Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Future Dates
4/7 – 11 Spring Break Skate
4/16 Wed. WPD DARE / Corporal Doug Light & Ptl Officer Jeff Tickner
4/16 Wed. Refresh Leadership Simulcast for Alzheimer’s Association
4/17 Thur. Big Brothers Big Sisters Dinner.
4/23 Wed. Nate Bosch / Center for Lakes & Streams
4/25 & 26 Fri. & Sat. District Meeting in Marion
4/26 Sat. District Oratorical Contest in Marion at District Meeting
4/29 Tues. CEO Forum / Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center
4/30 Wed. Josh Wildman CEO of Wildman Business Group
5/7 Wed. Splash Pad / Erin Porter
5/14 Wed. Sheriff’s Office / Aaron Rovenstine
5/18 Sun. City of Lakes Cruise-In
5/21 Wed. Optimist Singers / Memorial Day
5/28 Wed. Warsaw Community Schools / Dr. Craig Hintz
6/4 Wed. FWA Airport Authority – Jessica Miller
6/11 Wed. Mudlove Kyle Garberson
6/16 Mon. Boomerang Backpack Golf Outing
6/18 Wed. Guy Fisher / Goodwill Career Center
6/19 Thur. Optimist Golf Outing
6/25 Wed. Registration Packets for Triathlon
6/28 Sat. Triathlon
7/2 Wed. Rebecca Bazzoni / Jacobs Ladder
7/9 Wed. Christon Clark / Habitat for Humanity
7/16 Wed. Mayor Dr. Joe Thallemer / State of the City
7/23 Wed. Warsaw Area Career Center / Ronna Kawsky
7/23 Wed. Cheerleaders
7/30 Wed. Paragon
8/1 Fri. Penguin Point and Optimist Big Wheel Race
8/6 Wed. Boys Soccer
8/8 Fri. Indiana North District Golf Outing
8/8 & 9 Fri. & Sat. Indiana North District Convention at Warsaw
8/13 Wed. Boys Cross Country
8/20 Wed. Boys Tennis
9/3 Wed. Girls Soccer
9/10 Wed. Girls Golf
9/10 Wed. WCHS Athletics / Dave Anson
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
President Everett Nifong led our meeting.
>>>>OPENING
73 Optimists & 6 guests attended our meeting. Frank Grose was the guest of Coach Doug Ogle, Tammy Meier was the guest of Dave Meier, Ricardo Scarlet was the guest of Greg Binkerd, Bergen Tom was the guest of Troy Tom, McKenzy Secrist was the guest of Jenna Secrist, & Betsy Voss was the guest of Juergen Voss.
Door Greeters: Lyle Enyeart & Steve Albertson.
Prayer: Ken Anderson 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 Honorees: Jim Bricker. Martin Becker led us in the birthday song with good results.
>>>> INFORMATION
Prayer Requests:
Larry Bishop’s recovery from his 2nd ankle surgery. He will be working on his recovery for awhile.
Max Mock’s ongoing physical therapy.
Nick King, Dan & Carol King at the loss of their home.
Membership: President Everett Nifong read Rusty & Tammy Meiers’, Ricardo Scarlett’s, Tony Elliott’s, Riley Betz’s & Frank Grose’s applications. Rusty, Tammy,Ricardo, Tony, Riley, & Frank are sponsored by David Meier, Greg Binkerd, Art Gakstatter, Trina Hoy, & Doug Ogle.
Past President Tracy Furnivall is heading our nominating committee. Please contact him, if you have someone you would like to run for a leadership position in our club.
President Everett Nifong reported that over and above providing a great breakfast, Golden Corral is donating 100 meals for our students we invite to our meetings. Thanks to Golden Corral for their generosity!
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.
Bart Templeton is passing around a sign-up sheet for greeters.
Trina Hoy reported our Suggestion Box needs suggestions. It is a great way to get ideas to our leadership.
Past Lt. Gov. Dr. David Haines reported on our club’s visit to the Rochester Club. Our Octagon club raised $1000 for Riley Children’s Hospital by using the Rochester Club’s pumpkins for their fall decoration project.
