UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

Greetings Optimists,

Our next general member meeting will be tomorrow, January 19, at 12 Noon, University Center 068 (basement level of the UC). This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00). Our speaker will be Jim Mead from the UW-W University Housing Cable TV Office. There will NOT be a Youth of the Month presentation at this meeting.

We will be changing our January 26 meeting from an evening meeting at Jessica’s Restaurant to a 12 Noon meeting at UW-W. I’ll notify you when a location is confirmed. This meeting WILL have a Youth of the Month presentation. I’m looking for a speaker for this meeting. Any ideas? Any volunteers?

A reminder again that Linda Kinson and I will be the contacts for the Fund Crazr Basketball Sweepstakes raffle organized for the SWIS District by Fred Dorn. If we can sell the 50 tickets I’ve requested we should receive $600 back for support of the club’s events and programs. You can find more info on the www.fundcrazr.com website.

Another reminder, Bev Bonge-Ganser wants to share the following info from the Whitewater Middle School JOOI Club. “The middle school Junior Optimist Club will be hosting a blood drive Friday, Feb. 12 from 1-6 at the middle school (401 S. Elizabeth St.).  You can find our drive on the Red Cross website http://www.redcross.org/blood and enter code 0324027 or our zip code 53190. Our students are always helpful and friendly and chatty so you will have a wonderful donation experience if you join us. We also decorate like crazy, so it will be festive as well.  Hope to see you on the 12th.”

Trivia Night is coming up soon. Here are the latest updates and requests:

•         You can now signup to help out in various ways for the 2016 Trivia Night. Lanora Heim has created an online sign up form. Click this link to see the various tasks and dates that help is needed. Like the Gyro Stand and Breakfast with Santa, the more helpers, the lighter the load for each.
•         Do you have gift cards that could be donated to Trivia Night? If so, please contact club member Kate Ksobiech.
•         Do you have items or ideas for silent auction items? If so, please contact Kate Ksobiech.
•         The Trivia Team Registration form is available from our web site. Click this link.
•         Contact Kim Adams if you or someone you know is interested in being a sponsor for this event. There are 5 different sponsorship levels. A form with more details is available upon request.

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events include:

•         Tuesday, January 19, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 068 (basement level of the UC). Our speaker will be Jim Mead from the UW-W University Housing Cable TV Office.
•         Tuesday, January 26, evening meeting, 12 Noon, UW-W. This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00) with “Youth of the Month” from Whitewater High School.
•         Tuesday, February 2, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 259A. Speaker is Bunny Schoen.
•         Tuesday, February 9, Executive Board meeting, 12 Noon.
•         Tuesday, February 16, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 259A. This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00) with “Youth of the Month” from Whitewater Middle School. Our speakers will be Kirby Mills and Kristina Navarro talking about the Warhawk Leadership Academy.
•         Friday, February 19, 2016, Trivia Night!! 7:00 pm, University Center Hamilton Room.
•         Tuesday, February 23, 5pm, Jessica’s Restaurant.

That’s all for tonight.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Greetings Optimists,

NO GENERAL MEMBER MEETING THIS WEEK. The Club Exec Board will meet at 12 Noon, on campus in the University Center, room 069 in the lower level of the UC.

Linda Kinson and I will be the contacts for the Fund Crazr Basketball Sweepstakes raffle be organized for the SWIS District by Fred Dorn. If we can sell the 50 tickets I’ve requested we should receive $600 back for support of the club’s events and programs. You can find more info on the www.fundcrazr.com website.

Bev Bonge-Ganser has the following info to share from the Whitewater Middle School JOOI Club. “The middle school Junior Optimist Club will be hosting a blood drive Friday, Feb. 12 from 1-6 at the middle school (401 S. Elizabeth St.).  You can find our drive on the red cross website http://www.redcross.org/blood and enter code 0324027 or our zip code 53190. Our students are always helpful and friendly and chatty so you will have a wonderful donation experience if you join us. We also decorate like crazy, so it will be festive as well.  Hope to see you on the 12th.”

Trivia Night is coming up soon. Here are the latest updates and requests:

• You can now signup to help out in various ways for the 2016 Trivia Night. Lanora Heim has created an online sign up form. Click this link to see the various tasks and dates that help is needed. Like the Gyro Stand and Breakfast with Santa, the more helpers, the lighter the load for each.
• Do you have gift cards that could be donated to Trivia Night? If so, please contact club member Kate Ksobiech.
• Do you have items or ideas for silent auction items? If so, please contact Kate Ksobiech.
• The Trivia Team Registration form is available from our web site. Click this link.
• Contact Kim Adams if you or someone you know is interested in being a sponsor for this event. There are 5 different sponsorship levels. A form with more details is available upon request.

