The Marshall Lions Club met at Noon, Tuesday, January 17, 2012, at Panola-Harrison Community Room, 410 E. Houston. After a delicious barbeque lunch, catered by PicNPay, the meeting was called to order by President Mutt Sanders. The opening prayer was offered by Ken Poindexter, followed by the pledges to the US Flag and Texas flag led by
Robert Wood. Brenda Wood led the Club in singing “Home, Home on the Range” and “America the Beautiful”, accompanied by pianist Arnola Zabokrtsky.
Lion Tamer Ann Terry reported on attendance, that there were 32 in attendance. She welcomed everyone and especially guests John Stephens and Leta Kay, guests of the Lions
Club in appreciation of their part in the program.
Tail Twister Suzanne Willis fined several for various reasons and several for being late, and Robert Wood offered to pay the late fine for Commissioner Jeff Thompson.
She asked Alan Grantham to lead the club in singing the special version of “Happy Birthday/Anniversary” to Lion Dudley Swofford’s wife, Margaret and Lion Jesse Fugler’s wife, Ann on their birthdays and the 40th anniversary of Lion Ken Poindexter and his
wife, Ellen.
President Sanders then turned the meeting over to the Program chair for the month, Harold Raines, who introduced the speaker, Mark Williams, Manager of the Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
Mark talked a bit about National Refuges in the United States with another in the planning stages on the Neches bottomlands. There are 550 National Wildlife Refuges nationwide, with 93 million acres total. Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge has a purpose to manage, conserve and protect the migratory birds and other fish and wildlife that depend on it.
Mr. Williams also told about the timber harvesting that is on-going in the Refuge. He showed a slide about the before and after looks to the forest, explaining that the thinning allows for natural grasses to flourish, providing food for a variety of animals. He said
the thinning this year paid for the replacement of a bridge. Also beneficial are two turnouts on park roads to provide access for hiking or birdwatching. There are prescribed burns every few years, allowing the temperature, humidity and winds are all right.
Also discussed was the deer hunts allowed on the Refuge. Mark said there is bow
hunting in October, with the regular hunt in November. There is a Youth hunt and disabled hunt, also. There is also a good number of turkeys on the property this year.
The Youth Conservation Corp was established for young people to work on the Refuge and learn about nature and work on projects. This year the kids did a Bluebird survey and built bird blinds as an aid in birdwatching. They also built gates to allow flooding of
certain areas for waterfowl habitats.
Another project starting this year is concrete removal from the old army ammunition depot. There are approximately 90,000 tons of concrete to be taken out, and it will be recycled to be used in the construction of the I-49 Interstate project north of Shreveport. Mark also said one of the bunkers on the premises will be used as a bat habitat.
Anything that will eat mosquitoes is welcome on the Caddo.
Williams also said there is a committee in the Friends of the Refuge group studying the renovation of Starr Ranch. One new item to be added to the Refuge is a satellite tower to be built by the Coast Guard. There are two in Texas; one in Big Spring and 32 nationwide that provide information to the Coast Guard about the positions of any boat, plane, etc.
Mark answered a variety of questions posed by Lions and Harold Raines presented him with a Lions writing pen.
Jan Williams offered the closing prayer and President Sanders adjourned the meeting.
Submitted by Brenda Wood, 903-938-3162
Prayer requests: Suzanne Willis requested prayer from her friend, Leneda Kay, who is again battling cancer. Dudley Swofford said a friend of his, Linda Bird has renal failure. Keep all these and unspoken in your prayers.
Assignments for the Horse Show are: office workers headed by Bob Graves, Frank
Lower will be the emcee, Jim Quinn will be over the gate and runners, Chuck Abma
and Harold Raines will be in charge of the check-in, Dudley will work with the
DQP, Jeff Thompson and Ben Bane will be in charge of getting the arena set up,
Hilda Bane is working on the programs and Robert Wood will be in charge of security and will get a golf cart from the city. Cleveland Heard offered to try to get donations toward the rental of the arena and contact exhibitors for ads.
The Website is now updated…log on to marshalllionsclub.com to check it out!
And, please, please, INVITE someone to come with you…you never know when a friend would just LOVE to become a Lion!
It’s GREAT to be a Lion!