Trace Hansen reported our Spring Break Skate is going well. Eastlake Skate provides free admission and we provide the skate rental.
Trace Hansen is looking for 4 more members to serve on a scholarship committee.
Co-Chair Past President John Elliott started sign-up sheets for our May 18th City of Lakes Cruise-In to Downtown Warsaw. Remember to give your sponsorship money to John Teevan, the guy with the money tie. On Sunday, April 13 John & Art Gakstatter are visiting the Michiana PT Cruiser show. The Duesenberg Cord Auburn Museum will feature one or two cars. Special invitations have been extended to the Michiana PT Cruiser Car Club, the Fort Wayne Corvette Club and the Hoosier A Ford Club to host their car clubs at our Cruise In. Working with Owens Supermarket, we’ve also invited the Oscar Meyer “Hot-Dog” Mobile to our show. Purdue President Mitch Daniels has been personally invited to ride his motorcycle and be the Grand Marshall of our escorted Cruise to the Village of Winona Lake. Our event runs from around noon to around 6 p.m.
Our goal is to host 250 cars, trucks, and motorcycles; have some fun; and make $15,000 to support the youth activities of our Club.
As a Club member, we are asking you to commit to three things to help make this event successful:
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Clear May 18 on your schedule so you can help with the event
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Be a $25 Trophy Sponsor or upgrade to the Bronze, Silver or Gold level.
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Secure one additional sponsor of the event at the $500 … $200 … $100 level.
Enclosed in the action packets are a yellow Trophy Sponsor or higher form for members of our club. The white Sponsor form is for others who we are asking to support at the $100, $200, or $500 levels. John Teevan will be monitoring our support. Please turn your sponsorship forms along with your check to “the guy with the money tie.”
President Everett Nifong is holding a Golf Outing fundraiser Committee meeting next Wednesday, April 16th at 5:15 p.m. at the club boardroom. If any member would like to serve on this committee, they can come to the meeting or contact Everett to discuss how they may become involved. Our Golf Outing will beThursday, June 19 at 1 p.m. at Stonehenge. Please consider golfing, becoming a Tee Sponsor, donating a door prize or goody bag items. Brochures are coming.
Past Gov. and Triathlon Chairman Ron Donkers reminded us we all need to work our Triathlon for our largest fundraiser to work. Our new members and our long term members all need to block off the last Saturday in June. We need to keep that open every year. This year it is June 28. This year we will have youth races (11 & 12 year olds and 13 & 14 year olds, 15 year olds are with the adults) in addition to our usual event. This year Akash Jain is working with Jim Hayes on the database. Wow, we now have 2 “get-er-done” kind of guys doing this mountain of behind the scenes work!
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/
President Everett Nifong asked us to keep an eye out for our 3rd quarter dues statements.
Past Lt. Gov. Juergen Voss asked us to contact him this week if we want to place ads in the Lake City Skiers nice professional program for this season.
Dave Meier announced our 34th Annual Big Wheel Race is Friday, August 1 at Center Lake Park. Registration starts at 5:45 p.m. Race is at 7 p.m. Thanks to Penguin Point for sponsoring the bicycles, trophies, and gift certificates.
Past Governor Ron Donkers asked those who are going to the Indiana North District Conference at Ivy Tech in Marion on Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April 26see him to be sure you have the revised schedule. Please let Secretary Michele Bickel know if you are going. The District Oratorical Contest is at the conference on Saturday. Optimist give out $7500 to Oratorical contestants.
Past Gov. Ron Donkers reported our Indiana North District Convention will be in Warsaw Friday & Saturday, August 8th and 9th. There will be a fun Golf Outing on Friday the 8th.
Past Gov. Ron Donkers thanked Akash Jain for stepping up to help Jim Hayes with our database.
