UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

Greetings Optimists,

Our next general member meeting will be tomorrow, February 16, at 12 Noon, University Center 259A. This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00). There WILL be a Youth of the Month presentation at this meeting. Our speakers will be Amy Edmonds, who will provide a brief update on Warhawk athletics, followed by Kristina Navarro and Kirby Mills talking about new efforts with student-athlete engagement with focus on the Warhawk Leadership Academy.

Trivia Night is this week!!!!! We are still in need of volunteers for some of the tasks that night, as well as tasks that need to be completed in advance. Here are other updates and requests:

• Online volunteer signup, use this link. Help is still needed for:
  • Packaging of Silent Auction items on February 16, starting at 5pm at Kim & Angie’s house.
  • Food for the event volunteers
  • Food for the Child Care room
  • Helping serve food in the Child Care room
  • Staffing the Food Drive table
  • Trivia room hosts
  • Child Care providers
  • Selling Raffle Tickets
  • Clean up crew
• It appears we are at or slightly over team capacity!! Woohoo! Thanks to all of you who are participating and/or helped to recruit teams for this year’s event.
• 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.
• Watch the club’s Facebook page during Trivia Night for pictures and updates during the event.

Have you checked the SWIS District web site lately?

I didn’t receive much feedback last week on this topic so I’ll ask again. Easter will be Sunday, March 27, 2016. What are people’s thoughts regarding a date for the Easter Egg Hunt? The University and Whitewater School District will be on spring break March 21-25. Should we host the hunt on March 12? March 19? March 26? Also, who would be available on which dates to help with the event?

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events include:

• Friday, February 19, 2016, Trivia Night!! 7:00 pm, University Center Hamilton Room.
• Tuesday, February 23, 5pm, Jessica’s Restaurant. Speaker needed.
• Tuesday, March 1, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 259A. Speaker needed.
• Tuesday, March 8, Executive Board meeting, 12 Noon.
• Tuesday, March 15, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 259A. Speaker needed.
• Saturday, March 12 or 19 or 26 Easter Egg Hunt???????
• Tuesday, March 22? Evening meeting? This is the week of the University’s and Whitewater school district spring  break.
• Tuesday, March 29? Evening meeting instead of March 22?
• Tuesday, April 5, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 259A. Speaker needed.
• Tuesday, April 12, Executive Board meeting, 12 Noon.
• Tuesday, April 19, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 259A. Speaker needed.
• Tuesday, April 26, Regular club evening meeting, 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,

With yesterday being Super Bowl Sunday, and temps in the low 40’s, it was the start of 2016 grilling season at my house. Anyone else grill out this past weekend?

No general member meeting this week. Instead, the Exec Board will meet on Tuesday, February 9 at 12 Noon, in the University Center, room 268. If you have any topics for the Exec Board to consider tomorrow, please contact me so I can include the item/topic on the agenda.

Have you checked the SWIS District web site lately?

A 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.”

Easter will be Sunday, March 27, 2016. What are people’s thoughts regarding a date for the Easter Egg Hunt? The University and Whitewater School District will be on spring break March 21-25. Should we host the hunt on March 12? March 19? March 26? Also, who would be available on which dates to help with the event?

Trivia Night is coming up soon. We are still in need of volunteers for many tasks that night, as well as tasks that need to be completed in advance. Here are other updates and requests:

• Online volunteer signup, use this link.
• We still have tables available for teams. The Trivia Team Registration form is available from our web site. Click this link. Team entries are due February 12.
• Do you have gift cards or ideas for silent auction items that could be donated to Trivia Night? If so, please contact club member Kate Ksobiech.
• 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, 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. Speaker needed.
• Tuesday, March 1, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 259A. Speaker needed.
• Tuesday, March 8, Executive Board meeting, 12 Noon.
• Tuesday, March 15, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 259A. Speaker needed.
• Tuesday, March 22? Evening meeting? This is the week of the University’s and Whitewater school district spring
• Tuesday, March 29? Evening meeting instead of March 22?

That’s all for tonight.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Greetings Everyone,

Thank you to all who traveled this past week and brought back warmer weather. And…how about those Badgers (again)! Let’s hope for a National Championship next weekend!

On to Optimist business:

• Our final meeting for March will be an evening meeting on TUESDAY,  March 31 at 5pm at Jessica’s Restaurant. Our speaker will be Tom Grosinske, Washington Elementary School Principal and new Whitewater High School football coach.
• Easter Egg Hunt, Saturday, April 4 at the Whitewater Middle School , 401 S. Elizabeth Street. If you can help but haven’t contacted Connie Murray, please do so in the next day or two so Connie knows who to expect this Saturday at the event.

