Summer in Yosemite with Yosemite Lions Club

Summer has come and gone in Yosemite, along with our annual summer fundraisers: Gear Swap, Mosquito Festival and Golf Tournament. The newest club event - the gear swap - raised $200 at the Curry Village Community Center in June by giving community members the opportunity to sell and swap old gear for hiking, fishing, biking and camping in Yosemite National Park. In August, we hosted the Mosquito Festival at the Yosemite Valley School to celebrate the leaving of the mosquitos from Yosemite (or at least we hope so!) and raised $874. Our biggest fundraiser of the year, the Yosemite Lions Club Golf Tournament, raised $5000 from 68 golfers at the Wawona Hotel golf course on September 6th. BBQ dinner on the hotel lawn and a prize raffle capped a perfect summer day in Yosemite. We are ever thankful for the enthusiastic participation in the tournament by so many community members and offer congratulations to this year's tournament winners:

1st Place Team:  Bill Carroll, Bob Blumerich, Rich Waller and Mike Lewis

2nd Place Team:  Jim Barstow, Guy Bostick, Kyle Hypes, Dave Gunderson

Golfers with the Longest Drive:  Kevin Lauterbach and Max Ringrose

Pink Lady Winning Team:  Brian Burt, Loren Fazio, Jodi Gover, Gary Rosenfeld

Special thanks to Lions Club Volunter Shari Baudoux for again being Registrar Extraordinaire and keeping everyone in the know, along with club members Audrey Lanting, Brett Archer, Jennifer Cleary, Bil Gleason, Michelle Hansen, Alison Grove, Kym Wright-Youngdale and Jodi Gover for keeping it all running smoothly.

Volunteer Shari and club members Michelle, Bil, Audrey, Brett, Alison and Jennifer.

We started off summer with officer elections in June and are pleased to announce our new club officers:
President Brett Archer (former club secretary)
Vice President Michelle Hansen
Secretary Alison Grove
Treasurer Audrey Lanting
Club members are also busy recruiting new members this year. Would you like to become a Yosemite Lion? See any club member for details or join us for noon lunch at The Ahwahnee the first and third Thursdays of each month.

Just before we teed off in Wawona in late summer, we received a visit from Lions Club District Governor Kent Christensen and entourage at our bi-weekly lunch meeting in the first week of September. Kent shared news about Lions and introduced us to the rest of the district cabinet while having lunch at The Ahwahnee in Yosemite Valley. Kent also presented awards to some of our club members for years of service with Lions Club: Jodi Gover for 15 years, Yolanda Cheley for 10 years and Sean Pence for 10 years. We are proud to serve with such dedicated club members!

Jodi Gover and Kent Christensen

We are set to host the annual fall blood drive, along with the Central California Blood Center, in the community of El Portal just outside of Yosemite's west gate and even planning a new fall fundraiser with a dinner of Mexican food at Curry Village. Stay tuned for details, and we hope you will consider donating blood this year.

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!

October Events: The Mosquito Festival and the Fall Blood Drive

The club is sponsoring two exciting events this week: The Mosquito Festival in Yosemite Valley and the annual Yosemite Lions Club Fall Blood Drive in El Portal. On Wednesday, October 24th, the blood drive, sponsored in conjunction with the Central California Blood Center, will take place at the El Portal Community Hall, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. In addition to juice, doughnuts and free t-shirts for blood donors, we will also be collecting used eyeglasses to recycle for the Lions In Sight program.

On Thursday, October 25th, in the Better Late Than Never category, the club will be hosting the annual Mosquito Festival in Yosemite Valley at the Curry Village Community Center. This year's festival, known as "El Mosquito Fiesta" features a Mexican dinner prepared by Maria La Veaga - formerly of the Curry Village Taco Stand. Maria's menu includes enchiladas, tacos, burritos, beans, rice and chips & salsa included in one of three different dinner combos: one item $8.00, two items, $10.00, three items $12.00. As always, proceeds from this event will benefit the Yosemite Community.

We hope to see you in El Portal on Wednesday and at dinner on Thursday evening!

Summer in Yosemite with the YLC

Summer in Yosemite is swimming in the Merced River, hiking to the top of Half Dome, toasting s'mores over the campfire and preparing for the Yosemite Lions Club's two annual park events: the Mosquito Festival in Yosemite Valley and the Golf Tournament at the Wawona Hotel golf course. Below you will find the registration form for the golf tournament that takes place on Saturday September 8th, 2012. Tournament players demonstrate their skills on the 9 hole Wawona golf course before sitting down to a BBQ dinner and prize raffle at the Wawona Hotel. Join us for a day of summer fun in Yosemite to help raise funds for the club. Golf teams are welcome to bring non-golfing companions to round out their dinner party and participate in the prize raffle. Look for upcoming details on the annual Mosquito Festival to raise funds and celebrate the exodus of mosquitos from Yosemite Valley.

At the last monthly club meeting, we shared a lunch date with luminaries from Lions Club District 4-A1 at the Ahwahnee Hotel, including Vice District Governor Tom Bauder, Yosemite Region Zone Chairperson Chris Baker, District Governor Jim Syvertsen and Yosemite Region Chairperson Dwight Stephens (that's YLC Secretary Brett and YLC President Kym in the middle of the photo above). It was inspiring to connect with Lions outside of our club, and we shared thoughts and enthusiastic ideas concerning the Lions Clubs in our district. Speaking of enthusiasm, two YLC members were awarded  commemorative pins to celebrate their commitment to the club and enthusiasm for Lions Club events. After being nominated by President Kym, District Governor Jim presented Secretary Brett and Lion Michelle with "You Mean the World to Lions 2012-2013" pins.

We look forward to seeing you at our summer events and hope you'll spread the word to help raise funds for the Yosemite community.

Use the download link to get a copy of the registration form below:

Yosemite Lions Club Golf Tournament 2012

Sucessful Summer Fundraising Events for the Yosemite Lions Club

Another summer has come and gone in the Sierra Nevada and we here at the Yosemite Lions Club want to thank the Yosemite community for supporting our two biggest fundraising events: the Mosquito Festival in Yosemite Valley and the annual Wawona Golf Tournament at the Wawona Hotel.  Though rain threatened and finally arrived during the afternoon BBQ dinner and raffle, the golf tournament raised $6000 for community projects.  Though the club regularly supports the Yosemite Child Care Center in Yosemite Valley, this year the center became a focus of fundraising as the outdoor play area and equipment was destroyed during the late spring snowstorms.  In addition to the funds generated by the golf tournament, the Mosquito Festival also raised $4000.  Thanks to you, the Yosemite Lions Club can provide support to the Child Care Center and other community projects such as scholarships for college students and supporting sight-impaired citizens.

Not only do we support worthy causes by sponsoring events, we also provide the opportunity to win prizes such as the week's stay in a house in Hawaii at the Mosquito Festival and dining certificates for the Ahwahnee Dining Room and the Mountain Room restaurant at Yosemite Lodge.  You can contribute to your community and have fun doing it!

The Lions Club is grateful to DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite for partnering with all our fundraising events, but we'd especially like to thank the food & beverage staff at Yosemite Lodge for providing the dinner at the Mosquito Festival and the Wawona Hotel staff for facilitating the golf tournament.  The Club would also like to thank all the business partners and friends who contributed raffle prizes, and the community members who attend and make the fundraising possible.  We hope to see you next year at these and other great Yosemite events!