UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

Greetings Optimists,

April showers bring May flowers. We are hopeful that May will bring some Spring-like experiences, including warmth!

There is a Club meeting on Tuesday, 5/2/2017 at 12:00 PM in UC 259A. It is with great excitement that will induct both Robin Fox and Lori Heidenreich as new members. Let’s have a terrific turnout and demonstrate that “Optimism” is alive and well. Also, Dave has lined up Kristine Wallace of the Rock River Free Clinic as our guest speaker. It is always good to hear about community-based services.

At our Wednesday evening meeting this past week our two interns shared their goals and the progress they made in their personal learning as well as highlights from their experience as Optimist interns. Thank you Anne and Kayla for your great work! Announcements about summer and fall interns will be made later this week. At our Wednesday meeting, we discussed at least five other topics—the Fishing Derby, the Gyro Stand, Baseball Playoffs, Jefferson County Fair, and upcoming Optimist scholarships/awards.

Al is requesting help from our membership for the Fishing Derby. Shopping for hot dogs, chips and soda as well as staffing the event are among the tasks. Please check in with Al and let him know how you would like to be involved. (I, Angie, have signed up to grill the hot dogs and to make sure participants get fed. Rick has contacted the DNR for fishing pamphlets, etc. Mike will assemble our participant “Goody bags.” Our intern Anne designed our flyer. Thanks one and all!).

The Gyro Stand will be staffed by our Club at the Fourth of July community celebration. Thank you Duane, Rick and Dave for launching the ordering, sign-ups, etc. We now have the dates and hours for the event. Please watch for details soon. It’s not too early to check your schedules! Thank you to Jan and Jeanine for working on a news release about our Club and the Gyro Stand.

We have been asked to staff the Baseball Playoffs held at UW-Whitewater in May. Signup sheets will be made available soon. Mark your calendars for May 17-21. This is an unexpected opportunity to raise funds to assist with our youth programming. “Take me out to the ballgame . . . “ See you there! Therese is also asking for Optimist Award/Scholarship presenters for May 15 at 8:25am (at WHS) and May 23 from 6:30pm – 8:00pm (also at WHS). Can anyone help out?

Our Club has agreed to staff the Jefferson County Fair on Wednesday, July 12 for “Kids’ Day.” Watch emails for further details—and again, make your calendars.

One other item of discussion this past Wednesday was Club officers. Are you willing to serve in a leadership role? Who could you invite to join our Club—or to take a leadership role in the Club? In the film “The American President,” the character Lewis says to his president: “People want leadership . . . They’re so thirsty for it, they’ll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there’s no water, they’ll drink the sand.” It is a strong statement about what happens in the absence of leadership. Would you consider taking a role in our Club leadership? We are still looking for a president for 2017-18. That said, we are very excited that Janay Alston has agreed to serve as President Elect in 2017-18! Thank you, Janay!

That is “This week in Optimism.”

Angie & Kim 🙂

Happy Spring, Optimists,

What a beautiful day!

Here are a few quick updates:

1) We have a noon meeting this Tuesday in UC 259A. It will be a catered meal. Courtney Nelson (from Downtown Whitewater) will be our guest speaker.

2) We are needing to put together a slate of officers for 2017-18. Thank you to Cort, Susan and Joyce for saying yes to joining/continuing as board members for the new Optimist year. We are still in need for volunteers for several other positions, including that of president/co-president. Please contact Kim or Angie if you would be willing to serve on the Board.

3) Congratulations and welcome to Lori Heidenreich for being our newest member! We look forward to seeing Lori at a meeting in the near future. We are hoping to induct Lori and Robin Fox on Tuesday, May 2.

4) This past Tuesday, the Board voted to donate $250 to the Campus Memory Garden in memory of all deceased members of the UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club. More info to come in the neat future.

5) This is a reminder that our Club is not sponsoring the City-wide rummage sale this year. This has been communicated to the Chamber and to Jim Stewart.

