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Lions Pride Endowment Fund of Wisconsin

~ Today's Help, Tomorrow's Hope for Lions Camp and all WLF Projects

Lions Pride Endowment Fund of Wisconsin

Tag Archives: child

Paul Bunyan & Folklore Fun

25 Thursday Jun 2020

Posted by lionspridewi in Holidays, Special Events

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babe, campfire, chainsaw demo, child, daniel boone, davy crockett, folklore, grand canyon, great lakes, lakes, legend, lions pride, log rolling, lumberjack, minnesota, mount hood, oregon, paul bunyan, storks

Sunday, June 29, is Paul Bunyan Day, and we thought it might be fun to offer tales that you may have not already heard from the most well-known folklores of all time.

  • As a child, Paul Bunyan was so big that five storks were required to deliver him home.
  • The first time he clapped his hands as a child, he broke all of his house’s windows.
  • Ever wondered where Paul might have acquired his big, blue ox? Many believe that Babe was a gift to Paul from his fellow woodsmen, Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone.
  • Legend says that the Grand Canyon was created by Paul, dragging his ax behind him.
  • A common myth behind the Great Lakes Formation is that Paul needed to create a watering hole for Babe to drink.
  • One winter, it has been said that Paul and Babe were lost in a Minnesota snowstorm. The 10,000 lakes were created from their footsteps.
  • While camping in northern Oregon, Paul needed to find a way to extinguish his campfire. His solution was to pile up a bunch of rocks, thereby forming Mount Hood.

Paul Bunyan Events, where you might find log rolling competitions or chainsawing demonstrations, have become a tradition in cities all across the Midwest. Sadly, many of them have already been cancelled due to COVID-19. Though, we can all still celebrate everyone’s favorite lumberjack through the power of folklore.

It seems that tales just don’t get taller than Paul Bunyan! What is your favorite story about the largest lumberjack ever known to man? Please share with us in the comments below.

Happy Paul Bunyan Day from Lions Pride!

Looking Back at Our Favorite Classic Toys

04 Thursday Jun 2020

Posted by lionspridewi in Holidays, News

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box, child, classic, Duncan, fun, june, lions pride, luck, magic 8 ball, maple, retro, screen, silly putty, slinky, storage, technology, toys, video conferencing, wisconsin, world war ii

Photo Credit to Mick Haupt

This Saturday, June 6, is National Yo-Yo Day! We know that some time has probably passed since you’ve shown off your yo-yoing skills, but let us tell why and how it’s worth celebrating.

You might be surprised to learn that the world-famous Duncan Yo-Yo was produced in the Dairy State for most of its existence. The yo-yo first gained popularity in the 1930s. To handle the increase in demand, the Duncan Company began searching for an area with better access to Wisconsin’s hard maple trees. In 1946, they built a plant in Luck, Wisconsin, and were able to produce 3600 yo-yos per hour, earning the village the nickname, “Yo-Yo Capital of the World.” Today, you can still find yo-yos, but they, of course, aren’t nearly as popular as the toy industry has continued to modernize over time.  

We’ve said it once, and we’ll probably say it at least a dozen more times, but we are living in unprecedented times. For the past decade, technology has become an ingrained part of life, but during the coronavirus pandemic, most of our communication has been taking place primarily through video conferencing. The increase in screen-time has left many of us in need of a technology break. We thought it might be fun to take a look back at a brief history some of our favorite classic toys, in honor of the unofficial celebration:

  • Slinky – In 1943, Mechanical Engineer Richard James created the Slinky by accident. After working to develop springs that could necessary ship equipment steady at sea, he knocked a few samples of the shelf and watched them gracefully “walk” down instead of falling. He and his wife Betty devised a plan to turn the discovery into the next novelty toy.
  • Magic 8 Ball – The Magic 8 Ball is credited to Albert Carter, who grew up in Cincinnati, during a time when spiritualism was hitting its peak. Albert’s mother’s job as a Clairvoyant inspired him to create a fortune-telling device of his own. He forged a business partnership with Abe Bookman to mass-produce the toy. Unfortunately, he passed before seeing the product patented, but Bookman was able to perfect and patent the toy to what we know and love today.
  • Silly Putty – Here’s another example of a toy created by accident! Engineer James Wright worked for the US War Production Board during World War II to construct an inexpensive substitute for synthetic rubber. After he dropped boric acid into the mixture, he created a substance that was stretchier and bouncier than rubber. As a bonus, it could also pick up a perfect copy of print when flattened against a newspaper or comic book. The government wasn’t interested in his “nutty putty,” but partygoers loved the discovery.  

These are, of course, only four of a multitude of classic toys. What was your favorite toy as a child? We’d love to hear in the comments below.

