Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Future Dates
1/24&25 Fri. Sat. District meeting
1/29 Wed. Warsaw Community High School Boys Swim & Dive / Nate Long
2/5 Wed. Warsaw Community High School Boys Basketball / Doug Ogle
2/9 Sun. Tri-Star Basketball
2/12 Wed. KCH / Affordable Care Act
2/12 Wed. Student of the Week
2/19 Wed. Kosciusko County Cancer Care Fund / Sandy Green
2/19 Wed. Student of the Week
2/26 Wed. Warsaw Police Chief Scott Whitaker
2/26 Wed. Student of the Week
3/5 Wed. WCHS Poetry Contest Winners
3/5 Wed. Student of the Week
3/7 Fri. Oratorical Contest
3/12 Wed. Warsaw Schools Band
3/12 Wed. Student of the Week
3/14 Fri. BYC Madness
3/19 Wed. Oratorical Contest Winners
3/22 Sat. Bowling for Kids / Big Brothers Big Sisters @ The Bowling Alley
3/26 Wed. Warsaw Community Schools Chief Academic Officer David Hoffert
4/16 Wed. DARE / Lt Joel Beam
4/30 Wed. Josh Wildman CEO of Wildman Business Group
5/7 Wed. Splash Pad / Erin Porter
5/14 Wed. Sheriff Rocky Goshert
5/18 Sun. City of Lakes Cruise-In
6/25 Wed. Registration Packets for Triathlon
6/28 Sat. Triathlon
8/8 & 9 Fri. & Sat. Indiana North District Convention at Warsaw
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
President Everett Nifong led our meeting.
>>>>OPENING
89 Optimists & 10 guests attended our meeting. Robert Bishop was the guest of Sam Whitaker; David Cates was the guest of Jim Layne, Dr. Mitch Reinholt was the guest of Mayor Dr. Joe Thallemer, Kristin Farwell was the guest of Akash Jain, Robert Chalfant was the guest of Dr. David Haines, Mickey Smethers was the guest of Don Kenipe, Keegan Tom and Kameron Tom were the guests of Angie & Kyle Tom, Ananaya Jain & Dr. Neeta Jain were the guests of Dr. Akash Jain.
Door Greeters: Michele Bickel, Kelsi Griffith, & Ed Nordstrom.
Prayer: Bill Katip led us in prayer.
Pledge was given to the American flag.
Promise yourself was said in unison.
Martin Becker led us in singing Hail to Optimism.
Birthday Honoree: Ken Anderson. Martin Becker led us in just the 1st part of the birthday song. That was the part Ken did not hear last week when he was in the other room.
>>>> INFORMATION
Prayer Requests:
Jerry Titus’ family at the passing of his mother, Maryon.
Mary Ann Gradeless’ family at her passing.
The family of Purdue student, Andrew Boldt, and the Warsaw family of the student associated with this tragedy.
Membership: Membership Chairman Kellie Malcolm read Kristin Farwell’s, Robert Bishop’s, Ted Westerhof’s, Dr, Mitch Reinholt’s & David Cates’ applications. Kris, Rob, Ted, Mitch, & David are sponsored by Akash Jain, Sam Whitaker, Jason Zaugg, Mayor Dr. Joe Thallemer & Jim Layne.
We donated $500 to our scholarship fund in memory of Mary Ann Gradeless. We miss Mary Ann and her quite determination. It was such a encouragement to see her every week after Mary Ellen’s accident.
Board Member Adam Turner presented Chad Zaucha with $500 for the YMCA scholarship program.
We are missing a couple of things from the Santa House. There used to be numerous snapshots of our elves with Santa that were placed in the molding on the walls of the Santa House. Also we used to have rubber chalks that were used to stop the wheels of the Santa House from moving when it was parked. If anyone knows where any of these things are, please tell Art Gakstatter.
Amanda Zambrano reported our Oratorical Contest will be March 7th at Zimmer’s Headquarters, just north of the library, at 7 p.m., doors open at 6 p.m. Deadline to enter is March 5, 2014.
Students under age of 19, as of December 31, 2013, who have not yet graduated from high school are eligible.
Students submit a speech about “How My Passions Impact the World” to our club. For more information go to www.warsawoptimist.org or see Jeff Owens.
The three top scorers, at the Club level receive medallions and their choice of an iPad Mini, Nexus 7, or Nook. Prize sponsors are Esther Pfleiderer Charitable Trust at 1st Source Bank and Lake City Bank. Other sponsors are needed.
The top male and female finishers will go to the Zone level where winners receive a plaque.
