UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

Greetings Optimists,

It’s a little toasty outside today! But the forecast 7 days from now is temps in the upper 60’s or low 70’s, yes fall is coming at us faster than we want.

Did anybody notice that there is a little more traffic in Whitewater since Sunday?

Our next general member meeting will be Tuesday, September 20, 2016. The meeting will feature “Youth of the Month,” catered lunch at $7 for each club member, and speakers will be Mark Elworthy (New School District Administrator) and Nathan Jaeger (Business Manager) regarding the upcoming Whitewater Unified School District referendum.

Current events needing helpers:

Warhawk Football Ticket Taking. There are still a few time slots (two?) needing workers. Check the Google spreadsheet, “2016 Football Ticket Taking,” for the last few remaining slots. Hopefully, you can use the link in the spreadsheet title in the previous sentence to edit the spreadsheet and add you name in the appropriate cells. If you have trouble entering your name, let me know and I’ll help.

*** Do you have a topic you would like to present to the club? Do you know someone who could speak to the club? Job related? Travel related? Sports related? Youth related? Let me know if you, or someone you know, would like to present. See the dates below where we need speakers. ***

Looking back one year, at this time last year we had 95 “likes” on our Facebook page. Today we have 123!

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events:

• September 10, & 24; football ticket taking
• September 13, Exec Board meeting.
• September 20, 12:00pm, speakers will be Mark Elworthy (New School District Administrator) and Nathan Jaeger (Business Manager) re: the upcoming school district referendum.
• September 26; Annual Banquet hosted by Jeanine and Rick Fassl.
• October 4, 12:00pm, speaker will be Kevin Bullis, Warhawk Football coach.
• October 8 & 22; football ticket taking
• October 11, Exec Board meeting.
• October 18, 12:00pm, speaker TBD.
• October 25, 5:00 pm. Speaker TBD.
• November 1, 12:00pm, speaker TBD
• November 5; Football ticket taking
• November 7, Exec Board meeting. (New date to avoid conflict with the Presidential election on November 8)
• November 15, 12:00pm, UC 259, Youth Appreciation Luncheon.
• November 22, 5:00 pm. Speaker TBD.
• November 29, 12 Noon, UC 259A, stuff goody bags for Breakfast with Santa.
• December; Mitten tree, Toys for Kids
• December 3; Breakfast with Santa
• December 6, General member meeting, 12:00pm
• December 13, Executive Board meeting
• December 17, General member meeting, 12:00pm

That’s all for tonight.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

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,

A huge THANK YOU to the nearly 50 people, club members, UW-W Student Club members, High School Octagon member, etc., who helped with this past Saturday’s “Breakfast with Santa.” Carol and Jim Miller counted 611 people served, 326 children and 285 adults. I would encourage all of you who helped to look back for any special moments from Friday or Saturday, write them down and share them with us. I would like to share your stories about the day on our web site and Facebook page.

A huge THANK YOU to a club member, who wishes to remain anonymous, who donated $500 to Breakfast with Santa in honor of Don Zahn. The donor specified that the money was to be used to pay for ALL of the children who attended Breakfast with Santa.

While Santa may have been the main attraction this past Saturday, Frosty the Snowman was VERY popular also. Thanks Jim McLernon!

Nearly 700 photos from Breakfast with Santa were uploaded to the Club’s Flickr page. To see the photos, follow these instructions:

• Access the photos at: https://www.flickr.com
• Upon entering the website search “optimist bws” in upper right hand corner
• Click People in upper left hand corner
• Click “optimist bws”
• Click Albums
• Select BWS 2015

Our next Exec Board meeting is tomorrow, December 8, 12 Noon, in UC 260.

There is NO GENERAL MEMBER MEETING THIS WEEK.

The annual Toys for Kids project will be wrapping and sorting next Monday, December 14th at 5:30pm at the downtown Armory located on North Street. Please join us for the wrapping and sorting of the toys to get them ready for the distribution by the Whitewater Food Pantry. Helpers are also needed during the early afternoon for toy/gift pickups. If you can help at that time, contact Duane Dickens.

