Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Future Dates
2/13 Wed. no morning meeting
2/13 Wed. evening Valentine’s banquet
2/20 Wed. Lindsey Best / Big Brothers Big Sister
2/21 Thur. 4-H Open House in County Building
2/26 Bill Landrigan Muscular Dystrophy fundraiser
2/27 Wed. Erin Porter / Limitless Playground and Splash Pad
3/6 Wed. Angie Wood – Heartline
3/8 Fri. Baker Youth Clubs Madness fundraiser at Wagon Wheel
3/13 Wed. Chad Zaucha / YMCA
3/15 Fri. Oratorical Contest
3/20 Wed. Oratorical Contest Winners
3/27 Wed. Dave Hoffert / Chief Academic Officer
4/17 Wed. Warsaw High School Band
5/1 Wed. Randy Polston / Grace Applied Learning
5/19/13 Sun. Car Show
5/29 Wed. Dr. Craig Hintz
6/5 Wed. Jay Tate / Safe Assured ID demo
6/26 Wed. Assemble Triathlon bags
6/29 Sat. Triathlon
7/10 Wed. no meeting / County Fair
8/2 Fri. Big Wheel Race
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
>>>>OPENING
81 Optimists & 5 guests attended our meeting. Rob & Brenda Edling were the guests of Jason Matthews; Stacie Danahy was the guest of George Brennan; Derek Finch was the guest of Max Mock; and Will Petro was the guest of Tracy Furnivall.
Door Greeters: Doug Jones and George Brennan.
Prayer: Ken Anderson led us in prayer.
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: Lyle Enyeart, Sam Yeager, and Aaron Wainscott. Martin Becker led us in the birthday song with pretty good results.
>>>> INFORMATION
Prayer Requests: Marv Miller’s continued recovery.
Joy Lavender’s family at Jay’s passing.
Membership: Past President Jeff Owens’ assistant Larry Bishop read Derek Finch’s and Rob Edling’s applications. Past President Max Mock is sponsoring Derek and Jason Matthews is sponsoring Rob.
Sheriff of Attendance Bill Landrigan and Deputy Harry Gigous were happy to see over 80 of us at each of our recent meetings.
Dr. Jon Lippe introduced us to Lakeview Students of the Week: Kendall Cox, Jeremy David, Aaron Wainscott, Brynn Durecki, Madelene Reeder, Anna Ousley, Sam Yeager, Abbigail Curtis, Kyle Kuhn, and Matthew Shapiro. Tracy Horrell introduced us to Jack Rhoades from Edgewood.
Chris Wiggins thanked those who worked our local TriStar Basketballcompetition. The February 9th regional has been cancelled. All the local winners will go to state.
President Elect Everett Nifong reminded us of our Valentine’s banquet at the Shrine Building on February 13. There will be a cash bar at 6:30 p.m. with a Social Time (not hour) until our Premium Buffet dinner at 7 p.m. The infamous Love and Marriage Game will begin at 7:30 p.m. The $20 per person will be invoiced. If you are going but are not sure if you are signed up let Everett know right away. Julie Runnells is doing the decorating.
There will be no morning meeting February 13.
Board Member Rick Kerlin presented Winona Lake Town Manager Craig Allebach a $150 check for Kringlefest.
President Elect Everett Nifong presented YMCA CEO Chad Zaucha a $500 check for the Y’s youth programs.
Board Member Bob Jackson presented Baker Youth Club Executive Director Tracy Furnivall a $1,000 check for BYC’s satellite programs.
Bill Landrigan, Ken Zortman, and Tony Ciriello will be in “jail” raising money for Muscular Dystrophy Association on February 26.
Past President Jeff Owens announced our Oratorical Contest will be at Zimmer Corporate Headquarters on March 15. The topic is “Why my voice is important.” Major prizes are being provided by the Esther Pfleiderer Charitable Trust, Lake City Bank and Orthopediatrics.
President Tracy Furnivall invited us to Baker Youth Club’s Madness fundraiser at the Wagon Wheel on Friday, March 8.
