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Call to Order – President Ted Gonsiorowski called the meeting to order and led in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Invocation – David Hunter: We thank Thee, oh Lord, for this, our daily bread. Guide us, we pray, in lives of service. Amen. Vittles – Chicken Primavera, salad and toppings, garlic bread, banana creme pie, tea and coffee.

Attendance – 23 members, 3 visitors. Guests – Larry (Husband of Fonda Bowden). Birthdays – Omer Benn (18th). Lions Report – Lew Laymon moved to Bickford Cottage, 1002 S. Staley Rd, Champaign. Bob Suter is back home. If you are ill or know a fellow Lion that is under the weather, please call Pat Bryan at 586-4535.

Lottery – Ted Gonsiorowski won the $12 lottery.

Announcements – Ted Gonsiorowski announced District Cabinet Meeting/Convention February 24. Immediately following the cabinet meeting there will be a “convention” group convened to vote on 1-B & 1-K combining. Walk for Sight will be June 9 at Mattoon.

Ted read a thank you note from the Salvation Army. May 19/20 2013 is the State Convention.

Jay Hoeflinger spoke about our club helping the Food Bank for deliveries.

Program – Charlie Osborne introduced Donald Bergfield, who spoke on “Exploring Agriculture Outside the US.” Don has been teaching at Parkland College for 14 years and is Program Director of Agriculture. He takes students on trips for study abroad, such as to Costa Rica,

where he met his wife, Ana.

Don was raised on a farm south of Arcola and graduated from Parkland College. Parkland has a small sustainable farm they maintain.

In his talk, Don compared Costa Rica and Denmark. Students in Costa Rica are highly educated, partly because the country does not support an army. Denmark is flat and Costa Rica is mountainous;

but both countries produce a lot of vegetables. Land prices in Costa Rica are about the same as in Illinois, mainly due to foreign investment. Migrant workers in Costa Rica are from Nicaragua and work for about $1/hr, while in Denmark migrant workers from Eastern Europe make about $25/hr.

There is high pork production in both countries but it is entirely automated in Denmark.

There is a lot of seed production in Demark.

Dairy in Denmark is all robot driven but cows are milked by hand in Costa Rica.

Pineapple,

banana,

and coffee production are high in Costa Rica but none in Denmark. Costa Rica also raises water buffalo for cheese and meat. A major difference is that Danish agricultural production is highly regulated by their government.

Don spoke quite rapidly, so Rex had to type like wildfire to take notes for the Chatter.

TailTwister – Tom Yaxley asked Kathy Struck to carry the bucket.

He fined Bob Tuchel for not greeting;

Omer Benn’s table for Omer’s upcoming birthday;

Herb Bail for not paying attention;

Gordie Gordon for not bringing tickets to the Illinois-Purdue game;

Byron Balbach bragged about our winning the Indiana game;

and paid.

Rich King bragged about his son’s upcoming recital.

Then Tom fined Dave Hunter for having told a joke at the beginning of our meeting;

and proceeded to read a couple jokes himself. Everyone laughed at Tom’s jokes because they were afraid not to.

Bad move - So Tom gains a little weight and is our greeter next week…

Greeter: Tom Yaxley

Feb 27 – To Be Announced

Click here osborne@bankchampaign.com to email Charlie Osborne and let him know what you would like to see in a Lions Club program some time.

Coming up

Feb 20 - Bob Asmussen, Illinois football beat writer for the Champaign News-Gazette and IlliniHQ.com

Thank you for watching

Editor

Rex Hess

Publisher

David Hunter

To email Dave with your comments, click here → hunter4000@comcast.net

To go to the our website, click here → http://www.champaignlions.org/

Dave