Our Tuesday, December 15 regular club meeting, will be at 12 Noon, UC 259A. This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00) with “Youth of the Month” from Whitewater Middle School and presentation of the “Mitten Tree” donations to Lanora, Mary, and Shirley from the Whitewater School District.

This week’s other notes:

• A reminder again that the annual club dues notification was sent out to our membership list (which is not the exact same as this email list). Hopefully active members can submit dues soon so Ken, Kate and I can update the club roster at the OI web site.
• Who can help find additional speakers for our January and February meetings? A couple of ideas/speakers have been forwarded to me but more are needed. All speaker ideas are welcome and appreciated. I/we just need to confirm who, when, and where for the next couple of months.

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events include:

• Tuesday, December 8. Executive Board meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 260.
• Monday, December, 14. Toys for Kids wrapping and sorting, Whitewater Downtown Armory, 146 W North St.
• Tuesday, December 15. Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, UC 259A. This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00) with “Youth of the Month” from Whitewater Middle School and presentation of the “Mitten Tree” donations to Lanora, Mary, and Shirley from the Whitewater School District.
• No club meeting the week of December 20-26.
• Tuesday, January 5, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 069 (basement level of the UC). This is a “bring your own lunch” meeting.
• Tuesday, January 12, Executive Board meeting, 12 Noon.
• Tuesday, January 19, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, location to be determined. This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00) with “Youth of the Month” from Whitewater High School. Our speaker will be Jim Mead from the UW-W University Housing Cable TV Office.
• Tuesday, January 26, evening meeting, 5pm, Jessica’s Restaurant.
• Tuesday, February 1, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, location to be determined.
• Tuesday, February 9, Executive Board meeting, 12 Noon.
• Tuesday, February 16, Regular club meeting, 12 Noon, location to be determined. This is a “catered lunch day” ($7.00) with “Youth of the Month” from Whitewater High School. Our speaker will be Bunny Schoen.
• Friday, February 19, 2016, Trivia Night!! 7:00 pm, University Center Hamilton Room.

That’s all for tonight.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749

Greetings Optimist!!

Lots of short notes for this week.

• Thanks again to Connie Murray, Jeanine Fassl and Teshona Bennett for organizing last Tuesday’s Installation Banquet at 841 Brew House!!
• Please welcome our newest Optimist Club member, Jenny Musilek! Jenny is the Promotions Coordinator in the UC. We’ll find an upcoming meeting to formally induct Jenny.
• Warhawk Football ticket takers were busy this past Saturday when a record crowd of 15,287 showed up at Perkins Stadium.
• No club meeting tomorrow, October 6!!! (This is due to the UW-W Faculty Emeriti lunch being held at 841 Brew House)
• Instead, the Exec Board will have its first meeting of the year. One of the agenda items will be discussing the budget for 2015-16. I’ll keep you posted.
• October is the start of the new Optimist year. Watch your email later this month for the annual dues notification.
• Who can help find speakers for our October and November meetings? All speaker ideas are welcome and appreciated. Members have shared ideas with me, we just need to confirm who, when, and where for the next couple of months.
• Allison Langenkamp has posted more pictures on the web site from the Installation Banquet and I’ve added them to the Facebook page. Check them out when you have time. Use the links at the bottom of the email to quickly go to those sites.
• Maggie Winz was a Football Crazr winner for NFL week number 2. Congratulations Maggie!!
• I’ve begun adding some of our upcoming events to the SWIS District web site calendar. This morning I added Breakfast with Santa and Trivia Night.
• Speaking of Breakfast with Santa, who would like to help organize this event for December 5^th ? (Yes, it’s only two months away)? A lot of work was done last year writing down the various actions and timelines needed to complete this event so that will help get things started.

