Now the Reverse Raffle, and Now a New Look for Lyons Hall

It's that time of year again. After years of supporting athletics at Our Lady of Lourdes with our Annual Reverse Raffle, this year promises even more. We'll fill Lyons Hall with more than 350 people to raise money for "our house," Lyons Hall.

2012 promises a new look for our historic gymnasium and this year's Reverse Raffle is well underway. Saturday, January 21 at 6:00, get your chance to win the big prize, and to help our athletics program.

We're on Santa's Good List

Probably one of the smoothest to date, Our Lady of Lourdes Men's Club got up early to begin preparing breakfast for 300 of Santa's biggest (yet smallest) fans.

First preparing, then serving, then cleaning up our messes, like good boys.

Our Lady of Lourdes Chili Cookoff

Well, we did it. With not much more than 1 month to make sure the event happens, the Men's Club picked up the bowl and ran with it.

The 2011 Lourdes Lyons Irvington Chili Cookoff ended up being the most successful to date. With more than 700 attendees, three live musical performances and plenty of sunshine all afternoon; besides the contestants who won for making the best chilis, Our Lady of Lourdes school won too.

More sponsorships, more sales....more money was raised to benefit the school and many of the clubs which keep our Parish community thriving!

Once again, nice work Men!

Fish, Fun & Fundraising

Wow, what a year!...thanks again to Chris Ryan, Fletcher Daly and the whole culinary crew of clubbers who made the 2011 Our Lady of Lourdes fish fry dinners the biggest success to date. And thanks to JJ for manning the refreshments stand.

Not only the Men's Club, but a whole host of volunteers made this year's Lenten Fish Dinners outstanding. Thank you to Ball Park Pizza -our eastside brothers- for donating the pies that make our kids happy.

From the food prep guys and the batterers/breaders to the fryers and the serving line, the volunteers make it happen, and happen it did at OLL! Happy Easter!

2011 Reverse Raffle - January 22

Get your tickets, sell your tickets, attend the Our Lady of Lourdes Reverse Raffle on January 22, 2011. The money raised helps to provide equipment and offset the cost of athletic participation for our families.

For a good cause, for a good time, buy your tickets and attend the 2011 Reverse Raffle on January 22, in Lyons Hall...6:00pm.

Santa, Sausage & Biscuits

Once again, the Our Lady of Lourdes Men's Club prepared a meal for the masses at this year's Our Lady of Lourdes Santa Breakfast.

More than 300 men, women and children attended...and the Men's Club made sure that they didn't leave with empty stomachs.

OLL Mens Club Provides Mat and More

It's been a great year thus far. Increased membership, low athletic participation fees for our families, a mascot-emblazoned wrestling mat, incredibly successful events including the most successful reverse raffle to date, the most successful lenten fish dinners to date and more!

Keep up the good work men, there's more to be done and we're just the group to see it happen.

Our Lady of Lourdes 4th Graders - Repeat City Champs!

After much hard work, excellent coaching and by setting a fine example of teamwork, the Our Lady of Lourdes 4th grade kickballers won their second CYO City Championship in a row by defeating our fellow eastsiders at Little Flower. Congratulations to them and their coaches on an undefeated season and another Championship. Go Lyons!

Photos, left to right:
The Lyon and the Champs
Coaches Janet and Katie Deery congratulating their girls
Jerry Deery and Fletcher Daly-- that's "East Side!"

Get the Grill Out! for Lourdes Athletics

The Our Lady of Lourdes Men's Club will once again substantiate its existence, this time, from behind the grill. This weekend, May 15, following the 5:00 Saturday evening Mass, we will be providing, preparing and serving hamburgers and brats to young athletes and their parents at this year's Our Lady of Lourdes All Sports Athletics Banquet.

Mother's Day Breakfast 2010

Once again, the OLL Men's Club "blue shirts" successfully prepared and served a fresh breakfast to the mothers of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. Plenty of food, doorprizes, additional giveaways and childcare combined to make the morning a special one at Our Lady of Lourdes.

McClellan Memorial Wrestling Tournament: Something to Remember

Once again, congratulations to Marc Caito, Rob Rebein and Bobby Sponsel for organizing what was considered by many, one of the best-run wrestling tournaments of its kind. All this planning in less than 3 weeks. Not to mention, we had quite a few Lourdes wrestlers finish in the Final Four.