Districts have the opportunity to provide two $2,500 scholarships or a first place scholarship of $2,500, a second place scholarship of $1,500, and a third place scholarship od $1,000.
The Optimist Oratorical Contest gives youngsters the chance to speak to the world. More than $150,000 in college scholarships funded by the Optimist International Foundation is awarded annually from this program.
Past Gov. Ron Donkers & Lt. Gov. John Sullivan reminded us of Optimist International Foundation’s Dime-A-Day fundraising program. Some of the overhead for things like the Oratorical and Essay contests at the district and higher levels are in need of funding. The higher level Oratorical Contest winner receives $2,500 and the higher level Essay Contest winner receives $500. As a larger club, we need to cover a large part of these costs. The Dime-A Day program is a great way to do this. Please send your $36.50 to Optimist International Foundation, Dime-A-Day Campaign, P.O. Box 952126, St. Louis, MO 63195. Make sure you put “club # 04555” in the memo section of your check. An even better way to do this is to use a form Ron has to have your card charged $3.05 per month on an ongoing basis. The forms are by the badge box.
Past President John Elliott, Alan Lucht, & Dr. Jenny Lucht announced our City of Lakes Cruise-In will be Sunday, May 18, 2014.
Past Gov. and Triathlon Chairman Ron Donkers reported our Triathlon is open. We already have customers. Save Saturday, June 28 on your calendar.
Past Lt. Gov. Dr. David Haines provided our first post to our Year in Review series. It is featured on the front page of our website. Here is a direct linkhttps://warsawoptimist.org/
Song Director Martin Becker invited us to join our Optimist Singers. They practice from 6am to 7am Wednesday mornings.
President Everett Nifong reported the Northern Indiana District meeting will be Friday & Saturday, January 24 and 25 in Wabash
TriStar Basketball Chairman Chris Wiggins is looking for 20+ helpers to put on our local Tri-Star Basketball Competition Sunday, February 9th at Baker Youth Club, 765 W Market St, Warsaw, IN 46580. Registration is at 1:30 p.m. and the event starts at 2:00 p.m. It is for boys and girls ages 8 to 13. The contest is on dribbling: dribble through comes for time, passing: chest pass and bounce pass at targets, and shooting: free throws and shots from the block. It is FREE and all participants are automatically entered into a raffle to win an iPad mini to be given out that day. Winner must be present to win. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each age group are awarded with trophies (girls and boys divisions). If you need more information call Chris Wiggins at 574-265-8610.
Dr. Steve Hollar congratulated Chris Wiggins on cancelling the Regional TriStar event so our winners go all the way to State.
Lt. Gov. John Sullivan reported our Indiana North District Convention will be in Warsaw August 8th and 9th.
Past President Tracy Furnivall invited us to Baker Youth Club’s 2nd annual BYC Madness on Friday, March 14 at 5:30pm at the Wagon Wheel.
Big Brothers Big Sisters Community Development Director for Kosciusko County Trina Hoy challenged us to provide at least 4 teams of 5 bowlers for BBBS’s Bowl for Kids’ Sake at The Bowling Alley, by Tokens N Tickets N. Detroit Street, Saturday, March 22. There are openings at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 4 p.m. Each bowler is asked to secure pledges of $100 or more. All of the money raised goes to support matches of Bigs and kids. You can register online at www.bbbsnei.orgor with the registration forms Trina has by our badge box.
Sergeants-at-Arms: Trace Hansen & Luke Becknell entertained us. Luke is back from his honeymoon.
Luke quizzed us on the Olympics.
Amanda Zambrano was featured in an article about her musical abilities.
It was noted that Max Mock was hosting ladies only luncheons. That sounds like a pretty good idea. Sometimes guys put too much on that “hot tip.” Someone has to preserve some principal.
Bill Katip was informed he outran Past Lt. Gov. Dennis Reeve when he lost in the Pie Auction. Denny paid $65 for an undercooked pie they had to throw out after one bite.
Bronco & Seahawk fans including Jenna Secrist & Bruce Hansen were recognized.
Rob & Brenda Edling are back from a sunny vacation.
Andy Swihart is about to dive into his annual 3 month vacation to his desk with the green lampshade.
Program:
Warsaw Community Schools Symphony: Mrs. Carolyn Stalcup led musicians from our varied elementary schools. They are to be commended for volunteering to get up early to play music for us.
They played the following for us:
Do Re Mi
My Favorite Thing
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Ode To Joy
Brother John
Many of them have only started to play this year or last. They sounded great!
