UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

Greetings Optimist!!

Remember, this week’s meeting is Wednesday night, August 26, at 5pm at Jessica’s restaurant!!

UW-W students move into the Residence Halls on Sunday, August 30. Plan your shopping at Sentry and Walmart accordingly for that weekend!! Also, remember that traffic increases dramatically in town.

Today was the “Faculty & Staff Involvement Fair” at UW-W, a time for new faculty and staff to learn about various offices on campus and opportunities to become involved in campus and community. Kim Adams represented our club at the fair and talked to many of the individuals who came to the event. She reports that 11 people signed the interest sheet, 6 of whom expressed a strong interest in the club. Furthermore, one new staff member completed an application for membership and returned it to Kim today. A couple of the new staff members live in Whitewater and indicated to Kim they are looking for ways to meet people and get involved. I’ll work with Kim to have follow up conversations with the staff members who indicated an interest in the club. Thanks Kim for your recruitment efforts!!

We are slooowwwllly getting a slate of officers put together for 2015-16. However, we’re still in need of a President and President-elect. Or perhaps we are in need of Co-Presidents?! Either way, please contact me if you are willing to be President, President-Elect, or Co-President for 2015-16. It would be really good for the club to have the exec board in place before the banquet on September 29.

In other Optimist business:

• Our Facebook page still has 92 “Likes!” So close to 100.
• Progress continues on updating the club’s Policies and Procedures. Thanks to Kim, Jeanine, and Lauren for continuing work on the document.
• Jeanine Fassl has been in contact with two UW-W students who are interested in possible fall semester internships with the club. This program has really helped our club in the last 2-3 years. The energy and ideas the interns bring is very refreshing.

Speakers for upcoming meetings are:

• Wednesday, August 26, 2015, 5pm at Jessica’s Restaurant. Dick and Maggie Winz will speak about the Gulf Coast recovery from Hurricane Katrina that hit 10 years ago this week.
• Tuesday, September 8, Esker Hall room 119, 12 Noon-1pm. Robin Fox and Katy Heyning from the UW-W College of Education and Professional Studies will speak about “Whitewater Leads.”
• Tuesday, September 22, UC 261, 12 Noon-1pm. Any ideas?
• Tuesday, October 6, 12 Noon-1pm. Any ideas? This will be the first meeting of the new Optimist Year!
• Tuesday, October 20, 12 Noon-1pm. Youth of the Month. Any ideas?

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events include:

• Wednesday, August 26, 2015, 5pm at Jessica’s Restaurant.
• Tuesday, September 8, Esker Hall room 119, 12 Noon-1pm, “bring your own lunch.”
• Tuesday, September 22, UC 261, 12 Noon-1pm. Catered lunch and Youth of the Month.
• Tuesday, September, 29, evening banquet, date/time/location to be determined.
• Tuesday, October 6, noon meeting.
• Tuesday, October 20, noon meeting. Catered lunch and Youth of the Month.

That’s all for the moment.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Greetings Optimist!!

No club meeting this week on Tuesday! The next general club meeting will be Tuesday, July 21 at 12 Noon.

There WILL BE an exec board meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, July 14 at 12 Noon in the University Center, room 260. If you have any agenda items for the board, please get them to me ASAP.

Lou and Don Zahn asked me to share the following with all of you. “Thanks to all of you who worked at the Jefferson County Fair. We had a good weather day and everything went smoothly. Thanks, especially to those who worked two shifts. It is greatly appreciated.”

On to other Optimist business:

• It’s that time of the Club year to begin organizing the slate of officers for 2015-16. At this time no one has yet volunteered for any of the exec board positions. How about an Exec Board position? Perhaps one that you’ve not held in the past? Please consider volunteering to be an officer for 2015-16. “Many hands make light work.”
• Our Facebook page now has 92 “Likes!”
• Hopefully you saw the announcement from Southern Wisconsin District about JIM KONDRASUK who was elected 15-16 Optimist International President Elect and who will be the future 2016-17 Optimist International President. The link to the SWIS district web page is at the bottom of this email if you would like to follow up.
• Also from the SWIS district was the email announcement about Optimist Day at Miller Park! Saturday, August 15th Brewers take on the Phillies – 6:10PM. Again check your email or the SWIS district web site for details.

Speakers for upcoming meetings are:

• Tuesday, July 21, 12 Noon, Lee Murray, friend of Hans Hahn and Carla Cheek, will speak about his “Honor Flight” experience.
• Wednesday, July 29, to be determined. Any ideas?
• Tuesday, August 4, UC 264, 12 Noon-1pm. Any ideas?
• Tuesday, August 18, 12 Noon-1pm. Any ideas?
• Tuesday, September 8, Esker Hall room 119, 12 Noon-1pm. Any ideas?
• Tuesday, September 22, UC 261, 12 Noon-1pm. Any ideas?

