Several weeks ago our club Secretary, Belinda Hixon sent out an email to many of her Life Member Friends about an idea that she had to raise needed funds for the club.

The idea was a simple one and proposed a "Challenge" to her fellow Life Members to send a donation to the club as most every life member we currently have joined at a time when dues were much less than they are today. This challenge is based on a premise that we all as life members have gotten far more out of our memberships than the initial Life Member dues that each of us paid.

While this was initially a challenge issued only by Belinda, the current BOD would like to take this challenge to the rest of the Life Members and we support this challenge 100%.

I personally would like to ask all my Life Member friends to participate in this challenge and pass it along to their friends as well. With a little help we can make sure we get back on our feet financially and continue the great traditions of our club.

P.S. - Before anyone asks (And I know they will) the BOD has taken numerous steps to save money this year as well as
raise additional funds thru promotions. Every expense is currently being scrutinized and we believe we have a viable
recovery plan in place in order to reverse the trends we saw in 2008. More details on this well be posted on the boards soon.

Here is Belinda's Original Email Message:

Hi guys,

I have a challenge for you all. The Club needs help and although we're all Life Members who have paid dues
and could reasonably expect not to pay more, we have and do receive far more than those dues pay for.Â
To that end, I'm challenging all of you to send $50 to the Club's general fund and to contact other Life Members
you know and challenge them to do the same thing.

I'll place an ad in the next issue of the magazine listing the names of those who have taken the challenge and will
include the following text:

"We the undersigned Life Members have, over the years, gotten more enjoyment out of our membership in the Club,
than our Life Member dues could ever possibly pay for. Therefore, in light of the Club's current financial situation,
we will each be sending a check in the amount of $50.00 to the Club's General Fund. We challenge each Life
Member to do the same. In fact, we would encourage every Club Member to accept this challenge and send a check!
And remember, these donations are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law."

Mike Skelton's name will be at the top of the list with mine second.  I hope that there will be many others.

If you want to participate and have your name included, please let me know.

Belinda

Currently we have raised $750 thru the donations of 13 Life members and we hope to get a LOT more added to the list soon.

Belinda Hixon
Mike Skelton
Gene Trimble
Douglas Smith
Steve Bedo
Eric Rosenblum
Mike Quinlivan
Archie Black
Len Cipkins
Todd Barrett
Debra Meister
Ralph Myers
Greg Susong

Thanks to all who have donated and I look forward to adding many new names to the list.

Doug "Cigarman" Smith
Treasurer
LM-3209-147