6) The Board also voted not to be involving other youth groups to help staff the 4th of July Gyro Stand. Rather, we will staff the booth more efficiently and will count on our members, as well as the Octagon members and UW-W Student Optimists to assist with the fundraiser. Dave Halbach will be following up with other event helpers, starting a sign up sheet, and contacting the 4th of July Committee to confirm our participation.

7) Last Monday, we delivered over 100 birthday items to the Whitewater Food Pantry. This included 67 completely wrapped and stuffed shoe boxes. Thank you to those who donated time and product to this service project. The workers at the Food Pantry were very grateful to receive the donations.

8) We will be holding 4 landscaping work sessions at Lakeview Elementary on Tuesday, April 25; Thursday, April 27; as well as Tuesday, May 2 and Thursday May 4 (all from 4pm – 8pm). If you would like to help out, please contact Kim or Angie. We will need all of the helping hand we can get for this project. Some of the money from Trivia Night will be used for this project.

9) Next Wednesday, April 26, our Club meeting will be held at 5pm at Jessica’s. Our interns (Anne and Kayla) will be our guest speakers. Please plan on joining us!

10) Speaking of our Optimist Interns, we sill be interviewing several candidates for summer and fall positions (in the coming weeks).

That’s it for now. Enjoy your week–and “Just Keep Smiling!”

Kim and Angie 🙂

Happy Sunday, Optimists,

Thank you to all Club members, Student Optimists, Kayla (our intern), and other community volunteers who helped to facilitate our Annual Optimist Easter Egg Hunt yesterday at the Middle School. A special thank you to Connie Murray for chairing the event and to her stepson for serving as our Easter Bunny. We had beautiful weather, a record turn out, and three news photographers there to cover the event. Watch for a story on the Whitewater Banner and in local papers. In the meantime, enjoy the group photo I have attached.

We do not have a Club meeting this week. Rather, we have a Board Meeting on Tuesday, April 11 at 12pm in UC 268. I will send an agenda by tomorrow evening. Please let me know if you can not participate (in person or via phone). Right now, I know of only one member who can not be there.

Angie and I are starting to work on the slate of officers for next year. Thank you to those who have said YES so far and to those who are considering a position on the Board!

In addition, thank you to those who contributed to the Birthday Box Project for the Whitewater Food Pantry. If anyone is interested in helping to stuff and label the boxes, we will be working with the Service Learning and Leadership students tomorrow from 8:30am – 10:00am in UC 259A&B. Many hands make light work–so please know we would gladly take any member’s assistance.

Another volunteer opportunity for Community Optimists, Student Optimists and Service Learning students will be to help with landscaping work sessions at Lakeview Elementary on April 25 and April 27, May 2 and May 4 from 4pm to 8pm. More information to come soon. In the meantime, feel free to contact Angie or me if you are interested in helping.

Our meeting schedule for the next few weeks is as follows:
Tuesday, April 11–Board Meeting, UC 268
Tuesday, April 18–Cub Meeting, 12pm, UC 259A (Guest Speaker: Courtney Nelson, Discover Whitewater; Youth of the Month)
Wednesday, April 25–Club Meeting, 5pm, Jessica’s Restaurant (Guest Speakers: Anne and Kayla on their work as Optimist Interns)
Tuesday, May 2–Club Meeting, 12pm, UC 259A (Induction of New Members; Guest Speaker TBD)

Angie and I will share key points from our Board meeting within the next week. There are a few important decisions that the Board will need to make this week.

Lastly, please note that our Club is the featured business for the Whitewater Chamber this week. Check out the Chamber’s web site for more details! They promoted our Easter Egg Hunt and offered to feature several Club photos.

Thank you for your commitment to being Optimists, and as always–“Just keep smiling!”

Kim and Angie 🙂

Happy Sunday, Optimists,

This will be a very short note.

