Attendance: 93

Greeters: Tracy Fitzgerald, Kris Williams

Invocation: Dave Turner

Birthdays: Roger Crouse, Scott Reust, Carla Carlton, Steve McGlothin

Guests (Hosts): Dr. David Hoffert, Gret Hoffert, Ryun Hoffert, Glenn Hochstetler, Geri Hoschstetler, Geoffrey Hochstetler, Geneva Hochstetler, Keller Bailey, Jason, Benyousky, Dean Bayne, Erin Bishop, Gabe Nichols (Chris and Lisa Mahan), Lyle Schrock, Stephen Clark (Doug Ogle), Stephen Keys (Simon Stone), Reece Anweiler (Glenn H.), Lucas Harvey, Dave Harvey, Miriam Foreman (Jordan Foreman)

Announcements:

Oratorical Contest Winner Reagan Kauffman with Chris Mahan

Lucas and Dave Harvey from the WCHS Octagon Club passed the bucket for Super Bowl of Caring. $278 was raised to help support local food banks.

Tri-Star  Basketball Competition for boys and girls 8-13 will be held Sunday, February 18, at Baker Youth Club. The event is free. Registration will be at 1:30 that day with the event from 2 to 3. Volunteers are still needed to help. Contact Chris Wiggins to volunteer or if you have any questions.

Chris Mahan gave an update on the Oratorical contest held Sunday, January 28.  Congratulations to our Oratorical Contest Winners. Reagan Kauffman was our first place finisher w/ 225 pts (out of 300) while Jack Claypool was our 2nd place finisher w/ 219 pts. Both contestants are sons of Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club members (Karen Kauffman and Jody Claypool).

Oratorical Contest Winner, Jack Claypool with Chris Mahan

Jennifer Doorman gave an update on the District Meeting held Saturday, January 27. She announced Daren Maierle, Jeff Servies, Joy Lavender, and Ann Cuahuizo were recognized for sponsoring new members with the club receiving an award of $100. The Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club was also named an Honor Club for the past year. The next district meeting will be held in Fort Wayne in April.

Paula Deming announced the Optimist Triathlon now has a Facebook page. She asked that members “Like” and “Share” the page and its posts to help promote the event.

Membership:  No readings or inductions

50/50: $101 with $51 to the winner – Dr. David Haines

CEO Report: Brittany Petersen interviewed Dr. David Haines. Dr. Haines joined Optimist in November 1972. He married his wife Barbara on June 15, 1968.  They have 6 children and 20 grandchildren. He is originally from Greencastle, Indiana. Dr. Haines moved to Warsaw in 1971 after his active duty with US Navy.  He joined Drs. Parke and Snider to form Kosciusko Medical Clinic.  They later added Dr. Sawyer and Dr. Moser to their group.  After 29 years, he left private practice to help start Medstat clinic and has almost retired from there. One of his favorite club memories is the time the club sponsored “Project Avoid” with messaging about avoiding VD. The Club added stickers to the front of the donated book handouts for the program but learned after the fact the book covers read “VD A Gift of the Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club.”

Program: “The Many Stands of Pearl Harbor” presented by Keller Bailey, Ryun Hoffert, Jason Benyousky (Edgewood Middle School) and Geoffrey Hochstetler (Home School)

The students presented their award-winning performance project which depicted the history of Pearl Harbor — from Japanese aggression in Asia prior to the attack to the attack itself, and on to years later when a man named Joe George worked to identify the unknown soldiers. They had the honor of presenting their performance at Pearl Harbor to survivors during a memorial service and also have presented it to the Vice President’s staff in Washington, DC.

Next Week’s Program: Hoosier Youth Academy

Sergeants-at-Arms: Brooke Hamstra, Sam Whitaker, Jeff Owens – A few highlights include fines exacted for anyone who did not watch the State of the Union address and Jeff Owens making everyone with a smartphone stand up, like and share the new Triathlon Facebook page.