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The Fairfax Host Lions Club will host a club level competition on Sunday, February 19, 2012 at the Old Town Hall (3999 University Drive). Registration forms (below) must be received by Friday, February 3, 2012.  Only the first 10 entries in each category (instrumental/vocal) will be accepted. 

Registration Form – 2012 Bland Competition – Fairfax Lions Club 

On December 13, Fairfax Lions donated 28 units of blood.  To date, blood drives sponsored by the Fairfax Host Lions Club have resulted in an astounding total of 2,966 units of blood donated!

Over 21% of the club’s members regularly donate blood, whether through the club’s drives or through other blood drives at their place of work or the Red Cross.  If you’re not among the regular donors, please consider coming out to the next blood drive—we’ll post a notice online when it’s scheduled.

Thanks for Lion Elden Wright for coordinating the drives, the American Red Cross for stabbing our arms, and Providence Presbyterian Church and its members for the location and support.

The December 2011 citrus sale is just around the corner!

Have you signed up for email coupons?  We send out coupons twice before each sale: about two weeks ahead of the sale and again the day before the sale starts.  Sign up early to be sure to receive a discount off the already great price!  Click here to sign up.

We will be selling fresh Ruby Red Grapefruits and Navel Oranges straight from the farms of Florida, Vermont Maple Syrup, and Virginia Peanuts. We often sell out on Saturday afternoon, so please come early to be sure you get the produce you desire!

Our doors are opened from 9am – 6pm Daily. Find us at Fairfax Circle, along Old Lee Hwy/Fairfax Blvd, adjacent to Home Depot. Look for the blue and white moving van from Craig Van Lines.

If you haven’t signed up for our notification list, please CLICK HERE so you will receive notification prior to each sale. You’ll also receive a coupon for $3.00 off each full box purchased!

Please Click Here for information about the December 15-17 sale!

Join us at the next Citrus Fruit Sale!

We will be selling fresh Ruby Red Grapefruits and Navel Oranges straight from the farms of Florida, Vermont Maple Syrup, and Virginia Peanuts. We often sell out on Saturday afternoon, so please come early to be sure you get the produce you desire!

Our doors are opened from 9am – 6pm Daily. Find us at Fairfax Circle, along Old Lee Hwy/Fairfax Blvd, adjacent to Home Depot. Look for the blue and white moving van from Craig Van Lines.

If you haven’t signed up for our notification list, please CLICK HERE so you will receive notification prior to each sale. You’ll also receive a coupon for $3.00 off each full box purchased!

In his presentation entitled “Lions Club Vision Screenings for Learning-Related Vision Problems,” Dr. Davis noted that vision is our dominant sense.  More than 70 per cent of all information we receive throughout the day is through the visual system.  “The purpose of vision” Dr. Davis emphasized, “is to help us understand what we see from the world around us.”

It seems that seeing 20/20 is not the issue.  20/20 just means that the person can clearly see a certain letter on the standard eye chart (equivalent to what a person with normal vision should be able to see at 20 feet).  A recent study funded by NIH indicated that pediatricians and school vision screenings miss 40 per cent of the learning-related vision problems.  Indeed, ophthalmologists and optometrists do not often diagnose the problem.  The impact of vision problems is “life-altering.”  In Special Education classes 75 per cent of the students have vision problems; the same percentage occurs in juvenile delinquents.

Students can be smart in everything but school due to seeing double images in a text of words or having trouble tracking lines of text.  “Double vision is extremely disruptive to reading.  It often gets worse as the day wears on, or as reading extends beyond a few minutes.  Many children block the vision of one eye in order to avoid seeing double.”  Three in four children in every classroom see print double or actually see the print moving.

The good news is that once the problem is diagnosed, it can be treated.  “When a vision problem is at the root of a child’s difficulties,” says Dr. Davis, “the symptoms can be easily detected, if you know what to look for.”  The most common symptoms of learning-related vision problems experienced by students are:

• double vision
• headaches
• skips lines
• head tilt, covers eye
• avoids near work
• misaligns digits
• reading comprehension is poor
• holds books too close
• poor memory
• poor handwriting
• a short attention span
• reverses letters like b’s into d’s when reading
• takes too much time to complete homework

Few people have ever heard of vision therapy.  Basically, this refers to a type of physical therapy for the eyes and brain.  It is the non-surgical treatment for common visual problems such as lazy eye therapy as well as for crossed eyes, double vision, convergence insufficiency in which the patient sees double because the eyes cannot work together at close range, and some reading and learning disabilities.

