Gracias and Golf in Yosemite

Lions Club Secretary Brett and Vice President Jodi get ready to serve up a fiesta

The Yosemite Lions Club would like to send a heart-felt "Gracias!" to the Yosemite community for supporting El Mosquito Fiesta and Summer Gear Swap. We raised over $900 for local schools by hosting an excellent Mexican dinner prepared by the fabulous Maria La Veaga (who donated her time preparing this wonderful food) and the First Annual Summer Gear Swap.

Newest member of the Lions Club, Bil, is at your service

Five participants provided used gear in the form of backpacks, trekking and fishing poles, camp stoves, bike gear and other goodies for rock-bottom prices. The swap was well-attended and we received many encouraging comments from shoppers who liked the idea of purchasing used gear from the community. We hope that you will join us next year by bringing old gear to sell and purchasing some items that are new to you.

Are you joining us next weekend in Yosemite National Park at the Wawona golf course for the annual Lions Club Golf Tournament fundraiser? Though this popular event is nearly filled, you can check with Registrar Extraordinaire Shari to see if we can squeeze in one more team. Contact Shari at 209-628-5941. We hope to see you there for a late summer day on the greens, BBQ dinner at the Wawona Hotel and the Greatest Raffle in the Known Universe! This year we have many golf-related prizes such as rounds of golf at local courses in addition to dinners for two at The Mountain Room and Wawona Dining Room, Brunch for two at The Ahwahnee, and spa treatments from Tenaya Lodge!

Travel to the Wawona area of Yosemite is unaffected by the Rim Fire. However, the air quality may be affected by this large wildfire that is burning in the northwest wilderness of the park. We'll keep our fingers crossed for clear blue skies on the date of the tournament and give big thanks to the firefighters doing their best to contain the fire. For more info about the Rim Fire, visit http://www.yosemitepark.com/yosemite-fire-update.aspxhttp://www.yosemitepark.com/yosemite-fire-update.aspx

Big Summer Events with Yosemite Lions Club!

After successful spring events such as the Relay for Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society in Mariposa where we raised over $3000 dollars for cancer research, and the Spring Blood Drive in Yosemite Valley, the club takes a breather before the two biggest events of the year: The Mosquito Festival and the Annual Golf Tournament.

On Monday, August 12, the club will host the venerable Mosquito Festival (now known as La Mosquito Fiesta) at the Curry Village Community Center in Yosemite Valley. From 5:30 to 7:00 PM, we'll serve a Mexican fundraiser dinner prepared by the lovely and talented Maria La Veaga. New this year, we will also host a Summer Gear Swap during the dinner. Inspired by our friends at the Yosemite Winter Club, we hope that community members will bring their old gear to swap or sell. Summer gear only, please, as the Yosemite Winter Club hosts a winter gear swap every year in November during their fundraising dinner. If you would like to participate in the Gear Swap, come on down to the CVCC and with the items you would like to sell tagged with your name and price. We'll sell the gear for you and at the end of the evening, you'll collect the funds from your sold items. Any unsold items must go home with you. If you would like to donate any of your funds to the club's fundraising efforts, we'll certainly accept! We hope to see you and your gear on Monday evening to share a wonderful Mexican dinner of tacos, burritos, beans, rice, chips & salsa and a drink.

On Saturday, September 7, we will be hosting the Annual Golf Tournament at the Wawona Hotel Golf Course in Yosemite National Park. This popular event is filling fast, so if you would like to come golf in a national park for a good cause, please contact our registrar, Shari, at 209-628-5941 or send us a message at yosemiteliosnclub@yahoo.com. You can also download the registration form here: 
http://www.scribd.com/doc/159444362/Yosemite-Lions-Club-Annual-Golf-Tournament-2013

We hope to see you in September too!

Relay for Life This Saturday!

Each year the Yosemite Lions Club sponsors a team for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life - a fundraising event that supports cancer research. Our Relay is scheduled for Saturday, May 18, which means we have two more days of fundraising left!

From our Team Captain and fellow Lion, Teri Tudela:

"Only two more days to go!  Yosemite Hiking for a Cure is running in second place with $3180 raised so far (not including $345 I am turning in tonight)! Thank you for all your hard work.  Some teams have been fundraising since last October - just tells you what a strong team we have! Jodi is bringing a tent if anyone wants to rest.  We will also have a canopy set up for shade.  I would suggest bringing a chair and any snacks you might want during the day. Food is also offered both for sale and for free at various locations around the track. If you are staying the full event you might want to bring a sleeping bag, etc. Don't forget sunscreen (maybe a hat) - I hear it's suppose to be warm Saturday.