• Speakers for upcoming meetings are:
  • 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 (perhaps a fellowship event?)
  • Tuesday, May 5, –  Cameron Clapper, Whitewater City Manager
  • Tuesday, May 19, Tami McCullough, UW-W Campus Facilities Planner.
  • Wednesday, May 27, Karen Wislocki, Director of the UW-W Intensive English Institute.

• Other dates coming up for club events include:
  • City-Wide Rummage Sale, Saturday, May 16.
  • Gyro Stand at Whitewater 4^th of July Celebration, July 2-5, 2015.
  • Jefferson County Fair ticket selling, Wednesday, July 8, 2015.

That’s all for today.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club will be hosting the annual Easter Egg hunt on Sat. April 4^th, 2015.  The event is scheduled to take place at 11 am at The Whitewater Middle School grounds, 401 S. Elizabeth Street, weather permitting.  Inclement weather will move the event into the WMS building, so the event will be held rain or shine on April 4th.  There will be a short invocation, with the arrival of the Easter Bunny and McGruff the Crime Dog aboard a Whitewater Fire Dept. truck before the signal to start the hunt is given.  Children through 5^th grade are welcome and will be grouped as follows:  Ages 2 years and under; Ages 3 & 4; Kindergarten & grade 1; grades 2 & 3 and grades 4 & 5.  Children are encouraged to bring a basket or bag to collect the eggs.  The plastic eggs they find will be returned in exchange for a small bag of treats.  Several “special” eggs will earn the finder a special basket of treats.

The event is free and open to all Whitewater Unified School District elementary children, family and friends.  The 2015 Optimist Club Easter Egg Hunt Flyer can be found on the Optimist Club Blog at http://blogs.uww.edu/uwwcommunityoptimist/.

For further information or questions, phone Rick at 262-473-4906 from 4-8 pm or Connie at 472-1130 before 4:30 pm.

The information provided above is not sponsored or endorsed by the Whitewater Unified School District.

Greetings Everyone,

For the sports fans in the club, what an exciting weekend we just had!! Whippets and Warhawks and Badgers, Oh My!!

• Tuesday, March 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.
  • FYI, I let the UW-W catering chef pick our menu for the Youth of the Month meeting dates. I’m not sure what the menu is for tomorrow. I’m hoping for an Irish theme.
  • Also at tomorrow’s meeting, there will be a short, 10-15 minute, presentation/wrap-up of Trivia Night 2015.
  • Our speaker for tomorrow’s meeting will be Dr. Beverly Kopper, UW-W Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
  • THERE IS NO MEETING NEXT WEEK OF ANY KIND for the club. UW-W and the Whitewater School District are on spring break which will mean some/many people will be on vacation, including me.
  • Our final meeting for March will be an evening meeting on TUESDAY,  March 31 at 5pm at Jessica’s Restaurant. Our speaker will be Tom Grosinske, Washington Elementary School Principal and new Whitewater High School football coach.

• Speakers for upcoming meetings are:
  • 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 (perhaps a fellowship event?)
  • Tuesday, May 5, –  Cameron Clapper, Whitewater City Manager
  • Tuesday, May 19, Tami McCullough, UW-W Campus Facilities Planner.
  • Wednesday, May 27, Karen Wislocki, 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.
    • Helpers are needed for this event.
  • City-Wide Rummage Sale, Saturday, May 16.
  • Gyro Stand at Whitewater 4^th of July Celebration, July 2-5, 2015.
  • Jefferson County Fair ticket selling, Wednesday, July 8, 2015.

That’s all for today.

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

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

Happy Easter Weekend, Optimists!

We had a excellent turn out and very nice weather for our Easter Egg Hunt Saturday, April 19. The Easter Bunny and McGruff were both very popular! Hopefully, we can use the middle school again next year. Thank you to Connie and Wes for coordinating the activity–and for getting us organized for the rescheduled event. Thanks to all of our members who helped out with the event, as well. See the attached group photo. Watch for more photos on Blog in the next few days.

I am excited to announce that our guest speakers for this Tuesday’s meeting is Gymnastics Head Coach Jennifer Regan and a few of the national champion gymnasts! Please join us to learn more about the team’s season and the road to another national championship.

Please remember that our evening meeting is coming up on April 29 from 5-7pm at the Lakefront Pub. We are hoping that our new PR Intern (Kelly Holck) will be able to join us for this meeting so that she can meet some of our members.

Have a good night, and hope to see some of you soon!

In Optimism,

Kim 🙂

Optimist Club members helping at the 2014 Easter Egg Hunt at Whitewater Middle School.