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events include:

• Tuesday, July 21, UC 261, 12 Noon-1pm, “bring your own lunch.”
• Wednesday, July 29, Jessica’s Restaurant, 5pm, dinner on your own.
• Tuesday, August 4, UC 264, 12 Noon-1pm, “bring your own lunch.”
• Tuesday, August 18, 12 Noon-1pm, location to be determined.
• Tuesday, September 8, Esker Hall room 119, 12 Noon-1pm, “bring your own lunch.”
• Tuesday, September 22, UC 261, 12 Noon-1pm. Catered lunch??? Youth of the Month??
• Tuesday, September, 29, evening banquet, date/time/location to be determined.

That’s all for the moment.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Greetings Optimist!!

A few days with above average temps, then a few days with below average temps. Don’t you just love May in the upper Midwest?

On to Optimist business:

• Tomorrow’s meeting will be held in UC 068, 12 Noon-1pm. This meeting room is located in the lower level (some would say the basement level) of the UC. It is a General Member meeting and Youth of the Month, with catered lunch, $7.00/member. Our speaker will be Greg Swanson, UW-W Director of Facilities Planning and Management speaking about the campus master plan.
• THANK YOU to Teshona Bennett for volunteering to co-chair the Gyro Stand this year with Duane and Barb Dickens.
• What would YOU like to do next year to contribute? It’s that time of the Optimist Club year to begin thinking about a slate of officers for 2015-16. How about an Exec Board position? Perhaps one that you’ve not held in the past? Please begin thinking about volunteering to be an officer for 2015-16. “Many hands make light work.”
• I’ve contacted Tom Grosinske, Whitewater Washington Elementary School Principal and Whippet Head Football coach, for possible football team volunteers to help with loading and unloading of products, etc., for the Gyro Stand. He’ll have possible names of helpers for us around June 24-26.
• Thanks to Jeanine Fassl and Kim Adams for their help and leadership in advertising the internships for this summer and next fall. We use the interns to help with promoting the club, it’s activities/events, and other tasks as needed. We haven’t finalized who the interns will be yet. When we do, I’ll let you know.
• Here’s a fund raising idea from a couple of club members for consideration:
  • What about selling up to 100 “Football Crazr” raffle tickets instead of just the usual 25? The club makes $10 on each $20 raffle ticket. Our club’s usual allotment of 25 have already arrived, I’ll bring them to the meeting tomorrow, but perhaps we could order more and sell them until August 28. Your thoughts and ideas are appreciated!! 100 raffle tickets would raise $1,000 for the club!

Speakers for upcoming meetings are:

• Tuesday, May 19, Youth of the Month from Whitewater Middle School and Greg Swanson, campus Director of Facilities Planning and Management, speaking about the campus master plan for the future.
• Wednesday, May 27, Speaker has cancelled. Any ideas? (5pm at Jessica’s Restaurant)
• Tuesday, June 2, any ideas?
• Tuesday, June 16, any ideas?

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events include:

• Tuesday, May 19, UC 068, 12 Noon-1pm, General Member Club meeting and Youth of the Month, catered lunch, $7.00/member.
• Wednesday, May 27, Jessica’s Restaurant, 5pm, dinner on your own.
• Wednesday, May 27, Whitewater High School Scholarship Night.
• Tuesday, June 2, UC 259A, 12 Noon-1pm, “bring your own lunch.”
• Saturday, June 6, Fishing Derby
• Tuesday, June 16, UC 259A, 12 Noon-1pm, “bring your own lunch.”
• Wednesday, June 24, Jessica’s Restaurant, 5pm, dinner on your own.
• Thursday, July 2-Sunday, July 5, Gyro Stand at Whitewater 4th of July Celebration.
• Tuesday, July 7, NO MEETING!
• Wednesday, July 8, 2015, Jefferson County Fair ticket selling.
• Tuesday, July 21, UC 261, 12 Noon-1pm, “bring your own lunch.”
• Wednesday, July 29, Jessica’s Restaurant, 5pm, dinner on your own.
• Tuesday, August 4, UC 264, 12 Noon-1pm, “bring your own lunch.”
• Tuesday, August 18, 12 Noon-1pm, location to be determined.
• Tuesday, September 8, Esker Hall room 119, 12 Noon-1pm, “bring your own lunch.”
• Tuesday, September 22, UC 261, 12 Noon-1pm. Catered lunch??? Youth of the Month??
• Tuesday, September, 29, evening banquet, date/time/location to be determined.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Good Evening, Optimists (even though it is after midnight)!

As I wind down from this beautiful weekend, I close this chapter of weekly Optimist emails. I do so with gratitude for the past twelve months and great enthusiasm for the next year.

First—gratitude for your dedication to our cub and to the youth of our community. Together, we have dedicated hundreds of hours to our group’s purpose–and to bringing smiles to many faces.

Second—enthusiasm for the possibilities we have for greater service for 2014-15.

I want to thank our small planning group and ALL of our members who helped with the “Back to School Rally”/NOW Meeting at the high school. It was a great success this past Wednesday. Six applications have resulted from the meeting. It is exciting to add all of these new members to our club. I have copied those who have turned in applications and those who committed to turning in applications very soon.

I am also excited that our club has two hard working and talented student interns (Alix and Amanda) who will assist our club this fall semester. They will be joining us for the banquet.