Our location is on the same side as parking.  We will have our purple "Yosemite Hiking for a Cure" banner up so we should be easy to find.  We will continue our fundraising during the event with the baskets for raffle and Bingo again this year.  Both were requested by participants from last year.  Vendor donations will make up the giveaways. Thanks again, Teri"



If you would like to make a contribution to our team's fundraising efforts, please visit our team page at the link below. If you are a team member already, we thank you for your contribution and dedication. See you on the track!


Donate here: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLCY13CA?team_id=1310741&pg=team&fr_id=48977

YLC Raises Funds for El Portal School and Welcomes New Member Bil Gleason!

The Yosemite Lions Club would like to officially announce Bil Gleason as our newest member! Welcome Bil, and thanks for all your help with pancakes. On Saturday, April 27th the club held its annual pancake breakfast fundraiser at the Spring Fling celebration in El Portal. Club Secretary Brett gives us an update:

Club members Mike, Arvin, Brett and Bill T.

"It was an awesome pancake breakfast this past Saturday at the El Portal Spring Fling.  We went through the 150 plates Bill had bought, plus about 20 or so that Arvin found in the cupboard there, plus about 15 ceramic plates we had to break out of the cupboards, making it about 200 guests!

You know it is a good one when you have very little left (2 jugs of syrup only)!

If pancake flipping was an Olympic sport, Bill, would be the gold medalist.  He was crankin' those pancakes out like nobody's business.

Our newest club member, Bil Gleason, was the master stirrer, keeping both the orange juice and pancake batter mixed up.  He also made some signs to go on Highway 140 advertising the breakfast.  The man did not stop from the moment he got there to the moment he left.

Alison had trouble counting correctly every now and then, but other than that, she and Jodi kept the food line moving while Teri was raking in the money people were throwing at her.  Volunteer Shani was out front too helping the ladies and looking pretty!

When Bill had the pancakes done, Sean was there with a plate, he handed them off to Arvin who kept the chafing dish filled until we couldn't keep up and by then, they were coming right of the griddle onto someone's plate.   It was quite the assembly line.

Oz kept all of us in line and was the glue that held us together.  Say it isn't so, Oz.  This is your last pancake breakfast?   :-(

Spring Fling Coordinator Claudine said she had 50 more runners this year.  We took in $285.00, which means we raised this amount for the El Portal school!

As always, it was a lot of fun.  Thanks to Teri for taking photos of the Yosemite Lions Club hard at work."

Club members Bil G., Alison and VP Jodi

Thanks once again to the Yosemite community for your participation and enthusiasm for our fundraising efforts. We hope to see you at the El Mosquito Fiesta in Yosemite Valley on July 25th.

Spring Events with the Yosemite Lions Club

Spring has arrived and we're looking forward to seeing you at club sponsored events in April and May. Come out and enjoy spring in Yosemite as we host the annual pancake breakfast at Spring Fling in El Portal on April 27, 2013. In addition to our pancake fundraiser for the El Portal school, Spring Fling involves a 5K fun run called the El Portal Spring Run-Off, food vendors, craft vendors and live music at the El Portal Community Hall. If you're lucky, you'll also catch the California Poppy show that debuts each spring in the Merced River Canyon just outside of El Portal.

Each spring, in the Yosemite gateway town of Mariposa, the Yosemite Lions Club is proud to sponsor the Yosemite Hiking for a Cure Relay for Life team representing the Yosemite community. The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life is a 24 hour fundraising event held at hundreds of venues across the country. Team members raise funds by pledging to walk a designated number of hours during a 24 hour time period to symbolize that cancer never sleeps. Located at the Mariposa County Fairgrounds, teams walk the track from 9 AM on Saturday May 18, 2013 through 9 AM on Sunday May 19. The event includes contests, team fundraisers, food, music and games to help keep the teams on the track for 24 hours. We are always looking for more team members and if you'd like to join us this year, please send us email at yosemitelionsclub@yahoo.com, join our team online at the Mariposa Relay for Life website or contact any of our club members.

On May 22, 2013, we return to Yosemite Valley for the annual Spring Blood Drive. Hosted in conjunction with the Central California Blood Center, the Bloodmobile will be parked in front of the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center from 10 AM to 3 PM to accept blood donations from community members and visitors. As always, donors receive a free t-shirt along with doughnuts and orange juice. We hope you'll join us for this important event that supports life-preserving efforts in our California community.