• • • I N F O R M A T I O N • • •
Sixty-seven Optimists found their way to the Westminster Hall
dinning room for breakfast, club activities and program.
Door greeters were George Brennan and Craig Nayrocker.
No Optimist guests were present.
Prayer was offered by John Kirkpatrick, who guided our
thoughts to God asking Divine favor upon the families of
Dorothy Hollar and Chub Smith whose funerals were this
week. President Mary Ellen Jordan reported that twenty-eight
Optimists attended the service for Chub on Monday. Phil
Eherenman and Denny Andrews offered eulogies on behalf of
the Optimists. Members were given opportunity to express
themselves by donating to the memorial fund. Twenty-three
guests were present representing two Optimist programs – –
Students of the Week and the Oratorical Contest winners.
Students of the Week were from Lakeland Christian Academy.
Administrator Carmen Flores announced each student.
President Mary Ellen Jordan presented certificates to each.
Pictures were taken and will make their way into the local newspaper.
Parents were recognized and congratulated. This week’s
Students of the Week included: Charles Caron; Shelbi
Gutwein; Chris Jo; Matthew Lang; Kara Robinson; John
Sproul; Mary Swaidner; and, Jane Wildman.
Oratorical Contest coordinators were Jeff Owens and Erin
Rowland. There were sixteen participants and many Optimist
volunteers in this year’s contest. The theme for the contest was:
“My future is bright because . . . ” Kyle Quick, grandson of Bill
Landigan, was a participant. Kathryn Phillips was awarded
first place girls and was the over-all first place winner. Brodie
Reinholt, grandson of Don Reinholt and son of Brent
Reinholt, was awarded first place boys.
Announcement time was awarded to Phil Eherenman,
Chairperson for the Triathlon. The annual Triathlon has grown in
size and scope over the years and is in desperate need of
decentralized management. Phil is asking the Club to assist with
the need. He has listed a number of areas of responsibility and
is looking for Club members to rise to the occasion. “Many
minds (and hands) make for a lighter load for everyone.” Please
contact Phil Eherenman and become active in Triathlon.
• • • I N S T R U C T I O N • • •
Next Week’s Program is Joe Sutton who will be speaking on
“Small Claims Court.”
Goodwill Industries’ Dennis Freeland, guest of John Elliott,
was today’s presenter. Goodwill has many supporting people in
Warsaw; John Elliott is a long-standing Goodwill board member.
The Warsaw Goodwill store is the one of the largest in vol-
Membership: 10/01/05:132
3/08/06:133
ume in the area. Dennis reminded us that the mission of
Goodwill is to “provide jobs, training and placement services for
people with barriers to employment.” The organization has three
parts. The first part is providing services to the industrial community.
Contract work is given to Goodwill by industries.
Goodwill Industries then provide jobs and training to disadvantaged
people. The second is vocational services where individuals
receive training and skills to become productive. “Our goal
is to help people become tax payers instead of tax burdens,”
Dennis said. There are fourteen vocational offices in eight counties.
The third part of Goodwill Industries is the retail stores.
Forty thousand items of clothing go into the stores every day.
Shoppers are from all walks of life and all income brackets. You
will see new SUVs, Lexus, Cadillac vehicles in the Goodwill store
parking lot. Many shoppers shop Goodwill and then resale the
items in their own stores. A brochure was handed out with some
pretty impressive numbers. Goodwill stores provide a payroll of
$230,000 per week. Vocational skills and employment training
were provided to 1,014 people last year. For more information
about Goodwill Industries visit their web page at www.goodwillni.
org.
• • • I N S P I R A T I O N • • •
“My future is bright because God has a plan for me. I try not
to focus on daily successes or failures, but on long term improvements
and being a good example for others . . . An immediate
decision for me might be whether to buy chicken nuggets or
chicken strips. But many decisions, like whether to do drugs or
not, have long-term consequences. I am glad I am able to stay
drug-free . . . My future is bright because of education, good parents
and my faith in God.”
— Brodie Reinholt
“No one is sure about what will happen in the future. Nothing
happens by itself. All of us need to work hard to make positive
things happen. That is the path I have chosen and I am striving
to be the very best I can be . . . My family and friends are very
supportive and help me through the tough times. I can count on
them . . . Another area that I can count on is my education
because it allows me to work successfully . . . I want to help others.
If I can keep my mind and eyes open, there are always
opportunities to help others. I want to thank Optimists for making
this opportunity possible.”
– – Kathryn Philips