator-pork sausage, fried rattlesnake and Southern-fried squirrel, as well as side dishes like swamp cabbage.

"They're not all to my taste, but they are all real recipes I accumulated from hunters and agricultural agents during about a year of research," Curry said.

Cookbooks are $5. Copies are available at Curry's office, Burnett & Curry Realty, 2505 State Road 60, E., Valrico. He may be reached at (813) 681-4676.

Tickets for Wild Game Night are $70 and available from Rotary Club of Brandon members and Jack Pickens, chairman of Wild Game Night, at (813) 478-0662.

For club information , visit www.brandonrotary.org.

"Anyone may come visit a meeting," Pickens said. The club meets at noon Tuesdays at Center Place Fine Arts and Civic Association, 619 Vonderburg Drive, Brandon.

Congregation Offers Help With Tough Choices

The public is invited to a free panel discussion called "End of Life Decisions With a Jewish Perspective: How Do We Decide?" from 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Congregation Beth Shalom, 706 Bryan Road.

These decisions involve spiritual, medical and legal issues, and so the panel will include Rabbi Betsy Torop, spiritual director of the Reform Jewish Congregation Beth Shalom; Robert Walker, a physician and associate professor of medicine at the University of South Florida, where he teaches medical ethics courses and is director of the Division of Medical Ethics, Humanities and Palliative Medicine; and attorney Connie C. Durrence, a member of the Academy of Florida Elder Law Attorneys and National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

For more details, contact Lawrence S. Greenfield, chairman of the adult education committee of Congregation Beth Shalom, at lsgmd4@ yahoo.com or (813) 431-9451.

Durant Presents 'Funny Girl'

PLANT CITY - The Durant High School drama department will present "Funny Girl" at 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, in the school auditorium, 4748 Cougar Path.

The cast includes Lindsey Mutert as Fanny Brice, Mackenzie Jenkins as Eddie Ryan, Amanda Zappia as Rose Brice, Steven Penarand as Florenz Ziegfeld and Jake Simmons as Nick Arnstein.

The director, Ed Mason, also the director of the drama department, said "Funny Girl" was the first musical he directed 30 years ago and has great music - songs like "People" and "Don't Rain on My Parade."

The show's musical director, junior Chris Tousignant, said, "I did not know any of these songs. I was a little apprehensive. After going over them with the cast, I now love the show."

Tickets are $9. To get them, ask a cast member, call Mason at (813) 757-9075, Ext. 280, or visit www.theatredurant.com and click on "reserve tickets."

Spring In The Air At Luncheon

A "Spring Is in the Air" luncheon will be hosted by the Brandon Christian Women's Connection from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 9 in the Special Events Room at Bell Shoals Baptist Church, 2102 Bell Shoals Road.

Jeremy Silverman, organist at First Baptist Church of Brandon, will sing and play piano in a 30-minute concert.

Usually, these luncheons are women-only events, but because Silverman will be performing, men are invited to this get-together, too.

The guest speaker will be Linda Moore of Gainesville, a consultant, leadership trainer and speaker affiliated with Stonecroft Ministries. She will describe how she uses "the bricks thrown at you in life to build bridges instead of walls," and how she can tell when dinner is ready - "the smoke alarm goes off."

Cost is $12. Child care for children up to age 5, if needed, must be arranged when making a reservation. For reservations or information, contact Bobbi Gardner at (813) 657-8632 or Barbara_gardner4@ yahoo.com.

Blood Donors Are Needed

Florida Blood Services is in need of donations of all types of blood, particularly O- and A-negative and O-positive. Donors must be at least age 16, with permission from a parent, in general good health and weigh no less than 110 pounds.

People who donate will receive a wellness checkup that is part of the blood-donation process.

The Brandon Donor Center, 727 W. Lumsden Road, is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday; and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

For other donation locations, go to www.fbsblood.org or call 1-800-68-BLOOD (25663).

Snippets

The Brandon Christian Writers group, led by Ruth Carmichael Ellinger, will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Brandon Regional Library, 619 Vonderburg Drive, Brandon. Any hopeful or published inspirational writers are welcome. For information, contact Ellinger at writer@ruthellinger.com. ... Congratulations to Tiffany Haynes of Riverview, daughter of Johnny Anthony Haynes of Riverview and Maj. Rochelle L. Haynes of D'Iberville, Miss. Tiffany, a student of Oxford College of Emory University in Oxford, Ga., achieved the distinction of being named to Oxford's Merit List for the 2008 fall semester.

Send news and photos of community interest to Barbara Routen at The Tampa Tribune, 505 W. Robertson St., Brandon FL 33511, call (813) 657-4531 or e-mail neighbors@tampabay.rr.com.

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