UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club

Spring has Sprung Optimists!

Mark your calendars for the Easter Egg Hunt on April 12.  The Easter Bunny, McGruff the Crime Dog, Student Optimists and many of our members will be on hand to greet children and their families at Starin Park for the traditional event! Thank you to Wes Therrian and Connie Murray for organizing the Easter Egg Hunt.  A flyer (designed by our intern, Seth) and sign up sheet will be sent out soon.

We have two outstanding guest speakers lined up for the next two weeks.  This Tuesday, Mark Maas will present his program on “Winning is a Lifestyle,” and on March 18, two coordinators of the “Discover Whitewater Series” half marathon will give a brief review of the event.  Maybe a little bit ‘o Irish fun will also take place at our meeting on March 18.

More information will be out soon on the status of the City Wide Rummage Sale.  Committee members are in the process of meeting and evaluating next steps.

Board members, please remember our meeting this Tuesday evening.  We have many important requests to address at the meeting, as well as presenting our next $5,000 check at the Park and Rec Board meeting, Tuesday at 5:30pm at City Hall.  I will send out a separate email to board members with details and a meeting agenda.

Lastly, we have received two new member applications from Kate and Ken Ksobiech.  Their applications will be presented at our board meeting.  Thank you Ken and Kate for submitting your membership applications.  We look forward to getting to know you as we serve our community together!

GO WARHAWKS–as both men’s and women’s team advance to the next round of the NCAA DIII Basketball Tournament–Sweet 16!

Always in Optimism,

Kim 🙂

From Matt Amundson, Whitewater Parks & Rec Director.

On Wednesday, October 23rd & Thursday, October 24th volunteers joined City staff in the installation of a new playground at Optimist Turtle Mound Park. The UW-Whitewater Community Optimist Club made a $15,000 donation towards the project that was matched by the City.  A photo gallery of progress can be viewed HERE.  Surfacing material will be placed on Friday, October 25th, however, the playground will remain closed until a damaged support railing can be replaced. This is likely to happen the week of October 28th and when the yellow caution tape is removed the playground will be open.

A special thanks to volunteers that assisted with the installation including Derrick Wood, Dean Zweifel, Liesl Schultz, Russell Saunders, William Schmitz, Brian Backe, Travis Hartmann, Austin Stoltenburg, Brienne Diebolt-Brown, Duane Dickens, and Jamie Satre.  The volunteers assisted Department of Public Works staff including Rick Babcock, Kelly Freeman, Kevin Heckert, Dave Himsel, Andy Beckman, and Mike Kaspar in the installation of the equipment.

The playground includes a new main play structure for children ages 2-12, a 4-bay swing set with accessible and infant swings, and two independent components – the Kid Force Spinner and Comet Spinner.

Optimist Turtle Mound Park Equipment