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events include:

• Tuesday, January 12, Executive Board meeting, 12 Noon.
• Tuesday, January 19, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 068 (basement level of the UC). This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00) with “Youth of the Month” from Whitewater High School. Our speaker will be Jim Mead from the UW-W University Housing Cable TV Office.
• Tuesday, January 26, evening meeting, 5pm, Jessica’s Restaurant. No speaker yet.
• Tuesday, February 2, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 259A. Speaker is Bunny Schoen.
• Tuesday, February 9, Executive Board meeting, 12 Noon.
• Tuesday, February 16, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 259A. This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00) with “Youth of the Month” from Whitewater Middle School. Our speakers will be Kirby Mills and Kristina Navarro talking about the Warhawk Leadership Academy.
• Friday, February 19, 2016, Trivia Night!! 7:00 pm, University Center Hamilton Room.
• Tuesday, February 23, 5pm, Jessica’s Restaurant.

That’s all for tonight.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Greetings Optimists,

A huge THANK YOU to the nearly 50 people, club members, UW-W Student Club members, High School Octagon member, etc., who helped with this past Saturday’s “Breakfast with Santa.” Carol and Jim Miller counted 611 people served, 326 children and 285 adults. I would encourage all of you who helped to look back for any special moments from Friday or Saturday, write them down and share them with us. I would like to share your stories about the day on our web site and Facebook page.

A huge THANK YOU to a club member, who wishes to remain anonymous, who donated $500 to Breakfast with Santa in honor of Don Zahn. The donor specified that the money was to be used to pay for ALL of the children who attended Breakfast with Santa.

While Santa may have been the main attraction this past Saturday, Frosty the Snowman was VERY popular also. Thanks Jim McLernon!

Nearly 700 photos from Breakfast with Santa were uploaded to the Club’s Flickr page. To see the photos, follow these instructions:

• Access the photos at: https://www.flickr.com
• Upon entering the website search “optimist bws” in upper right hand corner
• Click People in upper left hand corner
• Click “optimist bws”
• Click Albums
• Select BWS 2015

Our next Exec Board meeting is tomorrow, December 8, 12 Noon, in UC 260.

There is NO GENERAL MEMBER MEETING THIS WEEK.

The annual Toys for Kids project will be wrapping and sorting next Monday, December 14th at 5:30pm at the downtown Armory located on North Street. Please join us for the wrapping and sorting of the toys to get them ready for the distribution by the Whitewater Food Pantry. Helpers are also needed during the early afternoon for toy/gift pickups. If you can help at that time, contact Duane Dickens.

Our Tuesday, December 15 regular club meeting, will be at 12 Noon, UC 259A. This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00) with “Youth of the Month” from Whitewater Middle School and presentation of the “Mitten Tree” donations to Lanora, Mary, and Shirley from the Whitewater School District.

This week’s other notes:

• A reminder again that the annual club dues notification was sent out to our membership list (which is not the exact same as this email list). Hopefully active members can submit dues soon so Ken, Kate and I can update the club roster at the OI web site.
• Who can help find additional speakers for our January and February meetings? A couple of ideas/speakers have been forwarded to me but more are needed. All speaker ideas are welcome and appreciated. I/we just need to confirm who, when, and where for the next couple of months.

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events include:

• Tuesday, December 8. Executive Board meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 260.
• Monday, December, 14. Toys for Kids wrapping and sorting, Whitewater Downtown Armory, 146 W North St.
• Tuesday, December 15. Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, UC 259A. This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00) with “Youth of the Month” from Whitewater Middle School and presentation of the “Mitten Tree” donations to Lanora, Mary, and Shirley from the Whitewater School District.
• No club meeting the week of December 20-26.
• Tuesday, January 5, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 069 (basement level of the UC). This is a “bring your own lunch” meeting.
• Tuesday, January 12, Executive Board meeting, 12 Noon.
• Tuesday, January 19, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, location to be determined. This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00) with “Youth of the Month” from Whitewater High School. Our speaker will be Jim Mead from the UW-W University Housing Cable TV Office.
• Tuesday, January 26, evening meeting, 5pm, Jessica’s Restaurant.
• Tuesday, February 1, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, location to be determined.
• Tuesday, February 9, Executive Board meeting, 12 Noon.
• Tuesday, February 16, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, location to be determined. This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00) with “Youth of the Month” from Whitewater High School. Our speaker will be Bunny Schoen.
• Friday, February 19, 2016, Trivia Night!! 7:00 pm, University Center Hamilton Room.

