UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

Good Monday, Optimists,

I will start off my weekly note by reminding you that we do not have a noon meeting on May 20. Rather, we will meet from 5-7pm at the Lakefront Pub in the Whitewater Room. Our new student intern, Kelly Holck will be joining us for this meeting.

Thank you to all who helped with baseball ticket taking this past week/weekend. And…thank you to our rummage sale coordinators! It was a beautiful weekend for outdoor activities.

When you have a chance, check out the “This Week in Whitewater” link. There is a nice story about the “Ambulance for Africa.” Jeff did a great job of capturing Hassimi’s story. (Please disregard the bit about the rummage sale. I tried to explain that our students were selling hotdogs at the rummage sale for the ambulance, not running the rummage sale for the ambulance.)

Please note our summer meeting schedule below. Our meeting on May 27 will be our last catered meal of the season. Please note, that all other meetings, you are encouraged to bring your own lunch (at the UC), order off the menu (at the Lakefront), or contribute to our summer party/potluck on July 29.

MEETING SCHEDULE…

• May 20, (Lakefront Pub), 5:30pm, individuals order off of menu
• May 27, (UC 259A), Noon meeting; last catered meal of the season
• June 10 (UC 268), Noon meeting, bring your own lunch
• June 24 (Lakefront Pub), 5:30pm, individuals order off of menu
• July 15 (UC 259A), Noon meeting, bring your own lunch
• July 29 Summer gathering/potluck at Kim and Angie’s; 5:30pm – 8:30pm
• August 12 (UC 259A), Noon meeting, bring your own lunch
• August 26 (Lakefront Pub), 5:30pm, individuals order off of menu

I have attached the Optimist Board Minutes, May 13, 2014 on Tuesday, May 13. We will be following the discussion suggestions listed in the minutes. Note that the meeting locations for the UC are correct in this email. I just confirmed them with Room Reservations.

I have also attached the Jefferson County Fair Sign Up 2014. Please get back to Don and Lou on that event. Duane has been sending out the Gyro Stand sign up info. We need more helpers–PLEASE. I will email the sign up over the weekend regarding highway clean up. Right now, it looks to be a good group for May 29 at 4:45pm. Rick, Mike and Al have the Fishing Derby well in hand for Saturday, June 7 at Cravath Lake. Willing helpers are encouraged to jump in on this event. Jordan Hammer of the UW-W Fishing Club and some of their members will be assisting, as well.

Next week’s meeting will feature Youths of the Month, as well as guest speakers Maggie and Dick Winz on the Ten Chimneys of Genesee Depot.

Thanks for reading. It was a lot to report this week!

In Optimism,

Kim 🙂

Good Morning Optimists,

I encourage you to look back at last week’s email for the dates and information on various activities we have coming up this spring and summer. Several sign ups are also starting to circulate.

Please continue to respond to Duane regarding the Gyro Stand, respond to Therese regarding the Baseball Regions that are this week, respond to Jan and Kate regarding your progress on funds raised for our Relay for Life team, and respond to Lou and Don for the Jefferson County Fair. I have also attached the fair sign up for folks to see the open slots.

Please note that there is a board meeting this Tuesday from 5:30pm-7:00pm at Jessica’s. Remember that all past presidents are also invited to attend the meeting–and really anyone else interested in rebuilding our club is welcome to attend. We will be discussing the future direction/leadership of the club. Some different ideas are being explored, and your active participation and creative problem solving is encouraged to help our club develop a sound direction for this next year.

I am excited about our guest speakers this Tuesday as we will be hearing from our outgoing intern Seth Arp and incoming intern Kelly Holck. Jeanine, Dave and I met with these two dedicated students this past week and are looking forward to them sharing their insights and suggestions for the club at our noon meeting.

Thanks–and enjoy your Sunday. Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, step mothers, grandmothers, Godmothers, Aunts, etc.!

In Optimism,

Kim 🙂

It’s May, Optimists!

As we welcome in the signs of warmer weather, I invite you to join in many of the upcoming opportunities.

Here’s a preview of what’s coming:

• Tues., May 6–guest speaker Angie Alesci–on creating home-made gifts on a low budget and with resources on hand. (This will include a tasty treat for members to enjoy at the meeting.)
• Tues., May 13–Guest speaker TBD. I am just waiting for a confirmation.
• Tues., May 13–Board Meeting, 5:30pm – 7:00pm at Jessica’s. All former presidents of the club are invited to this gathering. The main focus of the meeting will be the future of our club, including leadership for 2014-15. We need a slate of officers for the new year–including someone to take the helm as president in October. Anyone wishing to step forward to serve as president, please contact me. I will gladly chat with you about how to make a smooth transition–and I promise I will be a good support as Immediate Past President.
• May 14-18–Ticket Taking for Baseball Regionals. Please contact Therese if you can assist with taking tickets. This will serve as an extra fund raiser for our club. Therese emailed a sign up sheet this past Friday.
• Sat., May 17–City Wide Rummage Sale. Jeanine is taking care of one more “promotional blast” this week.
• Tues., May 20–Evening Meeting at the Lakefront Pub, 5:00pm-7:00pm. Meet our new student intern–Kelly Holck!
• Tues., May 27–Youths of the Month, plus guest speaker TBD. If you have a suggestion for a guest speaker, please contact me.
• Thurs., May 29–Highway Clean Up. Meet by the UC (metered parking lot) at 4:45pm if you want to caravan to our two-mile stretch of highway. We will begin our clean up at 5:00pm. Garbage bags, vests, and gloves will be provided. Feel free to bring your own gloves, as well.
• Sat., June 7–Fishing Derby, Cravath Lake

Enjoy your week–and hope to see some of you on Tuesday.

In Optimism,

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 🙂

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.

Happy Monday Optimists,

This note is coming to you a little later than usual as we were trying to work out the details of our rescheduled Easter Egg Hunt earlier today. Unfortunately, the somewhat short-lived rain on Saturday came at just the wrong time and we were “locked out” of our Plan B at Whitewater Middle School.

So here’s the scoop: The Easter Egg Hunt will indeed take place this Saturday from 11am-12pm at the Whitewater Middle School (rain or shine). Connie will have the key ahead of time so we know we will be able to get into the school if need be. If the weather is reasonable, the hunt will be set up outside on the grounds of the school. If it is raining or too windy and cold, we will set up in the school. For those able to help set up (at 10am) and to work at the event, please “reply all” to this message indicating so.

Our meeting tomorrow includes Youth of the Month for the Middle School, as well as two guest speakers related to some fun, upcoming city events, sponsored by the Whitewater Chamber.

Please also mark your calendars for our evening meeting, which will be held at the Lakefront Pub on Tuesday, April 29 from 5-7pm.

I look forward to seeing some of you at the meeting, as well as on Saturday at the Easter Egg Hunt. The Easter Bunny will be busy this weekend!

In Optimism,

Kim 🙂

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 🙂