UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

Happy Fall Semester Optimists,

It is hard to believe that August is ending and and the start up of the new academic year is just around the corner.

Thank you to Jeanine, Dave, Denise, Jan, and Kelly H. who have kept things rolling in forward motion on many accounts. Jeanine and I spoke last night–just hours after my return from out west.  Here are a few important updates:

*  We do not have a meeting this week.  We also will not meet next Tuesday (since it is right after Labor Day–and it is the week that classes begin)

*  Our September meeting schedule is as follows–Sept. 9, 12pm meeting, UC 259A;  Sept. 16, 12pm meeting, UC 259A; Sept. 24 (Wed), 4-5pm Back to School Pep Rally/Optimist NOW Meeting at Whitewater High School, Multipurpose Room; Sept. 30, Installation Celebration–time and location to be announced.  Thank you to Mills, Connie, Rick, Hans and Carla for volunteering to coordinate our Installation evening.  More information will be sent out very soon regarding the details of our September meetings and the Installation event.

*  An evite has been sent to folks in the Whitewater Unified School District regarding our NOW meeting for September 24.  We will also be getting invitations sent to our members.  We will be counting on the support, attendance, and some assistance with food for this event.  Our planning team is very excited about the opportunities to recruit several new members from the school system.  We are very grateful to have the support of the District administration and to have the full involvement of members Joe Lynch and Lanora Heim!

*  Dave and I facilitated an information table about our cub at the Faculty/Staff involvement Fair today on campus–just prior to the Chancellor’s “State of the University Address.”  I am happy to report that 8 new faculty/staff signed up to learn more about our club.  Our follow up with these individuals will be very important.

*  Therese has been sending out emails regarding football ticket taking for fall 2014.  We only have four home football games–so we’ll have to really keep our fingers crossed for some more home-field advantage in the post season.  Please look at your calendars to see if you can fill any of the regular season slots that are still open.

*  Dave will be coordinating an ACPC meeting in the next two weeks.  All outgoing and incoming board members can expect more information from Dave in the near future.

I will sign off for now.  Please enjoy the six attached photos from our travel study trip to Yellowstone.  I look forward to giving a program about the trip in the near future.  Hopefully Angie will be able to join in the effort!  It was an amazing learning experience.

Have a great week–and please keep the Burkina Faso group in your thoughts as they make their way home on Wednesday, August 27!

Always in Optimism,

Kim 🙂

P.S.  Please use this email list as I have now added in Lanora Heim.  Thanks!

Happy SUMMER, Optimists!  Since Kim is out of state, Dave and I have agreed to take turns with the weekly newsletter.  I’m happy to share some great news!

As Kim mentioned last week that we Optimists have lots to celebrate;

Most of our major fundraisers for the summer are DONE!  We had good member turnout for those projects like the Gyros Stand and the Jefferson County Fair as well as some fun at the Relay for Life, the paver painting parties and our summer social.  Sure seems like there is always SOMETHING happening with our club and members!

Now for some really exciting news:

1) We are pleased to announce that Lenora Heim, the Special Ed/Pupil Services Coordinator for Whitewater’s School District and one of the creators of the Family Emergency Fund that our club supports, has reactivated her membership in our club!  Welcome back, Lenora and we’re so glad to have you with us!

2) Along with Lenora, Joe Lynch, a member of our club since March of last year, and Whitewater H.S. Vice-Principal, will be helping us to plan a Welcome Back Pep Rally for the Whitewater Unified School District faculty and staff.  We will be presenting a brief program to those attending (250 will be invited) to illustrate the partnerships we as an organization have with the District and actively recruit new members from the District.  Our Advertising Intern, Kelly, will be assisting me with some of the details in using an E-Vite and hopefully we will see many new faces in our ranks by the end of Sept.  The event will be announced as soon as final details are arranged but we are counting on several of our members as well as School district Administrative staff to help with a picnic themed event.  Anyone of our members who would like to help should contact me at your earliest convenience.

3)  It is a pleasure to announce the slate of candidates for the 2014-2015

UW-W/Community Optimist Club for the Executive Board;

The following members have agreed to serve in the following positions:

President – Dave Halbach

Co – Vice Presidents – Jim and Carol Miller (Jim will forgo attendance at Board Meetings but will step up to handle meetings in Dave’s absence)

Secretary – Jan Olson

Co-Treasurers – Kate and Ken Ksobiech (Yeah, for our first year members!)