Ralph Turner invited us to register for the Refresh Leadership Simulcast on Wednesday, April 16 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center. The $10 cost goes to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Alan Grossnickle invited us to the CEO Forum “Developing Leaders in Your Company”, Tuesday morning, April 29 at Grace’s Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center. Key Note Speaker is Mike Kubacki, Former CEO of Lake City Bank, Moderator is Pat Miller, Political Analyst, WOWO, Panelist members include: Randy Lake, CEO of Oldcastle Materials, Mark Tarner, President of South Bend Chocolate Company, John Tucker, Co-President of Maple Leaf Farms, Peggy Taylor, Senior Global Vice President of Biomet, and David Findlay, CEO of Lake City Bank. Admission of $40 includes continental breakfast. RSVP on or before April 22by visiting https://www.grace.edu/ceo-forum
Trina Hoy invited us to the Gourmet Dinner on Thursday, April 17 at the Grand Wayne Convention Center at 6 p.m. The cause is Big Brothers Big Sisters. Guest speaker is Chuck Pagano. See Trina for details.
Troy Akers invited us to the 2nd Annual Boomerang Backpacks Golf Outing, Monday, June 16 at Tippecanoe Lake Country Club. It will help feed students from Warsaw, Wawasee, & Tippy Valley on the weekends. Cost is $400 for a foursome. Sponsorship opportunities are available. See Tracey Akers attrakers@warsaw.k12.in.us .
Sergeants-at-Arms: Lyle Enyeart & Trace Hansen entertained us.
Mickey Smethers is celebrating his 11th grandchild.
Coach Doug Ogle is proud of Cendall Ogle for being on the Dean’s List.
Jim Bricker is happy that he is engaged to our own Brenda Hiner.
It was noted that some people are not sitting at new tables.
Dr. Jason Rich had an interesting tie.
Ann Sweet is taking her granddaughter to Washington DC.
It was advised we wear our Optimist lapel pins on our clothes, not on our Optimist badges.
Ed Nordstrom found the outbuilding he needs from Past President John Elliott.
It was noted that Lt. Gov. John Sullivan is an accomplished guitar player.
David Cates & Joe Sutton were recognized for “Be kind to an attorney day.”
Past Lt. Gov. Dr. David Haines & John Kirkpatrick were recognized for Barbershop Quartet day.
Past Lt. Gov. Jim Reeve’s spouse, Sheri was pictured in the news for her over 40 years at KREMC and for her service to Scouting.
Past President Dr. Charlie Hollar’s grandson and Dr. Steve Hollar’s son, Jonny Hollar is a great Golfer for Warsaw.
Past President Joel Wihebrink was recognized for lawn and garden month.
Coach Jim Kessler was recognized for Grace College’s 1,000 wins. He was happy that Kentucky did not win. He said after paying to park he walked a mile to get to the stadium to buy a $15 polish sausage.
Legendary Storyteller Fred Nieter read an interesting piece of wisdom from Optibullette Editor Emeritus Wayne Snider about the names of groups of different types of birds. The punch line is that a group of baboons is called a congress.
Program:
Community Development Director Trina Hoy told us of how Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of Northeast Indiana impacts our community. Some of our Bigs areGreg Binkerd, Luke Becknell, & Kelsi Griffith.
BBBS provide one-to-one mentoring to help kids reach their full potential, with measured results. BBBS is our nation’s leading mentoring program.
Some of the need in Kosciusko County is revealed by our 12% of kids who do not graduate from high school, our 16% poverty rate, and 49% of our kids are on free or reduced lunches. There are 75 kids on the waiting list in our county. In 2013 186 kids were served in Kosciusko County.
BBBS has two mentorship programs. One is the Community Based program that includes activities in the community and flexibility in scheduling. The other is the School Based program that includes the School Buddies aka Lunch Buddies program.
The Kosciusko County School Buddy impact study shows 75% improvement in confidence, 65% improvement in academic performance, 60% improvement in class participation, & 80% improvement in trustworthiness.
Trina showed us a video of Brian Peterson tell of his connection with his Little and how he was impacted by the divergence of opportunity in our area. Bigs listen to Little’s dreams and give them hope.
Ways we can help are to volunteer as a Big, donate, inform our workplaces by getting BBBS in the door, become business partners as we provide discounts on things Bigs can do with Littles, or refer others to BBBS. We can fill out a BBBS brochure not as a contract, but as an inquiry.