That’s all for tonight.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Greetings Optimist!!

Warhawk football ticket takers, remember, this week’s game is a Friday night game. And we all need to help them start a new winning streak!!

This week’s notes:

• A budget item for discussion at the October 13 (tomorrow) meeting. How many “NFL Football Crazr” raffle tickets could/should our club commit to for 2015-16? We sold 50 of them quickly this past summer and received back $12/ticket for a total of $600. One thing great about this fund raiser is there are no costs. Sell the tickets, turn in the money by the specified time, receive a portion of each ticket’s price back for the budget. So…. Can we commit to 100 tickets for 2015-16?  150 tickets?  200 tickets?
• Who can help find speakers for our December and January meetings? All speaker ideas are welcome and appreciated. Members have shared ideas with me, we just need to confirm who, when, and where for the next couple of months.
• Speaking of December, who would like to help organize Breakfast with Santa for December 5^th ? A lot of work was done last year writing down the various actions and timelines needed to complete this event so that will help get things started. I have already reserved Esker Dining Hall for that morning with the campus reservations office and notified campus Dining Services staff.
• Thinking of December also reminds me of the “mitten tree” and “Toys for Kids.” Again, who would like to help lead these projects?

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events include:

• Tuesday, October 13, regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 069 (basement level of the UC). This is a “bring your own lunch” meeting. Speakers will be Tonia Harvel, UC Information Services/Warhawk Alley Coordinator, and Chris Clapper from the Elkhorn Area Chamber of Commerce speaking on behalf of the Walworth County Leadership (WCL) group about a new YOUTH Leadership Development program for Walworth County high school students.
• Tuesday, October 20 regular club meeting, 12 Noon, UC 259A. This is a “catered lunch day ($7.00) with “Youth of the Month” from Whitewater Middle School. Speakers will be Mareta Hale, Art Teacher at Washington Elementary School, and Tom Grosinske, Principal at Washington Elementary School. They will be speaking about
• Tuesday, October 27 evening meeting/social event at the home of Kim Adams and Angie Alesci. See the attached invitation.
• Tuesday, November 3, noon meeting, UC 259 A&B. This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00) and Youth Appreciation Luncheon with student leaders from all 5 Whitewater School District buildings. The youth leaders will be our speakers.
• Week of November 2-6, Youth Appreciation Week.
• Tuesday, November 10, Exec Board meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 260.
• Tuesday, November 17, noon meeting. Youth of the Month from Whitewater High School. UC 259A. Speaker will be Shawn Werner, Young Auditorium Staff member.
• Tuesday, December 1. Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 069 (basement level of the UC). This is a “bring your own lunch” meeting. Stuffing of “Goody Bags” for Breakfast with Santa.
• Saturday, December 5, Breakfast with Santa!! Esker Dining Hall, UW-W.
• Tuesday, December 8. Executive Board meeting, 12 Noon.
• Tuesday, December 15. Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, UC 259A. This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00) with “Youth of the Month” from Whitewater Middle School.
• Friday, February 19, 2016, Trivia Night!! 7:00 pm, University Center Hamilton Room.

That’s all for the moment.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Greetings Optimist!!

Lots of short notes for this week.

• Thanks again to Connie Murray, Jeanine Fassl and Teshona Bennett for organizing last Tuesday’s Installation Banquet at 841 Brew House!!
• Please welcome our newest Optimist Club member, Jenny Musilek! Jenny is the Promotions Coordinator in the UC. We’ll find an upcoming meeting to formally induct Jenny.
• Warhawk Football ticket takers were busy this past Saturday when a record crowd of 15,287 showed up at Perkins Stadium.
• No club meeting tomorrow, October 6!!! (This is due to the UW-W Faculty Emeriti lunch being held at 841 Brew House)
• Instead, the Exec Board will have its first meeting of the year. One of the agenda items will be discussing the budget for 2015-16. I’ll keep you posted.
• October is the start of the new Optimist year. Watch your email later this month for the annual dues notification.
• Who can help find speakers for our October and November meetings? All speaker ideas are welcome and appreciated. Members have shared ideas with me, we just need to confirm who, when, and where for the next couple of months.
• Allison Langenkamp has posted more pictures on the web site from the Installation Banquet and I’ve added them to the Facebook page. Check them out when you have time. Use the links at the bottom of the email to quickly go to those sites.
• Maggie Winz was a Football Crazr winner for NFL week number 2. Congratulations Maggie!!
• I’ve begun adding some of our upcoming events to the SWIS District web site calendar. This morning I added Breakfast with Santa and Trivia Night.
• Speaking of Breakfast with Santa, who would like to help organize this event for December 5^th ? (Yes, it’s only two months away)? A lot of work was done last year writing down the various actions and timelines needed to complete this event so that will help get things started.