Will Petro introduced us to Boomerang Backpacks. They are backpacks of food kids bring home from school on weekends. The goal is that no child go to bed hungry. www.boomerangbackpacks.org
President Tracy Furnivall read a note from Jan Callahan asking for drivers to take local cancer patients to local treatments. There is a shortage of drivers. Please call 267-6676 to find more information.
Past President John Elliott announced our Car Show will be downtown onSunday, May 19, 2013.
Past Gov. Ron Donkers announced people are signing up for our Triathlon. The date has been changed to the Saturday JUST BEFORE the 4th of July. It will be Saturday, June 29, 2013. Also this year in addition to a short swim after the traditional participants, there will be kid’s races for kid’s who are 11 to 12 or 13 to 14.
Please pray for our Troops and Families: Cpt David Mvondo – Army – Chaplain
Sergeants-at-Arms: John Elliott, Joel Wihebrink, and Everett Nifongentertained us.
Dr. Craig Hintz was recognized for the excellent students in our meeting. He reported that in addition to the cream of the crop, our school system is working to help our mid-level students reach their dreams. Our kids are fortunate.
Past President Jim Nesbitt and Past Gov. Ron Donkers were recognized for their years of service on the Home Care and Hospice board.
Dr. Akash Jain is thankful to the K21 Foundation for his wife’s new office.
Lyle Enyeart was on TV fishing off his Hoosier Hooker.
Dr. K.T. Kishan is now in color ads for KCH.
Winona Lake Town Manager Craig Allebach is glad that Art Gakstatter got the 1929 LaFrance fire truck running. It has not run for 16 years. We look forward to seeing it in our Car Show.
Past Lt. Gov. Dr. David Haines’ daughter was on the honor role 25 years ago.
Gina Voelz’s daughter was in a mini tournament.
Program: Clinic Coordinator Rebecca Bazzoni introduced us to Jacob’s Ladder Pediatric Rehab Center. Jacob’s Ladder is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit outpatient rehabilitation facility to meet the physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech/language needs of children.
Jacob’s Ladder provides a collaborative team approach for quality therapeutic services to help children, infants, and teens reach their full potential.
Physical therapists evaluate and treat infants and children with neurological, orthopedic or developmental delay problems including:
Gross motor skills and mobility
Balance, coordination and motor planning skills
Muscle tone, strength, flexibility and cardiovascular fitness
Pain relief and rehab following surgery, fractures or trauma
Bracing and specialized adaptive equipment.
Growing and playing are the “occupations” we work to improve. The goal is to always find maximum potential and independence in all areas, including:
Fine motor skills like handwriting, tying shoes or buttoning a shirt
Visual perceptual skills
Self care skills
Oral motor / feeding habits
Sensory processing skills.
Speech therapists identify and treat speech and language disorders including problems with articulation, “late” talking and other language learning problems. Therapists are trained to assess problems and work to maximize communication skills such as:
Language understanding and expression
Speech production, intelligibility and fluency
Pre-literacy, reading and reading comprehension skills
Auditory perception
Chewing and swallowing skills.
In order to reach their full potential, it is critical for a child to receive supplemental therapy to address those aspects of their disability that do not pertain directly to their education. This more intensive therapy can only be accessed through a specialized pediatric clinic.
Until Jacob’s Ladder came to Warsaw, there were no options for specialized pediatric therapy within Kosciusko County. The closest pediatric clinics were located in Fort Wayne, Plymouth, Goshen and South Bend.
Due to extensive medical visits, additional expenses, and added time constraints, many of our families with special needs children were unable to travel outside of the county to pursue specialized pediatric care. Sadly, many of our special kids were never able to access the therapy they need.
Unfortunately the reimbursement is poor for these services. In order for these services to be sustainable, ongoing fundraising is needed. Volunteers can help lower the shortfall. The K21 Health Foundation and the Kosciusko County Community Foundation helped start our local program. The annual fundraising need is $70k.
The Kolors for Jacob’s Kids benefit race is May 4 at 10 a.m. in the Winona Lake Park. There is a 5k run and a 1 mile Powdered Paint Splatter Run. Runners AND paint throwers are needed.
Also donations can be mailed to Jacobs Ladder Pediatric Rehab in Warsaw, PO Box 654, Winona Lake, IN 46590. $100 provides 1 month of services for a child.
