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77 Optimists & 3 guests attended our meeting. Brian Scott was the guest of Doug Ogle; Jeremiah Heierman was the guest of Trina Hoy; & Kip Tom was the guest of Mike Hall.

Door Greeters: Bob Jackson & Coach Jim Kessler.

Prayer was offered by Merl Heckaman after he led us in “America The Beautiful”.

Pledge was given to the American Flag.

Promise yourself was said in unison.

Birthday Honoree: Bob Jackson. Martin Becker led us in the birthday song with our usual results.

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Membership: Past Lt. Governor Jerry Titus inducted Lila Shelburne & Linda Rodriguez. Mary Ellen Jordan & Craig Nayrocker sponsored Lila & Linda respectively.

Our Club Directory editor, Dr. Jason Rich, asked those who need their picture taken to see Trina Hoy. Those who want to place an advertisement in our directory should see Jason or Jim Hayes.

Tracy Horrell thanked those who helped with Art in the Park. Special thanks to Trace Hansen for providing the helium for the balloons.

Ron Chambers announced a visit the Plymouth Club Sept. 20 for breakfast. We will leave at 6:15am from The Bowling Alley on North Detroit St.

Pres. Joel Wihebrink announced our Awards Banquet will be at Stonehenge at 6pm on Sept 28. There will be no morning meeting. Email Joel right away if you are going.

Luke Becknell reported good attendance at this year’s 2 Bourbon & Back cycling for Cystic Fibrosis.

Bill Landrigan invited us to the Right To Life Banquet on Sept 26 at 6 p.m. at the Orthopaedic Capital Center. Tickets are $20. See Bill.

Sherriff of Attendance, Bill Landrigan, is rightly proud of his results. We have had over 70 here for weeks. It was good to see Kevin Marose.

Our Optimist Singers will perform Oct. 16 at Warsaw Has Got Talent.

Video Editor: Jim Hayes played videos of “Talk Like A Pirate Day” and of Paul Simon performing the “Sounds Of Silence” at the 9-11 memorial. It was moving.

Please pray for our Troops and Families: Lt Col Mark Penfold – Army – Chaplain

Sergeants-at-Arms: Max Mock, Denny Andrews, & Jeff Owens entertained us. Brian Scott won a Camaro from Lakeside Chevy at the Tiger Golf Classic. Our car dealers & salesmen were recognized. Those with their business name on their shirt or car were recognized. We are invited to listen to Willie 103.5 Sept. 15 & 16 to raise money for St. Jude for Kids fundraiser. We gave President Joel Wihebrink a well deserved standing ovation.

Program: Kip Tom of Tom Farms brought us up to date on changing agriculture. The main issue is that agriculture is being asked to do more with less.

Today’s world population of 6.8 billion will grow to 9 billion. In addition, as many Asians move to the middle class the type of food they eat will have a bigger footprint. Meat comes from lots of grain.

Some of the increased food supply comes from innovation. Grains are engineered for the features needed: drought resistant, insect resistant, use in feeding cows or hogs, or use in ethanol. Today’s tractors know where they are in the field and vary the seed density, fertilizer, & herbicide every couple feet.

The result of this improved productivity is that today we spend 10% of our disposable income on food. In the 1960s it was 30%.

Today’s agribusiness men have to manage risk. The main types of risk are government policies & volatile commodity prices.

Tom Farms started in 1837. Today they farm 17,000 acres in 6 counties of Indiana & another 4,000 acres in Argentina.

Future Dates:

9/20 visit Plymouth Club

9/26 Right To Life Banquet

9/28 Awards Banquet

9/28 no morning meeting

10/16 Optimist Singers at Warsaw’s Got Talent

11/11 CASA Holiday Festival

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