I look forward to seeing many of you at our installation banquet this Tuesday at the Cold Spring Inn. This is a reminder that the social begins at 5:30pm and the dinner and program will start at 6:00pm. Governor Elect Jeff Kuchenbecker will also be joining us.

We will have a noon meeting on Tuesday, October 7 in UC 259A. Please bring your own lunch. There will not be a club meeting the second week in October. On October 21, we will again have a noon meeting (which will be a Youth of the Month meeting). Lunch will be provided on this day. From here, our new president–Dave Halbach will be in touch!

For now, I will sign off…

With gratitude and Optimism,

Kim 

Optimists,

It’s hard to believe that we are in week 50 of our Optimist year already. The time has gone quickly. I have just a couple of quick notes for this week.

Please remember that we are done with noon meetings for the rest of this month. We are looking forward to good attendance and participation in the “Back to School Rally/NOW Meeting” this Wednesday from 4:00-5:30pm at Whitewater High School. Thank you to those who have agreed to bring food, help set up, cook and serve food, attend the event, and help greet potential new members! I have updated a slide show of photos/events from this past year to show all of the great programs our club sponsors.

This past Friday, Connie sent out the invitation to our club’s Installation Banquet for Tuesday, Sept. 30 at the Cold Spring Inn. Please RSVP to her in a timely manner to ensure your attendance and to indicate your menu choice. Our Governor Elect (Jeff Kuchenbecker) will be joining us for the evening.

Dave and I completed the three interviews for the student interns who applied for helping our club this fall semester. After also visiting with Jeanine, we agreed to offer positions to all three of the students. The three of us will each supervise one of the interns. We are looking forward to making some great progress with promotions and membership recruitment this fall!

I will be setting up a planning meeting for Trivia Night for the first week in October. There are several Student Optimists who are interested in helping out with the event. There were 30 potential new members at the Student Optimist meeting this past Wednesday–yeah!

Thanks for reading–and see some of you this Wednesday.

Kim 🙂

Happy Sunday, Optimists,

Here are just a few updates for our upcoming week.

I spoke with Connie Frida evening.  We are confirmed for the Cold Spring Inn for our Installation Banquet on Tuesday, Sept. 30.  Our social is scheduled for 5:30pm, with the dinner and program beginning at 6:00.  Information on our menu options and cost will come from the committee in the very near future. For now, please mark your calendars!

We have three applications for student interns for this fall.  Interviews with the three applicants will take place this week.  A few of us will be meeting with the interested students.

We have a meeting to finalize the Back to School/NOW meeting with the Whitewater School District this Wednesday.  If you are interested in making a dish to pass for the event, which is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 24 from 4:00pm – 5:30pm, please contact Jeanine.  Thank you to the 5-6 folks from our club who have already volunteered.  Members from the school district will also be contributing items for dinner.

Denise, Jan and I will be starting the planning for our Trivia Night, scheduled for Friday, Feb. 20 in the Hamilton Room.  As soon as the UW-W Student Club has their first meeting this week, we will also have a few students to work with on the co-sponsored event.

Our meeting this Tuesday will feature Youth of the Month, a representative from the UW-W Student Optimist Club, and a representative from Roberta’s Art Gallery.  Lunch will be provided by UW-W Catering this week since it is a Youth of the Month program.  Hope to see some of you on Tuesday at noon in UC 259A.  This will be our last noon meeting of the month.  Dave will be sending out a schedule for October in the near future.

Have a great week.  Let’s hope for some warmer weather again!

Kim 🙂

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

Happy Memorial Day, Optimists,

I have just a few short reminders for this week:

* Tomorrow’s noon meeting will feature Dick and Maggie Winz on the Ten Chimneys of Genesee Depot. It will also be our last Youth of the Month of the season, as well as our last catered meal until fall. We will meet in UC 259A.

* This Thursday, we will meet at the UC loading dock at 4:45pm to caravan to our highway cleanup project. For those joining us in progress, please find us on our Optimist stretch of highway. We will have gloves, vests and bags ready for the project. Remember to wear proper shoes. I think the following members have said yes to helping with the clean up. If I have you on the list, but you are unable to help out–just let me know. I was partially working from memory–which hasn’t been the best as of late. Helpers: Hans, Carla, Angie, Joyce, Al, Jan, Kate, Don, Rick, Jeanine, and Kim.

* You will note that I am now copying our new student intern (Kelly) on our emails, as well as another student (Anna) who came to our evening meeting last week. Anna is interested in helping with some of our projects in the coming months. Thanks, Anna! Kelly has some great ideas in how to help promote our club and will be working with Jeanine and me to finalize and implement our plan. Thanks, Kelly!

* Thank you to Jeanine and Angie who will be putting a slate of officers together for the 2014-15 Optimist year. If you are contacted, I ask you to give their request thoughtful consideration. If you are not contacted and would like to serve as an officer or on the board, please reach out to Jeanine, Angie or me. THANK YOU!!

Enjoy the rest of this holiday weekend!

In Optimism,

Kim 🙂