Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Future Dates
04/20 Grace Wind Ensemble
04/25 Noon Club delivers flowers
04/25 Lakeland Youth Chorale
04/26 Candlelight Vigil for child abuse victims
04/28 Safe Assured ID at YMCA
05/02 Joan Younce – Purdue Health & Human Res.
05/05 Octagon breakfast for BYC
05/05 District Meeting in West Lafayette
05/05 Chain of Lakes concert
05/09 Gary Gerard – Times Union
05/12 Respect for Law
05/20 Car Show
05/23 Optimist Singers
06/06 Remnant Trust
06/07 Golf Outing at Stonehenge
06/13 Jim Reeve – Roy Rogers
06/20 Triathlon welcome bags
06/23 Triathlon
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
>>>>OPENING
79 Optimists & 15 guests attended our meeting. Denny Strain was the guest of Jim Bricker; Kellie Malcom was the guest of Josh Gordon; Kristi Ault, Heather, Anna, & Dalton Ousley, Shelby Littlejohn, Dane Stookey, & Nathaniel Gottschalk were the guests of Art Gakstatter; Don Parker, Lynne Dittman, & John White were the guests of the Noon Club, Eric Lane was the guest of Rich Haddad; Jason Zaugg was the guest of Dr. David Haines; and Holly Hummitch was the guest of Joel Wihebrink.
Door Greeters: Linda Rodriguez and Ot Schroeder.
Prayer was offered by Tracy Horrell.
Pledge was given to the American Flag.
Promise yourself was said in unison.
Martin Becker led us as we sang “Hail to Optimism.”
Birthday Honorees: Jon Lippe & Bonnie Bradley. Martin Becker led us in the birthday song with pretty good results after a rough start.
>>>> INFORMATION
Prayer Request: Jerry Titus is recovering from heart surgery.
Membership: Lt. Gov. Sam Whitaker read Kellie Malcolm’s and Akash Jain’s applications. Josh Gordonsponsored Kellie and Dr. K.T. Kishan sponsored Akash.
Sheriff of Attendance: Bill Landrigan greeted Mike Gavin, Bonnie Bradley, Dave Meier, Ben Garden, andJon Lippe.
City of Lakes Cruise In on May 20th: John Elliott reported more people need to sign up to work. Please see the openings on the sign-up sheets. Get your $25 to John Teevan now, to get credit for donating. We have almost $7k of our overall goal of $10k. Dave Illingworth gave $500 for Toyota of Warsaw. The Waltrip Toyota and the ML Motorsports car will be at our event! Posters and business cards are available to promote our cruise in.
Everett Nifong reported that teams are signing up for our June 7th Golf Outing at Stonehenge. Brochures are out. Cost is $400 for a foursome (includes golf, cart, lunch, & driving range). Sponsorships are available at the Bronze $100, Silver $475, & Gold $1000 levels. Prize/Goody Bag items are also needed. Again, Everett says whatever you need is in the “bro-chures for-sure.”
Past Gov. Ron Donkers reminded us that our Triathlon is on June 23rd, the FOUTH Saturday of June.
Jay Tate announced help is needed to enroll kids in Safe Assured ID on April 28th at the YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day.
Scott Whitaker announced Respect for Law will be May 12th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Applications and information are on our website. Please pick up some applications at our next meeting. Ages are from 6 to 16 years old. See Sam Whitaker about registering kids.
Past Gov. Ron Donkers invited us to the District Meeting in West Lafayette on May 5th. Let him or Treasurer Jennifer Dorman know if you are going.
Don Parker, Lynne Dittman, and John White from the Noon Optimist Club took flower orders for Administrative Assistant’s Day. The flowers will be delivered April 25th.
Chad Goon and Ryan Goon invited us to the Octagon fundraiser breakfast at Baker Youth Club for BYC on May 5th from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Cost is $6 at the door or $5 in advance. Kids ages 6 & under are $2.50.
Art Gakstatter presented Kristi Ault, Heather, Anna, & Dalton Ousley, Shelby Littlejohn, Dane Stookey, &Nathaniel Gottschalk with a $500 check for Harrison Elementary PTO’s Camp Crosley program.
Past President Joel Wihebrink presented a $500 check to Holly Hummitch for Winona Lake Park Department’s summer activities.
Fred Nieter asked us to donate books to the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). The books need to be appropriate for ages 3 to 12 years old. Fred also invited us to the Candlelight Vigil for victims of child abuse. It will be April 26th from 8:30 p.m. to 9:10 p.m. on the east side of the Courthouse.
Martin Becker invited us to the Grace College Community Wind Ensemble’s April 20th concert. It is at 7:30 p.m. at Rodeheaver. Featured are a “new” Sousa number & music from “Schindler’s List”. Ron Chambers testified to the quality of these concerts.
Please pray for our Troops and Families: Sgt Major James Houvener – Army
Sergeants-at-Arms: Bob Jackson, James Nesbitt and Luke Becknell entertained us.
Dad Mitch Goon and Grandpa Merl Heckaman are proud of Chad & Ryan Goon’s 4×400 relay. They are ranked 160th in the Nation of all high school relay teams and 2nd in Indiana (by 1.7 seconds) with their time of 3:23:00. Attached is a link to the race. Forward to the 39 minute mark (FOLLOW THE WHITE HEADBANDS). https://www.livestream.com/
Bill Landrigan is proud of his former Sacred Heart students who are Lilly Scholars.
Past Lt. Gov. Dr. David Haines invited us to the Chain of Lakes concert May 5th at Lakeview Middle School’s auditorium.
Jerry Clevenger was recognized for the sidewalk work in front of his business.
Those receiving tax refunds were recognized.
Police Chief Scott Whitaker was noticed to be wearing “dangerous” clothes.
Program:
Eric Lane, Founder and Director of Fellowship Missions brought us up to date on their accomplishments. Right now they have a women’s home and a men’s home. They have 33 beds total. Last night they had 29 guests.
Over 80 volunteers make the program a success. Homeless people have a very difficult time getting back on their feet without simple things like: a home address, car, bank account. It is difficult to get a job without these three things. Fellowship Missions helps their clients address their hindrances on a deeper more intentional manner so they can become independent.
Fellowship Missions is a Christ centered program. As such they do not take Federal or State funding. Their funding comes from individual people, K21 Foundation, and United Way.