Thank you again to all those you helped to contribute to our Optimist Trivia Night.  We are pleased to say that we met our financial goal—raising (gross proceeds) just over $11,000.  A full report will be shared with the board on March 14, and then will be given to the full membership.  In the meantime, the Student Interns and Student Optimists will continue to work on thank you notes.

Our intern Anne is working hard at posting photos and information on FaceBook and on the web site on a regular basis.

Our intern Kayla is almost done designing the Easter Egg Hunt flyer and those will be distributed to the elementary schools in the near future.

This week’s meeting will be held on Tuesday evening from 5:00pm-6:00pm at Jessica’s.  Dave will be leading the meeting, and our guest speakers will be UW-W Wheelchair basketball coaches Jeremy “Opie” Lade and Christina Schwab.

“Just keep smiling,” everyone!

With Optimism,

Kim and Angie 🙂

Happy Sunday, Optimists,

Here is our Optimist news for this week:

1)  We will meet this Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 12:00pm in UC 259B (next to where we usually meet).  Frank Bartlett (Optimist member and Director of University Housing) will be our guest speaker.  We will also recognize Youths of the Month from the Middle School.

2)  Please contact Lanora or sign up on line to help out with Trivia Night if you are able.  Last Friday, Lanora indicated that we only have 27% of the slots filled.  We are now less than three weeks away from hosting the event.  Please remember that we would welcome gift cards, homemade items and other donations for the silent auction.  We also could use extra clothes baskets/wicker baskets for the silent and bucket auctions for the event.  Please contact Kim if you are able to assist.  Jan has sent out a note to team captains for Trivia Night.  We welcome your assistance in helping to recruit teams for the event.  We are nearing 20 teams, but would still like to recruit 10 more teams.  Last Friday, Kim was interviewed on WFAW regarding Trivia Night, and a story appeared on the Whitewater Banner.  Many news outlets have been contacted.  We are grateful for all of the support.

3)  We will be organizing the Optimist Storage Room this Tuesday, Jan. 31 from 4:30pm – 6:00pm in Starin Hall.  If you are able to help out, please contact Kim (we will need to let people into the hallway area).  Kim’s cell is 608-201-2151.

4)  Thank you for participating in the Optimist meeting survey that Brandon Lindhom sent out.  We discussed the results at last Tuesday’s evening meeting, and will be making some decisions at our next board meeting on Feb. 15.

5)  Thank you to Wes Therrian who has already built one buddy bench for the Lakeview Elementary School Landscaping Project.  More news to come on that project in the coming months.

6)  Watch for more FaceBook posts by our Optimist Interns.  Also, our most recent Club calendar is updated on our Club website.  More updates will be added regarding guest speakers as Dave works on his list.

We are grateful for your Optimism!  As always– “just keep smiling!”

Kim & Angie 🙂

Greetings for the New Week, Optimists!

 Thank you for your support of our December programs, to date.

 Tuesday, we will meet at Noon in UC 259A for Youth of the Month, honoring our high school students.  Ryan Callahan from Continuing Education will also be our guest speaker.

There is no scheduled meeting on December 28.  The board also agreed there will no longer be a meeting on January 3.  Enjoy the two weeks off from meetings and programs! 

The board also discussed two items related to our regular Optimist meetings.  One, there was discussion about the continuation of catered lunches.  We are not always meeting our quota of 15–therefore needing to tap into the Club budget to cover on meals where we are short.  Two, there was discussion about potentially changing (or rotating) the day of the week we meet (as well as the time).  Our intern Brandon will be creating a survey related to these topics in order for you to provide your feedback.  When you see it in your email, please complete it and return it promptly.  Thanks, in advance for your investment of time.

Thanks again to our interns–Rachel and Brandon for a great semester!

Remember . . . just keep smilin’!

