UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

Greetings Everyone,

After being very busy two weeks ago and out of state for a conference last week, I’m back and ready to get caught up on most/all things Optimist.

• A “shout-out” to club member Jim McLernon!!! Jim organized a “Super Bowl Squares” event for “The Big Game” this past February 1 and was able to make a $100 donation to the club at our Tuesday, February 3 meeting.
• Tuesday, February 17 (tomorrow) we’ll meet at 12 Noon in UC 259A for our Youth of the Month meeting. Lunch will be catered and cost is $7.00 each.
• Our speaker for tomorrow, February 17, will be Jan Bilgen, Associate Director, UW-W Career and Leadership Development. Jan will be speaking about the value of joining student organizations, how to find out about student organizations, general categories of student organizations at UWW, and (if time permits) basic overview of career development and those related services from C&LD.
• Friday, February 20 is the second annual Trivia Night. We presently have 23 paid teams for the evening with the possibility of one more team. Helpers are still needed for setup and cleanup on the 20^th. The team putting this together has been outstanding! Further updates will be provided at our Tuesday meeting.
• Speaker for upcoming meetings are:
  • Wednesday, February 25 – no speaker yet
  • 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, – no speaker yet

• 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

Greetings Everyone,

Ok, who’s sad we’re not getting the 1.5 – 2+ feet of snow forecast for the east coast tomorrow? Think of the snowmen we could build, and the sledding!!

This week our meeting will be Wednesday evening, 5pm, January 28 at Jessica’s Restaurant. I plan on having the induction ceremony for one or two of our new members. I’ve also asked them to briefly “introduce” themselves and mention why they joined our club and where/how they will be able to helps us.

I would appreciate any help lining up speakers for our February 3, 17 & 25 meetings. I have a list of ideas for consideration along with any ideas you may have for speakers/topics. Your help in making one or two phone calls to secure speakers will be greatly appreciated by all.

Jan Olson has received initial information regarding Relay for Life. However, she is unable to chair that event this year. Who would be willing to lead the club in participating in the event this year? Contact Jan or me if interested and we can pass the information. The Relay will be Saturday, June 27, 2015, from 3 p.m. – midnight at the Whitewater High School track.

Lanora Heim has sent me the updated Trivia Night information form and registration form. I’ve updated the web site with the new documents. She also reported she put a challenge out to the each building in the Whitewater School District to enter a team into the trivia contest. The high school and LINCS already sent back registration forms with teams. She also reported that the high school is working on a second team and that there are people trying to put together teams at the other buildings. Thanks Lanora!!

That’s all for the moment. Hope to see many of you Wednesday evening.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Greetings Optimists,

• Today, Tuesday, January 20^th will be a Youth of the Month meeting. We’ll meet in our usual location, UC 259A. Lunch will be catered that day, $7 per club member.
• Wednesday, January 28 will be our evening meeting for the month. 5pm at Jessica’s Restaurant.
• I would appreciate any help lining up speakers for our January 28 meeting and the February 3, 17 & 24 meetings. I have a list of ideas for consideration along with any ideas you may have for speakers/topics. Your help in making one or two phone calls to secure speakers will be greatly appreciated by all.
• Please note the information I sent out regarding Trivia Night on Feb. 20. Please help spread the word about the event, and to feel free to form a team.
  • Also, we are still looking for more helpers from 6:30pm – 10:00pm that evening. Please let me know if you are able to help out for even a portion of the evening.

That’s all for now.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Warm Greetings, Optimists,

How ‘bout those Packers!? Any club members attend the game? Any stories to share if you attended?

• Board members, we will have a meeting at 12 Noon on Tuesday, January 13 in UC 069. This meeting room is also located in the lower level of the UC. I know a couple of you can’t make it, but hopefully you can still give input outside of the meeting.
• Tuesday, January 20^th will be a Youth of the Month meeting. We’ll meet in our usual location, UC 259A. Lunch will be catered that day, $7 per club member.
• Wednesday, January 28 will be our evening meeting for the month. 5pm at Jessica’s Restaurant.
• I would appreciate any help lining up speakers for our January 20 and 28 meetings and the February 3, 17 & 24 meetings. I have a list of ideas for consideration along with any ideas you may have for speakers/topics. Your help in making one or two phone calls to secure speakers will be greatly appreciated by all.
• Please note the information I sent out last week regarding Trivia Night on Feb. 20. Please help spread the word about the event, and to feel free to form a team.
  • Also, we are still looking for more helpers from 6:30pm – 10:00pm that evening. Please let me know if you are able to help out for even a portion of the evening.
  • A reminder also that I would appreciate any assistance to line up speakers for our January and February

That’s all for now.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Greetings,

We had a very small turnout today for our meeting but Kim Adams provided us with a great update on the status of the February 20th Trivia Night. Highlights are:

What: Trivia Night 2015.

