Monday, April 24, 2006

The Optimist Bell rang at 12:15. President Rick McKernan verified that indeed we all did feel good this fine Monday. Our invocation was presented by Kerry Bramon, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Roy Robinson. 

GUESTS 
Despite being basically nice people, we had no guests who came to visit us this week. Let's share the good news about the many wonderful programs your membership makes possible for the kids in our community.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES 
Dottie Stoerker-Peters brought birthday wishes to Denise Payne this week who celebrates on the 25th. 

MYSTERY GUEST:
Our Mystery Guest this week was Chuck Pease. Chuck makes many phone calls in his business, and he acnowledged the hard work Steve Henderson does to help set up our weekly meetings by calling people to serve as greeters, to give the invocation, and to lead the Pledge. Thanks Steve, and congratulations.

TAIL TWISTER:
Our Tail Twister Mr. Henderson provided his usual twist of the facts and the humor, but now that he has a collection of pigs to choose from, rumor has it he is likely to become more observant in finding members without their badges, so start saving now for those whopping 25 cent fines he collects.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 
Your board met last Thursday and made the following funding approvals: Rock Bridge State Park: $2000; Central Missouri Food Bank: $1250; Jeff Jr High Track Meet: $1500; Jeff Jr. High Cyclone Scramble: $200; Jeff Jr.High Outstanding 9th Grader Plaques: $100; DOC 70th Anniversary Banquet: $1500. 
Annual elections are coming up shortly for the DOC officers and board. Here's a great way for you to offer service to the kids in our community. Consider how you can help. 
The Bicycle Safety program chaired by Jay Creasy will be May 20th at State Farm. Jay will be rounding up some volunteers in the next couple of weeks. 
Former member Karen Aulissa will be visiting Columbia the last weekend in April and is sponsoring a jewelry sales fundraiser April 29th to help us raise money. Mothers Day is just around the corner... 
The East Missouri District meeting will be in StL on May 5-6. Contact Rick if you would like to attend. 
We are sponsoring five teams in the Central Missouri Food Bank's Annual Golf For Food Tournament. Talk to Ellis Havard or one of the team captains if you would like to play. 
Plan on attending the 70th Anniversary celebration on Saturday June 10th. Luke Chase is helping organize this event. Mark your calendars! 
Don't forget the Soap Box Derby on Sunday, June 11th. Organizers Chuck Boots and Greg Schneider are looking for a few more drivers. 
The Junior World of Golf tournament is on June 15th. Tim Elliott is project chair. 
The Scholarship Committee met Monday after lunch to review applications from the different schools. Chairperson Christine White and committee members Bill Plank and Jim Wright were meeting to select this years winners. The Downtown Optimist Club gives a $1000 scholarship to a young man and young woman from Hickman, Rock Bridge, and Douglas High Schools. 

PROGRAM 
April Program Chairperson Pete Bakutes introduced us to Lynn Carr, a remarkable woman who came all the way from Hannibal to share with us her story of hardship, courage, and ultimately, success. 
Lynn has traveled the difficult path from living in her car as a single, illiterate, unwed mother, to being the owner of a successful business, a caring and motivating employer, one who provides free meals to the less fortunate, and the proud recipient of an honorary Doctorate degree.
Lynn reminded all of us that an essential element to the concept of "No Child Left Behind" is that to make it work, we can't leave the parents "behind," either.

Next Week on May 1st:

Our program next week will be the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place Winners of the Safety Awareness Poster Contest. We will also host our New Member Induction.

The meeting adjourned at 1:00 pm with the Optimist Creed.

Monday, April 17, 2006

President Rick McKernan rang the Optimist Bell rang at 12:15. This week our invocation was presented by Pat Brown, and we honored our country with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Brandon Beddoe. 

GUESTS 
Welcome to our guests this week. Spence Turner introduced us to Bill Brockman, from Boulder, Wisconsin, and friend for more than 40 years. Christine White welcomed her guest Katherine Oberg, co-worker at Lutheran Family and Children Services. Thanks for visiting us today.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES 
There was one Optimist birthday this week as Dottie Stoerker-Peters recognized Bill Lloyd whose birthday is this week on the 20th. Unfortunately, Bill was absent this week, so everyone be sure and call Bill and tell him he missed out on the grand prize of a $200 birthday dinner out on the town. Sorry, Bill.

MYSTERY GUEST:
Bob Merriman served as our mystery guest today. Many people do many behind-the-scenes activities for the club, and Bob recognized Meredith Donaldson with a free lunch next week for being one of them.