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events include:

• Tuesday, October 6, Exec Board meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 260.
• Tuesday, October 13, regular club meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 069 (basement level of the UC)
• Tuesday, October 20, noon meeting. Youth of the Month from Whitewater Middle School, UC 259A.
• Tuesday, October 27 evening meeting/social event at the home of Kim Adams and Angie Alesci.
• Tuesday, November 3, noon meeting, Youth Appreciation Luncheon with student leaders from all 5 Whitewater School District buildings. UC 259 A&B.
• Week of November 2-6, Youth Appreciation Week.
• Tuesday, November 10, Exec Board meeting, 12 Noon, University Center 260.
• Tuesday, November 17, noon meeting. Youth of the Month from Whitewater High School. UC 259A
• Saturday, December 5, Breakfast with Santa!! Esker Dining Hall, UW-W.
• Friday, February 19, 2016, Trivia Night!! 7:00 pm, University Center Hamilton Room.

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!!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 29, will be the annual Installation Banquet!! Social hour begins at 5pm at 841 Brew House.

At last week’s meeting, we had one business topic, voting on the “Slate of Officers” for 2016-17. Those in attendance voted unanimously in favor of the slate of officer put forward from the board and emailed to all of you last week. Combined with the votes emailed back to Jeanine before the meeting, we have an Executive Board for 2015-16!!!!!

I’m working with the incoming Exec Board members to confirm our monthly board meeting. At this time it looks like the 2^nd Tuesday of each month, starting at 12 Noon, will continue to be our meeting time. Please remember that any club member can submit an agenda item.

I’ll keep you posted this week whether or not we have an general member meeting or board meeting next week, October 6. There might be a possible conflict with a campus Faculty Emeriti event that might draw away quite a number of our regular Tuesday members.

Who can help find speakers for our October and November meetings? All speaker ideas are welcome and appreciated.

Be sure to check the “Photos” page here on the web site for new photos posted today. You’ll also be able to find them on our Facebook page.

Our Facebook page reached 100 “Likes” last week!! The pictures that were added last week have been quite popular also.

Any Football Raffle Crazr winners last week?

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events include:

• Tuesday, September, 29, Installation banquet at 841 Brew House. Social hour begins at 5pm. Dinner begins at 6pm.
• Tuesday, October 6, noon meeting.
• Tuesday, October 20, noon meeting. Youth of the Month from Whitewater Middle School.
• Tuesday, October 27 evening meeting/social event at the home of Kim Adams and Angie Alesci.
• Tuesday, November 3, noon meeting, Youth Appreciation Luncheon with student leaders from all 5 Whitewater School District buildings.
• Week of November 2-6, Youth Appreciation Week.
• Tuesday, November 17, noon meeting. Youth of the Month from Whitewater High School.
• Saturday, December 5, Breakfast with Santa!!
• Friday, February 19, 2016, Trivia Night!!

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!!

Well, another busy week! You might have heard of a little group of meetings being held on campus, mostly in the University Center, Thursday and Friday called the UW System Board of Regents. Or maybe you heard of the small event Friday afternoon called the Chancellor’s Inauguration?

Heard an interesting presentation at the September 8 meeting from Dr. Katie Heyning and Dr. Robin Fox about Whitewater Leads. The Whitewater Leads web site is presently “under construction” but should be very helpful and insightful once the content is added.

Kim Adams, Lauren Hageman (current Optimist Club intern), and I interviewed two UW-W students late yesterday afternoon for the Fall Optimist Intern position. After reviewing each candidate, strengths and interests, and the needs of the club for the fall, we are pleased to announce that both candidates were offered, and accepted, intern positions for this fall. The interns are Allison Langenkamp and Callie Watry. Both will be working 150 hours for the club this semester. With Youth Appreciation Week, Trivia Night, Breakfast with Santa, and social media updates, we felt there are plenty of tasks for them to complete on behalf of the club. We hope to have all three of the interns at the September 22 meeting to talk about their experiences and expected learning outcomes from the internships.

In other Optimist business:

• Our Facebook page has 95 “Likes” now. Inching closer to 100!

Speakers for upcoming meetings are:

• Tuesday, September 22, UC 261, 12 Noon-1pm. Youth of the Month presentation and catered lunch. Summer and Fall 2015 UW-W Interns.
• 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:

• Tuesday, September 15, Executive Board meeting. Noon-1pm.
• 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.

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!!

UW-W students moved into the Residence Halls on Sunday, August 30. You can really tell the difference in traffic volume, among other things, that change when they arrive each year!