270+ Young Wrestlers-Ready to Go

The OLL Men's Club/OLL Athletic Department's 2010 McClellan Memorial Wrestling Tournament has drawn nearly 300 young wrestlers.

Numerous Men's Club members are stepping forward to make it a smooth-running tournament; something on which we can all hang our hats. Be there to witness one of the largest sporting events for CYO teams in Indianapolis. Better yet, be there to lend a hand. Sunday, February 28 at Scecina Memorial High School.

First Fish Dinner Phenomenon

Thanks to the leadership of Chris Ryan, our "Athletics Support" committee chairman, the Fish Dinner was an overwhelming success.

We not only had a continuously full cafeteria, but we had a kitchen-full of help. Between the breading of fish, the frying of fries, the baking of desserts and the servings of cheese pizza, there was a multitude of satisfied parishioners...a perfect combination of time, talent and in the end, treasure.

Thank you Chris, Fletcher, and Jerry.

2010 Men's Club Reverse Raffle = Success

Congratulations to the OLL Men's Club for a successful Reverse Raffle. After more than 2o reverse raffles, 2010 was the biggest. Record profits will help to offset the cost of participation for the families of our young athletes at Our Lady of Lourdes.

2010 Looks Brighter for Students at OLL

Thanks to Ross Maue's leadership, and the grunt labor of Our Lady of Lourdes Men's Club members, the students of Our Lady of Lourdes will experience a brighter new year.

Beginning at 7:30a.m., Men's Club members began climbing, sawing and removing old ceiling tiles, drywall and hardware to make way for a new drop ceiling and lighting on the second level of the school. All will be completed when school resumes following Christmas Break.

The Men's Club Makes Santa Proud

Under the leadership of Mike McCoy, and thanks to the help of more than 20 members, the Men's Club prepared and served a hot breakfast (eggs, sausage and biscuits and more sausage) to more than 300 of Santa's fans at the 2009 Our Lady of Lourdes Santa Breakfast held in Lyons Hall.

23rd Reverse Raffle, January 23rd

Men, get your tickets. The Our Lady of Lourdes Men's Club Reverse Raffle is fast approaching. Tickets are only $30 each and with each ticket purchased you'll enjoy a catered meal, drinks and a chance at winning $1,000.

Money raised supports our children in athletics by offsetting the cost for participation. We enjoy some of the lowest CYO participation fees in Indianapolis thanks to this raffle. Help the Men's Club make this year's raffle a success!

To be held in Lyons Hall, home of the Lyons, on the evening of January 23. See ya there!

Regular Activities Presented, Ready for Action

With the 100th Anniversary events, activities and celebratory Mass in November, the Men's Club found itself dodging dates and times to hold our monthly meeting. Credit to the 20+ members who attended on the evening of the Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots game.

We had a great meeting thanks to Chris Ryan, Fletcher Daly, Ross Maue and Brian Bakemeyer. These leaders presented ideas that will be used to document our annual Regular Activities in the areas of Traditions, Examples of Faith, Athletics Support and Recruitment.

After less than 1 year of rebuilding a solid club, we're looking forward to a solid year 2010.

150mph Thinking for "Regular Activities"

Between CYO games and the Indianapolis Colts Sunday night football game, 20+ Men's Club members formed groups to brainstorm on new ideas and regular activities. From "Tradition" to "Parish Fellowship", a group of volunteers will meet to formalize a "Regular Activites" document which is slated for presentation at our next meeting.

Seating with Lyons Pride

OLL Men's Club votes are in:

After reviewing options for the design of new team seating proposed by Dave Leising and Ben Schreiber, the Men's Club voted on navy cushions and silver frames.

Additionally, the Men's Club agreed that new seating for our teams in Lyons Hall will be a source of pride for all of our young athletes.

Now it is up to us to provide and raise money to see this through. Look for more in the coming weeks.

Men's Club at the Ballpark

Make your reservations now to attend the Cincinnati Reds vs. Washington Nationals on Sunday, August 16. Contact Jason Kimmell or K.C. Leffler to reserve your seat.

This trip is open to Men's Club Members and friends. Includes round trip and more!...