Board Members – Barb Dickens will complete the second year of her term, while Jeanine Fassl and Denise Kaminski will begin serving the first year of their two year terms.  (Thanks to Al Hutchison and Anne Fellows for their service these past two years on the board!)

Past President  –  Kim Adams

There is still no one who has come forward to serve as President Elect, but we still have time to add that name….HINT, HINT!!!  Also, anyone who is interested is serving in any of the above office still has time to put their name on the ballot!  REALLY, we can have an “election” .

4) Lastly, in light of the Annual Installation Banquet we have every year, we are in need of several members to form the planning committee for that event scheduled for Sept. 30, at a place to be announced later.  Please contact Kim, Dave or me if you are interested in helping with that event.

Let’s all keep our travelers to Burkina Faso and Yellowstone in our thoughts and prayers for safe travels and returns.

Don’t forget, we have only one meeting scheduled for August due to the return of students and staff at the end of August.  Please make every attempt to attend our meeting on Aug. 12 from noon to 1 pm in UC 259A.   We will begin looking to next year’s planning so please be part of the conversation at this meeting.

This is going to be a great year for Optimism!

Jeanine Fassl

UWW/Community Optimist Club

Vice-President

Emeriti Faculty

262-473-4906

Happy August, Optimists!

We are 10 months into our Optimist year and have lots to celebrate.

Here are just a few updates for this week:

Thank you to those who were able to attend the summer Optimist potluck at Angie’s and my house last Tuesday.  See the attached photos.  We were happy to have two guests—John and Lori H.  The weather was beautiful, and the food and company were great.  Some folks even stayed to play a couple rounds of a new game.

Our next club meeting is on Aug. 12 in UC 259A.  Jeanine will be facilitating our discussion—looking to our next year.  We do not have a meeting this week.

Dave, Jeanine, Kelly and I are in the process of planning other promotions for the club, and Kelly has drafted two write-ups about our Optimist Park and Trivia Night.

Please mark you calendars for Trivia Night—Friday, Feb. 20 in the Hamilton Room.  Doors will open at 6:30pm and the event will begin at 7:00pm.

Jeanine and I will be meeting with Lanora Heim and Joe Lynch this Tuesday to discuss setting up a NOW meeting for teachers in the Whitewater Unified School District this September.  Lanora has also pledged to rejoin our club and wants to be an involved member.

Lastly, please send your positive energy to the Burkina Faso Group.  They head out on their journey on August 15.  Thank you to Duane who is helping to drive the group to the Chicago O’Hare Airport.  They are in need of one driver with a moderate to bigger vehicle to help transport them home on Aug. 27.  If anyone is able to assist with this task, please call or email me.  They will be arriving in Chicago at 3:30pm on the 27^th.  Thank You!

For the next two weeks, I will be participating in the Yellowstone Travel Study and will have very limited access to email.  I am hoping to continue our weekly emails through our Optimist Board.

Thanks—and enjoy your week,

Kim

Optimists,

As July winds down, I wanted to thank you for all of your fund raising efforts in June and July.  We now have several months to plan and promote our Trivia Night, scheduled for Friday, Feb. 20, 2015.  Please mark your calendars—and assist by spreading the word about saving the date.  This event will be co-sponsored with the Student Optimist Club.  If you would like to be a part of the planning team, please email me.  We need creative planners and plenty of good worker bees!

Please note that we do not have a noon meeting this week, however we do have our summer picnic/potluck on Tuesday evening from 5-8pm.  This gathering will be held at Angie’s and my house—640 Stonefield Lane.  Please see the RSVP list.  If you would still like to attend, please let me know by Monday at 3pm so that we are able to prepare enough meat.  We will provide beverages, along with the meat for our gathering.  Remember the pool, hot tub, backyard and board games will be available for “kids of all ages!”

Finally, a few weeks ago, we inquired about the new sign for our Optimist-sponsored park.  The Park and Rec Dept. was able to install the sign shortly after our inquiry.  Thank you to Mills for taking a photo of our new sign.  See our “Photos” page for Mills picture.

We’ll see some of your soon.  The next Optimist meeting on campus will be Tuesday, August 12 at 12pm in UC 259A.  Remember to bring your own lunch.  There will be more details to come on that meeting by next week.

Jeanine and Kelly are continuing to work on promotions for our club and recruiting our next intern(s).  More to come…

Always with Optimism,

Kim