We wish you a happy and safe holiday season,

Kim & Angie

Hello Optimists,

 As we gear up for Thanksgiving week, Angie and I want to let you know we are grateful that you are a member of our Club.  Thank you for the ways in which you contribute to our community.

 We had a successful Youth Appreciation Week!  The movie, luncheon and bowling were all well attended.  Thanks to all who helped to chaperone and who attended the luncheon.

 Tuesday’s meeting (Nov. 22) will feature guest speaker Dr. Greg Cook focusing on the importance of a liberal education at UW-Whitewater.  Next week (Nov. 29), we will be stuffing goodie bags for Breakfast with Santa and hearing from our Optimist interns.

 If you haven’t had a chance to sign up for Breakfast with Santa, please check out the online list Lanora sent out.  We are happy to announce that James Lanouette has agreed to be Santa this year—yeah!  We are also pleased that Brenda will serve as Mrs. Claus and that Jim M. will serve as Frosty!

 Also, here is the link to sign up for football ticket taking:  (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oYPqDg34tliwozxpT4uNHbhg9ToQW8JW30dmVyTJJZk/edit?usp=sharing).  Our Warhawks will be hosting the second round of playoffs this coming Sunday against Wittenberg.  Hopefully it will be less windy—and that our Hawks will add another win to their season!

 As I mentioned at the meeting last week, we will go caroling at Fairhaven on December 9 at 4:30pm, have our “Gifts with a Meaning” and Mitten Tree on December 13, and gift wrapping for the Whitewater Food Pantry on December 19 from 4:00pm-6:30pm at the Old Armory.

 Lastly, Therese reminded us last week that she is starting to look for judges and essay readers for the Academic Decathlon.  The competition is set for Friday, January 6.  Please email her if you are interested and available. 

 That’s it for this week.  Hope to see some of you at the meeting on Tuesday.

 Thank you—and just keep smiling!

 Kim and Angie 🙂

Happy October, Optimists,

Angie and I want to kick off our Week 1 email with a sincere thanks to Dave Haibach for two great years of serving as Club President!

We also echo Dave’s thank you to Rick and Jeanine Fassl for hosting our Installation Celebration this past Monday.  It was a fun evening and a great opportunity to connect with one another while enjoying gyros, and a few other treats.  We also extend our welcome to new members Stephanie, Cort and Chloe!

Tuesday, Oct. 4 will our first club meeting of the new year, and we are excited that Dave has lined up Head Football Coach Kevin Bullis as our program speaker.  We can’t wait to hear about the hopes and highlights of the year for the team–and to learn about Kevin’s take on the nail-biting win over UW-Platteville yesterday!  Please bring your own lunch to this meeting.

Thank you to the board members who were able to attend our planning session on Friday, September 30 at Casual Joe’s.  A “Calendar of Events” was started and a draft budget was presented and voted on by the board members.  Ken and Kate will be providing a few more updates to the board, and then we will present the budget to the general membership for their vote on Tuesday, Oct. 18.  Dues letters will also be sent to club members within the next few weeks.  The board voted to maintain our current dues structure.

Our interns have a long list of projects to work on for our club.  Kate and I meet with them every Monday afternoon.  Expect some updates from Rachel and Brandon at a club meeting in the near future.

Angie and I would like to invite all members and families to attend our Optimist Halloween Social on Tuesday, Oct. 25 from 5:30pm – 8:00pm at our home (640 Stonefield Lane, Whitewater).  We had a great time the last two years, and are hoping for a “Spooktacular” time this year.  We will provide the main dish and beverages and ask that those attending bring a dish to pass.

We have included Dave’s email from this past Thursday so that you can review the other good information and dates he shared.  We are still looking for a speaker for Oct. 18, so please let Dave know of any ideas you may have.  He has agreed to coordinate speakers for this new Optimist year.

Thank you to all of you for being an active part of this great organization.

Always with Optimism,

Kim and Angie 🙂

Co-Presidents, 2016-17

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

“Just Keep Smiling!”