Mother's Day Breakfast A Success

We started at 7:00 a.m., making eggs, warming sausage, setting the tables and placing centerpieces. Overall, approximately 80 mothers attended. Lourdes families of old and new enjoyed each others' company as music played and breakfast was served by Men's Club volunteers.

Each mother took a 4-pack of Impatiens and the lucky ones received fresh flower arrangements. Kudos to the following Men's Club members for taking the lead on a successful relaunch of the OLL Men's Club Mother's Day Breakfast:

Jerry Deery and Mike McCoy: Organization, Supplies and Food Preparation
Dave Leising: Organization and Execution of Childcare
Jeff Wellner: Vases/Fresh Flower Arrangements - Doorprizes
Ben Schreiber: Music
20+Men's Club Members: Set-up, Serving, Cleaning

"This was Great", "Thanks for Bringing it Back", and "Do We Have to Leave?" were among the comments heard that morning. Nice work Men's Club!

Money Raised for Mother's Day Breakfast

Thanks again to OLL Men's Club member Ron Kautsky, and the Indianapolis Fire Department, for giving us an opportunity to offset the cost of the Mother's Day Breakfast.

The Firefighters Convention, considered one of Indianapolis' larger conventions, attracts well over 25,ooo attendees. Imagine the crowd gathered on a balmy Friday evening then imagine the efforts of Men's Club volunteers - Mike McCoy, Jerry Deery, and Bernie Schwering who stepped up to the plate...and raised $500.

Lourdes Lyons' Chili Cookoff Taking Shape

The Lourdes Lyons' (Our Lady of Lourdes) Irvington Chili Cookoff is taking shape. On the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend, Theresa Kautsky and the School Commission have asked the Men's Club to help with the event. If you're not going to make chili and compete, consider volunteering some time for the event. In the meantime, spread the word:

Entertainment
Games for the kids
An afternoon-full of Chili tasting
People's Choice voting
Various awards categories and more

Mother's Day Breakfast, May 10 and More...

Spring Break, Easter, the Spring Benefit and First Communion makes for a busier-than-usual month of April. Luckily, 25+ members were able to meet, and discuss the following:

Men's Club Shirts
The group voted to order navy blue shirts. Orders are being placed and delivery is expected in time for Mother's Day Breakfast.

IFD - Men's Club Fundraiser - Friday and Saturday (Kautsky)
Ron Kautsky presents opportunity for Men's Club to raise up to $500 on Friday evening, and an additional $100 on Saturday morning, this weekend. We need a minimum of 4 volunteers, and the more we have, the easier clean-up will be. By the show of hands, we'll be able to take advantage of this opportunity to add money to our general fund.

Mother's Day Breakfast (J. Deery)
Jerry Deery announced that Mother's Day Breakfast is going to be held following 9:00 a.m. Mass on May 10. The cafeteria will be decorated in pink and white to reflect Breast Cancer Awareness. Discussion of menu and place settings as well as food prep and advertising were initiated. Men were asked to volunteer if available. Plan is in the works, more final details to follow at next meeting.

Basketball
Basketball is regularly scheduled on Thursday evenings - 7:30. We have had 8-9 players and are hoping for more involvement from Men's Club so that we don't have to recruit others.

Men's Club Blog
Reporting and updates on meeting times, events, etc. will be posted on blog. Members are urged to visit/bookmark the blog for current and updated Men's Club information.

Reds Game/Casino Bus Trip
Voted on in March meeting, the Reds Game/Casino Bus Trip was the overall favorite. We are looking for a member(s) to organize the event.

Golf League, Golf Outing
Brian Bakemeyer reports that OLL Golf Outing is scheduled on August 8. There was interest in forming a Golf League. Interested individuals are encouraged to step up and form a group to meet and play golf on a regular basis.

Fall Festival-The Grill (Daly)
Fletcher Daly addressed the Men's Club and requested that we take ownership of the Grill. All money raised stays at Lourdes. Suggests group help create menu, prepare food and be present to run the grill, and support the festival.

A special thanks goes out to the Leedkes for providing some delicious chicken wings for the meeting!

Men's Club 'Drops' the Ceiling. Maue Leads the Charge.

