Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Upcoming Events:

Dec:

12/23-Christmas carols                                                                                 

12/30-White Elephant Auction

Jan:

1/6-Magical Meadows/Tammy

1/13-Indiana Bi-Centennial/Diana Wulliman

1/20-WCS Middle School Orchestra/Carolyn Stalcup

1/27-Lakeland Youth Chorale

Feb:

2/3-History of Basketball/Jim Kessler

2/10-YEA!/Jennifer Pyle & Andrea Reed

2/17-WISE/Brooke Hamstra & Chris Mahan

2/24-The Trailhouse

Meeting:

President, Trace Hansen, led our meeting.

96 Optimists & guests:

• Mike Conley-guest of Art Gakstatter.
• Tom Brown-guest of Art Gakstatter.
• Daren Maierle-guest of Dave Turner.
• Mary Crane-guest and wife of Bill Crane.
• Isaac Sluffen-guest and nephew of Bill Crane.
• Patrick Haas-guest of Travis (James) McConnell.
• Marsha Carey, Maria Duenas, Audrey Hailey, Sue Poyner and Luke Wilson-Program/Kosciusko Cares.

Door Greeters:  Tracy Furnivall & John Elliott.

Prayer:  David Robertson.

Pledge was given to the American flag.  

Promise yourself was said in unison.

Hail to Optimism was sung in unison. 

Birthday Honorees:  Happy Birthday to Kevin Weaver, Michele Bickel, Paul Wagner, Kellie Altruda, Tim Hamman, Jim Kessler and Rob Bishop!

Check Presentation:  None this week.  

Membership:

Pam Galloway conducted:

• 1^st Reading:
  • Josh Finch-sponsored by Tony Ciriello.
  • Jeffrey Crawford-sponsored by Jennifer Pyle.
• 2^nd Reading:
  • Darren Meier-sponsored by Dave Turner.
• 3^rd Reading:
  • Jeffrey Serveis-sponsored by John Kirkpatrick.

CEO Report:  None this week.

November Optimist of the Month: None this week.

Committee Reports:

• Santa House-Andrew O’Connell announced a great turnout last week, even better than First Friday! He recognized Ot Schroeder for his shift on Friday being from 6-8pm and Ot stayed until 10pm so no child went without meeting Santa!  Great job Ot!  They are in need of Elves this weekend, so let Andrew know if you can help.
• Jennifer Lucht asked for members to help distribute gifts for Elves for Elders a program by REAL Services, part of the Area 2 Agency on Aging. Which is a program that provides gifts of every day necessities for the elderly and disabled.  Thank you to everyone who helped share the Christmas spirit with our community! 

Announcements:

• December 23^rd we will have Flaming Cherries Jubilee.
• We raised $490 for the Penguin Point servers. They do a great job every week for us!

Sheriff’s Report:  None this week.

50/50:  Mickey Smethers was today’s winner!

Videos:  Christmas Carol Little Quartet and The Carbonaro Effect videos were played. 

Sergeants-at-Arms:   Robert Bishop and Joel Wihebrink entertained us:

$1 Fine:

• Several members who will be watching the new Star Wars movie this weekend.
• Robert Bishop gave $5 one for each decade of birthdays.
• Alan Lucht for not being able to pick out his wife in her 1^st grade elementary class photo.
• Mickey Smethers for winning 50/50.
• Joe Sutton paid $5 for service man, Isaac Sluffen;s Star Wars fine. 

Happy $1:

• Juergen Voss for his daughter graduating from Grace College.
• Trace Hansen for his son coming home for 2 weeks.
• Tracy Furnivall for his nephew Gabe Furnivall who will serve in the Marines.
• Jo Faulkner gave $2, one for 2 family members being CANCER FREE and another for taking her granddaughter to see Santa Clause and her really believing it was him.
• Ron Chambers for surviving the ride at Disneyland, Metadon.
• Angie Tom gave $2, one for Art sitting at a different table with his guest instead of his normal table (where she sat) and for her children, Keagen’s basketball game and her son Kameron’s Christmas program.
• Andy Swihart for his son, Austin, obtaining his Mechanical Engineering degree at IPFW.
• Everett Nifong, for his youngest son, Jared, having a daughter which makes Everett’s 3^rd

5 Questions;

Luke Becknell (Christmas theme)

• Real or Fake tree?                         = Fake.
• Travel or stay in town?                         = Travel to Louisville, KY.
• Snow or no snow?                         = Snow.
• Eggnog with or Eggnog without?             = With.
• Open presents Christmas Eve or day? = Both.
• BONUS: Christmas Story or Vacation? = Vacation.

Program:                                                                                                               

Marsha Carey, Maria Duenas, Audrey Hailey, Sue Poyner and Luke Wilson presented this morning for Kosciusko Cares.  The students shared their project and broke down their plans for implementation in 2016.  Thank you for sharing with our group this morning, great job!

Reminders:

• Invite a guest next week.
• Clean up tables.
• Next Week’s Program: Optimist Singers

• Quote: “Impossible is a word found only in the dictionary of fools.”  -Napoleon Bonaparte.

Have a very Optimist week!