The Victoria Lions held their annual Softball Weekend July 15th, 16th, 17th.  Each of the days brought high humidity and temperatures into the 90's.  But friends of the Lions and fans of their burgers, brats, and baseball show up no matter what!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.  If you've never heard the song before, that's okay.  It just means you're either a great grandma or a generation X'er and probab-ly not a Baby Boomer like the editor.  These girls in the picture fall somewhere in between, and they've been having fun at the annual Victoria Lions Weekend for maybe 30 years.  You could call them friends and cousins and sisters.  They're all Victoria girls except for that Chapman boy who also happens to be from Victoria.   
Getting identified:  Back (l-r):  Jill (Moore) Kunze; Judy (Moore) Forcier, Joe Chapman, Ellen (Schneider) Rolf, Jane (Schneider) Schimschock.  Front: Julie (Michel) Widmer, Kathryn (Carroll) Eldridge, and Roxanne (Notermann) Sackett.

Every time you turned around at the Victoria Lions Weekend there was a boy scout picking up your pop can and grin-ning from ear to ear.  Pop cans mean money in the pockets of the Boy Scout Troop #337 so they can keep working for their merit badges and for the community.  Thank you, Boy Scouts.  Victoria loves you almost as much as we love the Lions. 
This photo is a small sampling of scouts who worked over the Lions Week-end.  Pictured are (l-r):  Tyler Raymond, Nathan Jackels, and Roger Jackels of Victoria, Assistant Scoutmaster.  There are a total of 17 scouts in Troop #337.  Thank you, scouts, for being good citizens and, especially, for cleaning up after those Victoria Lions and their big  crowds.

Darlene Wedin of Rockford, Minnesota, has brought her rig to the Victoria Lions Weekend every year since 1981!.  She sells what the Lions don't sell -- mini donuts, cheese curds, sno-cones, and popcorn.  And she has what the Lions don't have at their shelter -- air conditioning!

In heaven there is no beer, that's why people drink it here -- at the Victoria Lions Softball Tournament!  It's for a good cause, in good company, in good season!  With temperatures reaching close to 100 degrees each of the three days, plus high humidity, the crowd may have been a little smaller than usual, but the spirit and camaraderie were as high as always.
In the photo (l-r):  Mark Robling, Victoria Lion and Recent Past President Joe Schmieg, Victoria Lion Brian Schmieg, Traci Schrempp, Tom Schrempp, and Victoria Lion Wink Gay.

By the way, a couple months ago (back in June 2005!), five Victoria Lions were presented the Melvin Jones award at the May 25^th gathering in Victoria.  (L-r): Steve Reus, LeRoy Miller, Kurt Zuppke accepting on behalf of Tim Sebenaler, Ray Notermann, and Wilfred Plocher accepting on behalf of the late Jim Fink.  Melvin Jones is the founder of Lions International.  The fellowship award is the foundation's highest honor and represents humanitarian qualities such as generosity, compassion, and concern for helping the less fortunate.

Victoria Lion LeRoy Worm, left, received the distinctive award from Lions District 5M2 that designated him Zone Person of the Year.  Joe Schmieg, right, President of the Victoria Lions, presented the award.  Congratulations, LeRoy.

Favorite longtime cooks for the Victoria Lions - Marge Robling, left, and Arlene Schroeder - received large baskets of flowers in appreciation for their excellent efforts, posed here with longtime distinguished Victoria Lion Jerry Schmieg.

A Grrrrreat Gathering.  The Victoria Lions sponsored a Spring Zone 2 Meeting in Victoria in March, 2005, which had the distinction of including several Past District Governors (PDG) of the large Lions District 5M2, two of whom are from the Victoria Lions.  [District 5M extends from Minnesota to Manitoba to Northwestern Ontario.]
Front (l-r):  PDG Lowell Peterson of the Carver Lions, PDG Larry Meskan of the Waterville Lions, and Current District Governor Tiny Brandt of the Albert Lea Lions.
Back:  PDG Arden Severson of the Silver Lake Lions, PDG Bill Curtis of the Glencoe Lions, PDG Jerry Schmieg of the Victoria Lions, PDG Ellsworth Becker of the Glencoe Lions, PDG Wayne Neubarth of the Victoria Lions, and PDG Mel Simon of the New Market-Elko-Webster Lions.