When: 7:00 pm, Friday, February 20, 2015.

Where: Old Main Ballroom in the James R. Connor University Center on the UW-Whitewater campus.

Why: To raise funds for the Whitewater Unified School District Family Emergency Fund, Whitewater Food Pantry, LINCS school beautification project and other youth oriented projects!

Sponsors, participating teams, silent auction items and event helpers are still needed.

Trivia Night Team Registration Form, 2015.

Trivia Night 2015 Information Flyer.

Watch for more info.

That’s all for the moment.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Warm Greetings, Optimists,

Hope all of you had a safe, relaxing and enjoyable Holiday Season.

Here are this week’s updates:

• Our meeting tomorrow, January 6^th, will be held in UC 068. This meeting room is on the lower level  of the UC, where we had lunch the day the World Drummers from LINCS performed for us. This will be a “bring your own lunch” meeting.
• Our speaker for January 6^th will be our own Kim Adams speaking about the February 20^th Trivia Night event.
• Board members, we will have a meeting at 12 Noon on Tuesday, January 13 in UC 069. This meeting room is also located in the lower level of the UC. I know a couple of you can’t make it, but hopefully you can still give input outside of the meeting.
• Tuesday, January 20^th will be a Youth of the Month meeting. We’ll meet in our usual location, UC 259A. Lunch will be catered that day, $7 per club member.
• Wednesday, January 28 will be our evening meeting for the month. 5pm at Jessica’s Restaurant.
• I would appreciate any help lining up speakers for our January 20 and 28 meetings and the February 3, 17 & 24 meetings. I have a list of ideas for consideration along with any ideas you may have for speakers/topics.

That’s all for the moment.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Greetings Everyone,

What a bright and sunny day (somewhere else in the world that is)!

Go Warhawks! What a tight game this past Saturday against Linfield College. Thanks to all the club members who helped with ticket taking at the home football games this fall. It’s one of our lesser known fund raising events but is important for our budget, so again, thanks to all who helped at the gate.

Tonight is the annual Toys for Kids project at 5pm 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. Pizza and soda will be provided by the club for all those helping.

Our Tuesday, December 16 meeting (tomorrow) will be at 12 Noon at UW-W in the University Center, room 259A (our usual location). It will be Youth of the Month with catered lunch. Lunch cost is $7.00 per person. We hope to have representatives of the Whitewater Unified School District to receive the mittens and hats collected for our “Mitten Tree” program.

I’ve received a new packet of brochures and applications from OI. Let me know of anyone who might be interested in learning more about the club and/or joining and I’ll happily sent them the OI brochure and a copy of our own club specific brochure.

Remember there will be no scheduled club meetings December 23 or 30. We’ll meet again on Tuesday, January 6.

Enjoy the holidays and time with family!

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Greetings Optimists,

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped in anyway with this past Saturday’s “Breakfast with Santa.” Carol Miller reported at the club board meeting today, that 718 people were served, a new record. The board members took a little time at today’s meeting to share stories from the event. 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 you stories about the day on our web site and Facebook page.

Our board meeting covered the proposed budget for this year and a review of Breakfast with Santa. I’ll share more at our monthly Wednesday evening meeting, December 10th.

Speaking of our monthly evening meeting, it will be Wednesday, December 10 at 5pm at Jessica’s Restaurant. We will have speaker, Reggie Hayes from Milwaukee, speaking about a program titled the “The Inner City Sportsmens Club” that introduces inner city children to outdoor recreation.

Our Wednesday evening will also be your chance to contribute a toy to this years “Toys for Kids” program. Presents for very young children and 13-15 year old are always very useful.

Speaking of the annual Toys for Kids project, this year we will be wrapping up the event Monday, December 15th at 5pm 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. Pizza and soda will be provided by the club for all those helping. Helpers are also needed at 1pm for toy/gift pickups. If you can help at that time, contact Duane Dickens and plan to meet him at the downtown Armory.

Our Tuesday, December 16 meeting will be at 12 Noon at UW-W in the University Center. It will be Youth of the Month with catered lunch. Lunch cost is $7.00 per person. We hope to have representatives of the Whitewater Unified School District to receive the mittens and hats collected for our “Mitten Tree” program.

That’s all for tonight. Hope to see many of you at the evening meeting tomorrow (or today, depending upon when you read this).

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749