UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

Greetings Optimists,

I am Optimistic that we will have a beautiful day on April 12 as we host our annual Easter Egg Hunt at Starin Park.  Right now, the weather forecast is for partly sunny and 62 degrees!  We do have a backup location at Whitewater Middle School.  Our intern (Seth) has distributed flyers to all of the schools, the chamber and several businesses.  Thank you to Connie and Wes for planning the event, Jeanine for helping to promote it, and to those who are helping behind the scenes, as well as at Starin Park.

At this week’s meeting, we will be stuffing Easter Egg Hunt goodie bags.  Additionally, our guest speaker will be Stacy Sherman, Assistant Marketing Director at the Young Auditorium.  Stacy will be giving us a preview of events at ILY.  Please note that our meeting will be in UC 261 this week.

At last week’s meeting, I brought up the possibility of sponsoring a fishing derby for kids on the free fishing day, which is Saturday, June 7.  Rick Fassl has shared some ideas on how we might do some outreach.  Please contact me if you are willing to help plan or work at the event.  Al is willing to help plan it, but can’t be there to facilitate the event.  In order to make the event happen, we need to have someone willing to take the lead for the day of.

Thank you to those working on some of our other spring projects!

Finally, If you need to use an email list for communicating with our club members, please work off of this one.  It includes Kate and Ken Ksobiech (our newest members)!

In Optimism,

Kim 🙂

Optimists,

We did it–we finally hit 55 degrees today! Thank you to all of you who traveled and brought back warmer weather. And…how about those Badgers?! Let’s hope for a D1 National Championship!

On to Optimist business–which in no April Fool’s joke:

* I am very excited to announce that our surprise guest speakers are going to be Men’s Basketball Head Coach Pat Miller, Assistant Coach Nick Bennett, a couple of senior players and Quardel Young. Please join us for the meeting on April 1 in UC 259A.

* We will have updates on the following, as well. For now, please mark your calendars:

– Saturday, April 12: Easter Egg Hunt; 10am set up, 11am-event start. Rain site is the Whitewater Middle School

– Saturday, May 17: City Wide Rummage Sale

– Saturday, June 7: Fishing Derby

– Saturday, June 28: Relay for Life

Regarding the Easter Egg Hunt, we could use a few more helpers. Right now, we have Wes T., Joyce H., Linda K., Kate K., Angie A., and Kim A. on the list. Please let me know if you are able to assist. It is just a two-hour commitment.

I hope to see many of you at Tuesday’s meeting. I know Pat and his crew will have many great stories to share from the 2013-14 basketball season and the road to the D3 National Championship.

Always in Optimism,

Kim 🙂

Happy Spring Break Optimists,

Spring is coming–I know it is.  I think it might even break 60 degrees on Sunday!

Please remember that we do not have a noon meeting March 25, rather we have a social meeting at the Lakefront Pub from 5pm-7pm.  Please RSVP to Jeanine and me indicating your attendance.

We will have the Easter Egg Hunt sign up sheet at the meeting to gather a few more volunteers.

April 1, we will have a surprise guest speaker–you won’t want to miss!!

On April 8, we will be putting Easter Egg Hunt goodies together.

That’s it for this week.

Enjoy,

Kim 🙂

Dear Members,

Optimism is shining in Warhawk Country as our men’s and women’s basketball teams are headed to the Final Four later this week! It’s exciting to be a Warhawk Fan!

On the club front, we have an excellent meeting coming up this Tuesday. We will host guest speakers Anna and Traci who will discuss the “Discover Whitewater” Ride scheduled for September 21. We will also enjoy a St. Patrick’s Day fellowship activity guided by Connie, Brenda and Anne.

Mark your calendars for the City Wide Rummage Sale on May 17. More information will be sent out very soon. The committee is finalizing all of the details and publicity.

Wes asked me to circulate a sign up sheet for the Easter Egg Hunt, scheduled for April 12. I will collect volunteers’ names at our meeting on Tuesday, and then will send out the list via email.

Some new photos will be appearing on our Optimist Blog this week, so keep referring to the Blog for updated information.

Have a Safe and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Always in Optimism,

Kim 🙂

Spring has Sprung Optimists!

Mark your calendars for the Easter Egg Hunt on April 12.  The Easter Bunny, McGruff the Crime Dog, Student Optimists and many of our members will be on hand to greet children and their families at Starin Park for the traditional event! Thank you to Wes Therrian and Connie Murray for organizing the Easter Egg Hunt.  A flyer (designed by our intern, Seth) and sign up sheet will be sent out soon.

We have two outstanding guest speakers lined up for the next two weeks.  This Tuesday, Mark Maas will present his program on “Winning is a Lifestyle,” and on March 18, two coordinators of the “Discover Whitewater Series” half marathon will give a brief review of the event.  Maybe a little bit ‘o Irish fun will also take place at our meeting on March 18.

