UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

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

Good Evening Optimists,

I will start my weekly email by reminding you that we do not have a Tuesday lunch meeting, rather an evening meeting at the Lakefront Pub from 5:00pm – 7:00pm on April 29. We will have brief updates on the Fishing Derby, Relay for Life, Highway Clean-Up, and the high school scholarship selection process, in addition to enjoying our social.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to venture to the SWIS District Meeting at the Abbey in Fontana. I was accompanied by Angie Alesci, Hassimi Traore, Dawn Kiernan, three UW-W Student Optimists, and one ambulance. Our presentation went well, and we raised just over $600 from personal and club donations, as well as charging for Optimists to have their photos taken with the Africa-bound ambulance. See the photos below.

The third photo is of some members from the Monroe Optimist Club who have donated over $700 over the past year, in addition to AV equipment for schools in Burkina Faso.

I also came back from the conference with Football Craze Raffle tickets, which we will work to distribute to interested members in the coming months.

Have a great week. Keep the sunshine inside, as there won’t be a lot outside!

In Optimism,

Kim 🙂