This weekend, Lions Pride would like to encourage you to see if you still have one of these toys hiding in a box. There’s no better way to take a technology break than with a trip down Memory Lane.

Happy National Yo-Yo Day!  

Our Role as Santa

21 Thursday Dec 2017

Posted by lionspridewi in Giving Tips, Holidays, Lions Camp, Special Events

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cabins, camping, celebration, child, christmas, clock, cookies, december, discover, donors, experience, gifts, giving, interdependence, joy, lions camp, lions pride, magic, milk, mission, nature, outdoor recreation, preparations, role, santa, sleep, social skills, supporters, swimming

Let’s play a game. Imagine you are six years old and it is December 21, 19XX (you fill in Magic Santathe blank), can you remember how you felt this time of year? Let’s see if our description matches your imagination: you knew that Christmas was only days away, so you were on your best behavior because Santa was watching. As December 25 crept closer and closer, you could hardly contain your excitement. Soon enough, Christmas Eve would arrive. You would put out some milk and cookies, brush your teeth and get to bed quickly – only to spend the night watching the clock. You just couldn’t wait for Christmas Day.

Sadly, as adults, the magic of Christmas seems to fade a little more each year. Santa no longer represents a symbol of joy and the celebration just becomes a season of more obligations. Fortunately, the magic does begin to reappear as we have children of our own, but then our roles change from excited child to excited parent. We also spend December 24 making preparations and barely sleeping because we are too anxious to watch our children eagerly open their gifts. We have come to discover a different kind of magic – the magic of giving. But again the cycle continues as our children grow, and the sense of wonder begins to disappear.

Luckily, as supporters of Lions Pride, we are in somewhat of a unique position. All supporters of Lions Pride get to play the part of Santa all year round. How? By giving children from all over the state of Wisconsin the gift of experience. In 2017, over 150 special children were given the opportunity to have the week of their lives out in the woods with kids just like them. They were able to sleep in cabins, roast marshmallows, learn archery, swim laps in Lions Lake and enjoy everything nature has to offer. Of course, they were also able to develop self-confidence, interdependence, social skills and outdoor recreational skills – all at no cost to their families.

The gift may not be beautifully wrapped under a bright, full tree, but we know in our hearts that it’s a gift that keeps on giving all year long. And none of these accomplishments would be possible without the help of you. Our donors are the lifeblood of our organization and we never tire of saying thank you for your support. Although our biological children may be grown, we look forward to playing Santa for many years to come. Thank you for helping us carry out our mission to preserve, provide and protect Lions Camp and all other WLF statewide projects.

The Lions Pride office will be closed the week of December 25, to celebrate Christmas with our families. Wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas!

Donate Your Deer Hide to Wisconsin Lions Camp

10 Thursday Nov 2016

Posted by lionspridewi in Giving Tips, Lions Camp, News, Special Events

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boating, camp, child, crafting, deer hide collection, donation, drop off location, environmental awareness, experience, gun hunting season, hiking, hunters, interdependence, learning, lions club, lions pride, memories, outdoors, recreation, safe, self-confidence, social skills, support, swimming, volunteers, wisconsin

The countdown is on! T-9 days until the official start of Wisconsin deer gun hunting deer-in-sunlightseason.

If you’re like more than 600,000 hunters all over the state, you are likely anxiously awaiting the arrival of next Friday morning. You’ve been diligently studying your trail cam images, already cleared your travel path and prepared your stand for a weekend in the great outdoors. You’ve been dreaming about hanging a set of beautiful antlers and a fridge full of venison to get you through the long winter, but have you thought about what you’ll do with your hide?

Again, like many other Wisconsin hunters, we hope you’ll consider donating your hide to Wisconsin Lions to help send a child to camp. Each deer-hunting season since 1991, Lions Club volunteers have set up collection sites all over the state. What started as a relatively small operation has grown immensely over the past couple decades. Today, there are over 175 collection sites from Ashland all the way down to Beloit. In recent years, the deer hide collection has raised anywhere from $75,000 to $95,000 for the Wisconsin Lions Camp.

Donating is simple! Just bring your hide to a drop-off location near you. The hide will then be salted, preserved and eventually sold. Every hide donated will help send a child with special needs to camp.

Each year, we are proud to help send over one hundred children to camp, where they get the opportunity for learning, hiking, swimming, boating, crafting and so much more. With 440 acres of land and a 45-acre private lake, there is no shortage of fun. The goals of Lions Camp are to assist each child in the development of self-confidence, interdependence, social skills, outdoor recreational skills and environmental awareness; but most importantly, for the child to have a fun, safe, memorable experience.

Give back this hunting season by donating your hide to Wisconsin Lions Camp. From all of us at Lions Pride, thank you for continued support over the years, and good luck to all hunters!

 

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