Ross recruited an able group of Men's Club members to tear out the existing drop ceiling in the school's lower-level hallway. Kuhn, Kennedy, Mitchell, O'Brien, Skirvin, Schreiber, Leffler, the brothers Deery, Leon, Ed and 7th grader-Sam Purvis joined forces to form an efficient demolition crew. Beginning at 7:30 a.m. with coffee and donuts - ceiling tiles, drywall and framework were all torn out to make way for installation of the new ceiling during the week of Spring Break.

Tear-out, removal and cleanup was completed by Noon.

Game On!

Open gym (basketball) begins Thursday, March 19 in Lyons Hall at 7:30 p.m. The plan is to play every Thursday night unless otherwise notified. For more information, contact Brian Leedke.

April Meeting Has Been Moved

For the sake of all Spring Breakers, we are moving April's meeting to the third Sunday. The meeting will be held on April 19...usual place...usual time.

Schwering St. Patrick's Day Party at OLL

Bernard Schwering is holding his annual St. Patrick's Day party on March 14 at OLL gym...for adults only. All OLL Men's Club members, and spouses are invited.

Dogs, Bratwursts: Notes from March Meeting

A relevant guest speaker, progress toward future events, and all the hot dogs and bratwursts you could eat. What more could a man want? We had a great March meeting and here are the results from our voting:

Special Event/Activity
The group favored a Reds game, and a Casino trip. After discussing this with Jason Kimmell later that evening, we realized that it may be possible to do them both in one trip. We will form a Reds Game/Casino committee at the next meeting.

OLL Men's Club Shirts
The mass majority of voters preferred the $28.00 range, embroidered polo-style shirt. The goal will be to share more information on the exact cost before taking orders at our next meeting. It would be nice to have the shirts for the Mother's Day Breakfast.

Golf League/Outing
Approximately 6 men voted in favor of a golf league, and/or a golf outing. We'll open this up for discussion next month.

Reverse Raffle
The athletic budget is in good enough shape to carry us into the Fall season, and with a packed school/church schedule, the Reverse Raffle will wait until Fall.

OTHER:
• Mike Bozelli suggests that we create a "Breast Cancer Awareness" theme for the Mother's Day Breakfast.
• Brian Leedke announced that open gym basketball would be offered on Thursday evenings. 8+ men are interested. More to come on this.
• Ron Kautsky, on behalf of IFD, is offering a fundraising opportunity that will raise $500 to $600 for the Men's Club. This money could be used to offset bus trip expense, etc. Once a date and times are established, we will be looking for volunteers.

His Positive Lourdes Experience, and Ideas on Positive Coaching

In front of approximately 30 OLL men, Mike Kirk shared memories of growing up in Irvington, attending Lourdes, and of being influenced by great coaches along the way.

A former Lourdes wrestling coach, and currently a coach at the high school level, Mike introduced the "5-year commitment" approach to coaching youth. "At the CYO level, and even the Freshman level in high school, encouraging kids to 'stick with it,' is the main objective," Kirk expressed.

First Guest Speaker of 2009 at March Meeting

Our first guest speaker of 2009 grew up in Irvington and graduated from Our Lady of Lourdes in 1971. He then graduated from Scecina Memorial High School where he earned All-City honors in football before becoming a Division II All-Conference football player at Butler University.

He returned to Lourdes to coach wrestling and with Gilbert Durham, he led the team to consecutive City Titles after years of building the program alongside Lourdes greats, Tom Yaggi and Frank Eagan.

OLL Wrestling Scores Team Win

Congratulations to Bob Sponsel, Dan Ireland and Rob Rebein (Men's Club members). The cadet wrestlers claimed their first victory at home against St. Michael Greenfield Thursday evening. Equally impressive were the 'little guys' who rose to the occasion with competitive spirit and an understanding of technique. Go Lyons!

The Men's Club Moves Forward in February

A core group of more than 25 men gathered on Sunday, February 8. We discussed and voted on key items moving forward.
1. We will have a Mother's Day Breakfast this year. Jerry Deery will form a committee and spearhead efforts.
2. Leadership which includes Leffler as Facilitator and Kenney as Treasurer will remain intact for at least year 2009.
3. Dues will be taken as donations at monthly meetings. Recommended amount - $5.00.
4. Reverse Raffle will be held this year. Phil Kenney will present prospective date(s) at March meeting.