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events include:

• Tuesday, October 6, Exec Board meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 260.
• Tuesday, October 13, regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 069 (basement level of the UC)
• Tuesday, October 20, noon meeting. Youth of the Month from Whitewater Middle School, UC 259A.
• Tuesday, October 27 evening meeting/social event at the home of Kim Adams and Angie Alesci.
• Tuesday, November 3, noon meeting, Youth Appreciation Luncheon with student leaders from all 5 Whitewater School District buildings. UC 259 A&B.
• Week of November 2-6, Youth Appreciation Week.
• Tuesday, November 10, Exec Board meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 260.
• Tuesday, November 17, noon meeting. Youth of the Month from Whitewater High School. UC 259A
• Saturday, December 5, Breakfast with Santa!! Esker Dining Hall, UW-W.
• Friday, February 19, 2016, Trivia Night!! 7:00 pm, University Center Hamilton Room.

That’s all for the moment.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Greetings Optimist!!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 29, will be the annual Installation Banquet!! Social hour begins at 5pm at 841 Brew House.

At last week’s meeting, we had one business topic, voting on the “Slate of Officers” for 2016-17. Those in attendance voted unanimously in favor of the slate of officer put forward from the board and emailed to all of you last week. Combined with the votes emailed back to Jeanine before the meeting, we have an Executive Board for 2015-16!!!!!

I’m working with the incoming Exec Board members to confirm our monthly board meeting. At this time it looks like the 2^nd Tuesday of each month, starting at 12 Noon, will continue to be our meeting time. Please remember that any club member can submit an agenda item.

I’ll keep you posted this week whether or not we have an general member meeting or board meeting next week, October 6. There might be a possible conflict with a campus Faculty Emeriti event that might draw away quite a number of our regular Tuesday members.

Who can help find speakers for our October and November meetings? All speaker ideas are welcome and appreciated.

Be sure to check the “Photos” page here on the web site for new photos posted today. You’ll also be able to find them on our Facebook page.

Our Facebook page reached 100 “Likes” last week!! The pictures that were added last week have been quite popular also.

Any Football Raffle Crazr winners last week?

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events include:

• Tuesday, September, 29, Installation banquet at 841 Brew House. Social hour begins at 5pm. Dinner begins at 6pm.
• Tuesday, October 6, noon meeting.
• Tuesday, October 20, noon meeting. Youth of the Month from Whitewater Middle School.
• Tuesday, October 27 evening meeting/social event at the home of Kim Adams and Angie Alesci.
• Tuesday, November 3, noon meeting, Youth Appreciation Luncheon with student leaders from all 5 Whitewater School District buildings.
• Week of November 2-6, Youth Appreciation Week.
• Tuesday, November 17, noon meeting. Youth of the Month from Whitewater High School.
• Saturday, December 5, Breakfast with Santa!!
• Friday, February 19, 2016, Trivia Night!!

That’s all for the moment.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Greetings Optimist!!

Hope everyone is doing well this week!!

We will have a general business meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, August 18, at 12 Noon-1pm, UC 069 (lower level of the UC, near the UW Credit Union).

In other Optimist business:

• The Board met last week, Tuesday, August 11. Jan Olson has sent me the minutes to review. Once the Board has reviewed and approved, I’ll post them on the web site. I did add the April, May, and July Board meeting minutes for your review.
• Lou Zahn forwarded me an invitation from the Jefferson County Fair Park Committee inviting all volunteers of the fair to an appreciation dinner on Thursday, August 20 at 5:30pm in the Activity Center on the fair grounds. If someone would like to attend on behalf of the Club, please feel free to do so.
• I could still use help contacting possible speakers for the next 2-3 months. If you have speaker ideas or would be willing to make calls for the club, please let me know.
• Kim Adams and I have been working with the summer intern, Lauren Hageman, on the Club’s Policies and Procedures manual. Jeanine Fassl got us started on reviewing and updating the manual. Lauren has helped insert new sections related to Trivia Night, the intern program, and other sections that needed to be added and updated. We (the four of us working on this) hope to have an updated manual to present to the Exec Board, and all members, soon. We’ll keep you posted.
• Connie Murray and Teshona Bennett volunteered to help with the upcoming End-of-Year Banquet (or should we call it the Beginning-of-the-Year banquet?) Anyway, it would probably help to have one more person assist with planning. Please contact me if you can be that “one more person.”
• Our Facebook page still has 92 “Likes!” So close to 100.
• I added a link to the Club’s Facebook page to the web site last week. Kim Adams, Lauren Hageman, and I discussed how to better use the Facebook site and came up with the following ideas: “Through Back Thursday” pictures from past events, periodic “Save the Date” announcements about Trivia Night 2016, and uploading of many more of the pictures that have been taken at past events.