Our Wednesday, August 29 evening meeting featured members Dick and Maggie Winz speaking about the volunteer efforts to help rebuild Bay St. Louis, MS after Hurricane Katrina hit there 10 years ago. We forget that even today, rebuilding efforts are still going on along the Gulf Coast to recover from the hurricane. Thanks Dick and Maggie (and other from the club and community) who continue to help the residents of that region recover!

Thanks to the latest club members who have volunteered to help take tickets at upcoming Warhawk Football games!

I had good meeting with Greg Stewart, Whitewater High School Teacher and advisor to the Octagon Club, last night. We discussed some ideas how the Octagon members can help our club at certain events each year, debating the issue of Octagon members attending regular meetings vs. contributing to service projects, and other ideas. As we talk about these items more, we’ll keep you posted. I indicated to Greg that one idea I have is to better promote the Octagon events and accomplishments to our club, and the community, in the future through the web site and Facebook.

No progress since last week regarding a complete slate of officers for 2015-16, 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 has 93 “Likes” now. 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.
• Kim Adams and I will be interviewing UW-W students to determine who will be our fall semester intern(s). We need to have our decision made by September 9 which is the last day for students to add a class for the fall semester.

Speakers for upcoming meetings are:

• 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. Youth of the Month presentation and catered lunch. Any speaker 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:

• Tuesday, September 8, Esker Hall room 119, 12 Noon-1pm, “bring your own lunch.”
• Tuesday, September 15, Executive Board meeting. Noon-1pm.
• 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.

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!!

Hope everyone is doing well this week!!

We will have a general business meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, August 18, at 12 Noon-1pm, UC 069 (lower level of the UC, near the UW Credit Union).

In other Optimist business:

• The Board met last week, Tuesday, August 11. Jan Olson has sent me the minutes to review. Once the Board has reviewed and approved, I’ll post them on the web site. I did add the April, May, and July Board meeting minutes for your review.
• Lou Zahn forwarded me an invitation from the Jefferson County Fair Park Committee inviting all volunteers of the fair to an appreciation dinner on Thursday, August 20 at 5:30pm in the Activity Center on the fair grounds. If someone would like to attend on behalf of the Club, please feel free to do so.
• I could still use help contacting possible speakers for the next 2-3 months. If you have speaker ideas or would be willing to make calls for the club, please let me know.
• Kim Adams and I have been working with the summer intern, Lauren Hageman, on the Club’s Policies and Procedures manual. Jeanine Fassl got us started on reviewing and updating the manual. Lauren has helped insert new sections related to Trivia Night, the intern program, and other sections that needed to be added and updated. We (the four of us working on this) hope to have an updated manual to present to the Exec Board, and all members, soon. We’ll keep you posted.
• Connie Murray and Teshona Bennett volunteered to help with the upcoming End-of-Year Banquet (or should we call it the Beginning-of-the-Year banquet?) Anyway, it would probably help to have one more person assist with planning. Please contact me if you can be that “one more person.”
• Our Facebook page still has 92 “Likes!” So close to 100.
• I added a link to the Club’s Facebook page to the web site last week. Kim Adams, Lauren Hageman, and I discussed how to better use the Facebook site and came up with the following ideas: “Through Back Thursday” pictures from past events, periodic “Save the Date” announcements about Trivia Night 2016, and uploading of many more of the pictures that have been taken at past events.

Speakers for upcoming meetings are:

• Wednesday, August 26, 2015, 5pm at Jessica’s Restaurant. Any ideas?
• Tuesday, September 8, Esker Hall room 119, 12 Noon-1pm. Any ideas?
• Tuesday, September 22, UC 261, 12 Noon-1pm. Any ideas?
• Tuesday, October 6, 12 Noon-1pm. Any ideas?
• Tuesday, October 20, 12 Noon-1pm. Youth of the Month. Any ideas?

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events include:

• Tuesday, August 18, 12 Noon-1pm. Business meeting
• 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.

That’s all for the moment.

Share the Optimism,

Dave Halbach

UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

920-650-6089 or 262-472-5749