More information will be out soon on the status of the City Wide Rummage Sale.  Committee members are in the process of meeting and evaluating next steps.

Board members, please remember our meeting this Tuesday evening.  We have many important requests to address at the meeting, as well as presenting our next $5,000 check at the Park and Rec Board meeting, Tuesday at 5:30pm at City Hall.  I will send out a separate email to board members with details and a meeting agenda.

Lastly, we have received two new member applications from Kate and Ken Ksobiech.  Their applications will be presented at our board meeting.  Thank you Ken and Kate for submitting your membership applications.  We look forward to getting to know you as we serve our community together!

GO WARHAWKS–as both men’s and women’s team advance to the next round of the NCAA DIII Basketball Tournament–Sweet 16!

Always in Optimism,

Kim 🙂

Happy Sunday Optimists,

I am pleased to say that our first annual Trivia Night went very well.  I have received some nice emails and face to face comments about the evening. We had 17 teams participate with great energy and generosity in the Hamilton Room.  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 taking second place at the event.  Kim Simes and her team might get an award for the rowdiest group!

Within the next week, I will share a full report of our income and expenses from Trivia Night.  For now, thank you to ALL who helped out and enjoy the photos on our Blog and on Facebook (which will be posted soon)!

Please remember that our noon meeting this Tuesday is cancelled, and instead we will meet from 5-7pm downtown at the Lakefront Pub (in the Warhawk Room).  We will have a social and fellowship activity from 5:00-5:30pm, with an important discussion to follow at 5:30pm  Our board has addressed some ideas about the future/leadership of our club as we look to the next year, and we believe that it is important to have an open discussion with all members. Please RSVP to me to confirm your attendance.  Please also don’t let this scare you away.  We are genuinely interested in feedback and ideas on how we can still serve the community with resources we have access to.

Thank you and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Always in Optimism,

Kim 🙂

Greetings Optimists,

On behalf of Kim and my self; this note is coming out a bit early because there are some important activities coming up and we thought getting early information would help you get these events on your calendar, now. (hint, hint)

First of all, A BIG THANK YOU to the 15 members who attended and to those members who brought 14 guests to the NOW meeting this past Tuesday. It was a great turnout and the “models” for our style show were a terrific hit! Thanks to each of them! Also, a huge thank you to Kim for the great slide show she put together while she was on vacation last week!

Please contact the guests you brought to our meeting to thank them for attending and ask them to JOIN!

The two news items this week: our Tuesday lunch meeting on the 18th is another Youth of the Month meeting. Due to the school closings last month we get two YOM’s this month. Remember, we will be back in our regular room, UC 259 from noon to 1.

THERE WILL BE NO NOON MEETING ON THE 25TH. Our monthly evening meeting is set for Tuesday, Feb. 25th to be held in the Warhawk room of the Lakefront pub downtown (the former Novak’s). We’ll start with a social and fellowship activity at 5 pm and a very important meeting about the future direction of our club will take place at 5:30 pm. Members will be able to order off the menu, if they so choose, but PLEASE, this is a very important opportunity to give input into the future of our club. Please make every effort to attend.

The other big event we have coming up is Trivia Night on Feb. 21 in the Hamilton Room. We are also STILL IN NEED OF TEAMS!!! It would be great to have a few teams come from our club’s membership. Consider getting a few of your office mates and friends together for a fun filled evening!

Lastly, Kim is ordering a very nice polo shirt from Aropa Designs in time for use at the Trivia night. They are of that new wicking fabric in purple with either a white or silver Optimist logo for only $22. Any one working the Trivia event can get one if you let Kim know what size. It’s only in men’s sizes so please order accordingly. Any other member who would like to update their Optimist wardrobe can order one also, BUT ALL ORDERS must be with Kim by 3 pm TOMORROW, to get them in time for next Friday.

Looks like the weather is finally going to break the freezing mark so have a terrific Hearts day and a great weekend!

Thanks–and will see many of you on Tuesday!

This is going to be a great year for Optimism!

Jeanine Fassl

UWW/Community Optimist Club

Vice-President

Emeriti Faculty

262-473-4906

Greetings Optimists,

The big news this week is our NOW meeting scheduled for our Tuesday lunch. Thank you to all who have responded to Jeanine with the number of guests you will be bringing to the meeting. We currently have 33 people on the list for Tuesday’s meeting. Remember, we will be in UC 261.

The other big event we have coming up is Trivia Night on Feb. 21 in the Hamilton Room. Please email me if you can help out with the event and you haven’t already signed up to assist. We are also still in need of teams. It would be great to have a few teams come from our club’s membership.

Please note that the email address for Susan Hiscox has been corrected in this email. If anyone wishes to send a mass email, please work off of this list.

Thanks–and see many of you on Tuesday!

Kim 🙂