Speakers for upcoming meetings are:

• Wednesday, August 26, 2015, 5pm at Jessica’s Restaurant. Any ideas?
• Tuesday, September 8, Esker Hall room 119, 12 Noon-1pm. Any ideas?
• Tuesday, September 22, UC 261, 12 Noon-1pm. Any ideas?
• Tuesday, October 6, 12 Noon-1pm. Any ideas?
• Tuesday, October 20, 12 Noon-1pm. Youth of the Month. Any ideas?

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events include:

• Tuesday, August 18, 12 Noon-1pm. Business meeting
• Wednesday, August 26, 2015, 5pm at Jessica’s Restaurant.
• Tuesday, September 8, Esker Hall room 119, 12 Noon-1pm, “bring your own lunch.”
• Tuesday, September 22, UC 261, 12 Noon-1pm. Catered lunch and Youth of the Month.
• Tuesday, September, 29, evening banquet, date/time/location to be determined.

That’s all for the moment.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Greetings Optimists,

Wow!!! What a great time this past Friday night at the 2^nd Annual Trivia Night. 24 teams from the campus, community, and surrounding area. 33 children who participated in the children’s activities, supervised by many of the UWW Student Optimists, while Mom and Dad participated in the trivia competition. Wonderful silent auction and live auction items. Check the Whitewater Banner web site for descriptions and pictures.

Kim has received some nice emails and face to face comments about the evening. We also had a good balance of Student Optimists, Community Optimists and other helpful volunteers at the event. Congratulations to Jan Olson and her team for winning the event this year! Kim Simes and her team are to be complimented again for their many creative answers to some of the difficult questions. Some of their answers were even correct!

There are many “Thanks Yous” to be shared but they need to start with Kim Adams. Kim once again took the lead on this event and started the planning and promotion last October. She and I have already discussed ideas for next year’s event, such as location, maximum number of teams, how to display team standings on the computer system in the venue, how to collect evaluations electronically, and on, and on. With Kim’s help, I hope to have a complete list of thank yous later this week.

Overall, a great success!! Preliminary numbers are: Gross income of approximately $8,900. Net income of approximately $7,100. More details regarding the split of proceeds between our club and the UWW Student Optimist Club will be discussed and shared with you.

This week’s meeting will be Wednesday evening, February 25 at 5pm at Jessica’s Restaurant. See our list of upcoming speakers below.

• Speaker for upcoming meetings are:
  • Wednesday, February 25 – Dr. John Chenoweth, new Dean of the College of Business and Economics at UW-W.
  • Tuesday, March 3, UW-W photographer Craig Schreiner
  • Tuesday, March 17, UW-W Provost, Dr. Beverly Kopper
  • Tuesday, March 31, Tom Grosinske, Washington Elementary School Principal and new Whitewater High School football coach
  • Tuesday, April 7, Kat Shanahan, UC Promotions Coordinator
  • Tuesday, April 21, Deb Weberpal, Senior Coordinator for the Seniors in the Park program in Whitewater.
  • Wednesday, April 29, – no speaker yet
  • Tuesday, May 5, –  no speaker yet
  • Tuesday, May 19, Tami McCullough, UW-W Campus Facilities Planner.
  • Wednesday, May 27, – Karen Wislocky, Director of the UW-W Intensive English Institute

• Other dates coming up for club events include:
  • Easter Egg Hunt, Saturday, April 4 at the Whitewater Middle School, pending approval from the school district.
  • City-Wide Rummage Sale, Saturday, May 16. (The one and only planning meeting will be Thursday, February 19.)
  • Gyro Stand at Whitewater 4^th of July Celebration, July 2-4, 2015 (based on calendar but still to be confirmed)
  • Jefferson County Fair ticket selling, Wednesday, July 8.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749