UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

Greetings Optimists,

April showers bring May flowers. We are hopeful that May will bring some Spring-like experiences, including warmth!

There is a Club meeting on Tuesday, 5/2/2017 at 12:00 PM in UC 259A. It is with great excitement that will induct both Robin Fox and Lori Heidenreich as new members. Let’s have a terrific turnout and demonstrate that “Optimism” is alive and well. Also, Dave has lined up Kristine Wallace of the Rock River Free Clinic as our guest speaker. It is always good to hear about community-based services.

At our Wednesday evening meeting this past week our two interns shared their goals and the progress they made in their personal learning as well as highlights from their experience as Optimist interns. Thank you Anne and Kayla for your great work! Announcements about summer and fall interns will be made later this week. At our Wednesday meeting, we discussed at least five other topics—the Fishing Derby, the Gyro Stand, Baseball Playoffs, Jefferson County Fair, and upcoming Optimist scholarships/awards.

Al is requesting help from our membership for the Fishing Derby. Shopping for hot dogs, chips and soda as well as staffing the event are among the tasks. Please check in with Al and let him know how you would like to be involved. (I, Angie, have signed up to grill the hot dogs and to make sure participants get fed. Rick has contacted the DNR for fishing pamphlets, etc. Mike will assemble our participant “Goody bags.” Our intern Anne designed our flyer. Thanks one and all!).

The Gyro Stand will be staffed by our Club at the Fourth of July community celebration. Thank you Duane, Rick and Dave for launching the ordering, sign-ups, etc. We now have the dates and hours for the event. Please watch for details soon. It’s not too early to check your schedules! Thank you to Jan and Jeanine for working on a news release about our Club and the Gyro Stand.

We have been asked to staff the Baseball Playoffs held at UW-Whitewater in May. Signup sheets will be made available soon. Mark your calendars for May 17-21. This is an unexpected opportunity to raise funds to assist with our youth programming. “Take me out to the ballgame . . . “ See you there! Therese is also asking for Optimist Award/Scholarship presenters for May 15 at 8:25am (at WHS) and May 23 from 6:30pm – 8:00pm (also at WHS). Can anyone help out?

Our Club has agreed to staff the Jefferson County Fair on Wednesday, July 12 for “Kids’ Day.” Watch emails for further details—and again, make your calendars.

One other item of discussion this past Wednesday was Club officers. Are you willing to serve in a leadership role? Who could you invite to join our Club—or to take a leadership role in the Club? In the film “The American President,” the character Lewis says to his president: “People want leadership . . . They’re so thirsty for it, they’ll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there’s no water, they’ll drink the sand.” It is a strong statement about what happens in the absence of leadership. Would you consider taking a role in our Club leadership? We are still looking for a president for 2017-18. That said, we are very excited that Janay Alston has agreed to serve as President Elect in 2017-18! Thank you, Janay!

That is “This week in Optimism.”

Angie & Kim 🙂