Vision Therapy is an individualized, supervised, treatment program designed to correct visual-motor and/or perceptual-cognitive deficiencies.  Vision Therapy sessions include procedures designed to enhance the brain’s ability to control:

• eye alignment,
• eye tracking and eye teaming,
• eye focusing abilities,
• eye movements, and/or
• visual processing.

A packet of material distributed at the meeting included a 30 question predictive checklist, similar to the Vision History/Teacher Assessment form which can be found on Dr. Davis’ web site.

For more information contact Tod R. Davis, OD, PLC, Developmental Optometry and Vision Therapy Services at (703) 753-9777 or visit his web site at www.davisvisiontherapy.com

“Vision is learned – experience it”

Since the LPCCI was founded in 1983, Lions Clubs have contributed $2.5 million to the Canine Companions for Independence (CCI)  program founded in 1975.  CCI is headquartered in Santa Rosa, California with five regional centers located across the nation in California, Colorado, Ohio, Illinois, New York and Florida.  The goal of the organization, which began in California, is to provide “exceptional dogs for exceptional people.”  Over 3,500 CCI dogs have been placed since 1975.

CCI puppies are born and nurtured in the homes of volunteer breeders.  At about the age of eight weeks, the pups are placed with volunteer puppy raisers for the next 13 to 18 months when they learn basic obedience.  The next step for the maturing young dogs is Advanced Training at a CCI regional center.  This training is a 6 to 9 month-long highly structured program.  Upon successful completion, the dogs then enter a two-week intensive Team Training in which they are matched with either an adult or child with a disability.  The Team Training curriculum includes dog handling and care, training methods, commands, and field trips.  Once the assistance dog has been placed, CCI provides support services for an average of 8 to 10 years.

CCI provides four types of assistance dogs.  The Service dog assists disabled adults with practical daily tasks.  As a part of his talk, Jim showed a video of how a Service Dog gives valuable assistance.  In the video, a young woman disabled with polio relied upon her dog to open and close the refrigerator door, pick up the telephone and hand it to her, and even retrieve a paper clip from the floor and place it in her lap.

The other three assistance dogs provided are:

• Skilled Companion Dogs assist children with disabilities and adults with severe disabilities under the supervision of a facilitator.  In addition to providing physical assistance, these dogs play an important role in boosting confidence and alleviating feelings of isolation.
• Hearing Dogs help people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing by alerting them to key sounds such as a knock at the door, a smoke alarm, or someone addressing them by name.
• Facility Dogs work alongside health care and educational professions in settings such as rehabilitation centers, hospitals, and special education classrooms.

There are three ways in which fellow Lions can help in this valuable community

1. spread the word and promote the LPCCI to fellow Lion members and clubs
2. take a puppy into your home for 13 to 18 months or provide a home for one of CCI’s breeder dogs.
3. donate money either individually or through your Lions Club.  Approximately $45,000 is required to train a dog, including feeding and veterinarian care.  Clients receive the dogs free of charge.

For more information, please contact Lion Jim Purton at (540) 368-2960.

Join us at the next Citrus Fruit Sale!

We will be selling fresh Ruby Red Grapefruits and Valencia Oranges straight from the farms of Florida, Vermont Maple Syrup, and Virginia Peanuts. We often sell out on Saturday afternoon, so please come early to be sure you get the produce you desire!

Our doors are opened from 9am – 6pm Daily. Find us at Fairfax Circle, along Old Lee Hwy, adjacent to Home Depot. For those who attended the November sale at the new and temporary location in the parking lot, the December and March sales will return to our old location at the corner of the lot. Look for the blue and white moving van from Craig Van Lines.

If you haven’t signed up for our notification list, please CLICK HERE so you will receive notification prior to each sale. You’ll also receive a coupon for $3.00 off each full box purchased!

Peace Poster winners, their families, and their art teachers were recognized at the FHLC dinner meeting on Tuesday, January 4.

All posters advanced to the District 24-A contest and were judged by staff from the Arts Council of Fairfax County. Out of 25 posters, MinJoo’s poster took first place, while Ha-young’s poster received an honorable mention. MinJoo’s poster will advance to the District 24 State contest.

Hover your mouse over the images below to see the name of the artist.  Click the image for a larger version.

Click here to download a registration form: Bland Registration 2011