TAIL TWISTER:
Tail Twister Steve Henderson had to make an unplanned trip to Jefferson City and had to miss lunch today. This undoubtedly saved $ .25 from a man who looked suspiciously like Brian Hudspeth without a beard at lunch today.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 
Annual elections are coming up shortly for the DOC officers and board. Here's a great way for you to offer service to the kids in our community. Consider how you can help. 
Judging for the Neighborhood Watch Safety Poster Contest will be Thursday, April 20th at 2:00 pm at the clubhouse. 
The Bicycle Safety program chaired by Jay Creasy will be May 20th at State Farm. 
Valerie Goodin reminded us former member Karen Aulissa will be visiting Columbia the last weekend in April and is sponsoring a jewelry sales fundraiser to help us raise money. Just in time for Mothers Day... 
The East Missouri District meeting will be in StL on May 5-6. Contact Rick if you would like to attend. 
Three teams are ready for Central Missouri Food Bank's Annual Golf Tournament. Talk to Ellis Havard or one of the team captains if you would like to play. 
Saturday June 10th will be the DOC's 70th Anniversary celebration. Luke Chase is helping organize this event. Mark your calendars! 
The Soap Box Derby is on Sunday, June 11th. Organizers Chuck Boots and Greg Schneider are looking for a few more drivers. 
The Junior World of Golf tournament is on June 15th. Tim Elliott is project chair. 
Chairperson Christine White announced the Scholarship Committee will meet briefly after next Monday's luncheon to review this year's applications. 

PROGRAM 
April Program Chairperson Pete Bakutes introduced this week's guest speakers Bill Thompson and Wynna Fae Elbert. Bill and Wynna Fae have been instrumental in researching and teaching black history in Columbia. Many children hove grown up without knowledge of their heritage; learning about the past helps them provide "grounding" for their future growth. Special effort has been made to include some of the diverse and less known pieces of area history, such as the time when the Klan held a rally in Columbia at the old fair grounds, and afterwards donated the leftover food to the poor black families who lived around the fairgrounds. 

Special thanks to Bill and Wynna Fae for sharing with us today.

Guest Speaker Next Week on April 24th: Lynn Carr: Personal Survival and Achievement

April Program Chairman: Pete Bakutes

Our meeting adjourned at 1:00 pm with the Optimist Creed. 

Monday, April 10, 2006

President Rick McKernan rang the Optimist Bell rang at 12:15. The invocation this week was presented by Carol Irish , and Neal Sprick led the Pledge of Allegiance. 

GUESTS 
We had two guests today, repeat visitor Diana Duncan from the 4-H Youth Development affiliated with the University of Missouri, and Mel West. Diana also submitted her application! Thanks for joining us today - literally!

GREETER
Our greeter this week was Kerry Bramon, owner of Kerry Bramon Remodeling and Design. Kerry noted last week that Tail Twister Steve Henderson was having problems locating his pig, so Kerry brought him a whole herd of "swine" to expand Steve's options.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES 
Dottie Stoerker-Peters acknowledged five members with birthdays this week: Max Miller and Jim Beckett on the 14th, and Brant Bukowsky, Jim Dyer, and Jerry Carrington, all on the 15th.
With all those candles, the Fire Department should be busy this week!

MYSTERY GUEST:
Our mystery guest today was Bo Bossaller, and Bo awarded next week's free lunch to Steve Henderson for all the hard work he does behind the scenes on behalf of the club. Certainly well deserved, Steve - congratulations.

TAIL TWISTER:
A schedule malfunction on the part of the president left Tail Twister Steve Henderson ready and willing but inadvertently left on the sidelines this week. Steve noted the severity of this infraction was sure to cost the president $.25 next week. There was NO truth to the rumor that McKernan had been bribed NOT to have the Tail Twister tell a joke this week.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 
Annual elections are coming up shortly for the DOC officers and board. Here's a great way for you to offer service to the kids in our community. Consider how you can help. 
Judging for the Neighborhood Watch Safety Poster Contest will be Thursday, April 20th at 2:00 pm at the clubhouse. 
The Bicycle Safety program chaired by Jay Creasy will be May 20th at State Farm. 
Valerie Goodin reports former member Karen Aulissa will be visiting Columbia in late April and is sponsoring a jewelry sales fundraiser to help us raise money. Just in time for Mothers Day... 
The East Missouri District meeting will be in StL on May 5-6. Anyone may attend these meetings. 
Teams are now forming for Central Missouri Food Bank's Annual Golf Tournament. Skill is NOT a requirement. 
Watch for details as plans are finalized for the DOC's 70th Anniversary celebration on Saturday June 10th, chaired by Luke Chase. 
The Soap Box Derby, chaired by Chuck Boots, is just around the corner on Sunday, June 11th, followed a few days later by the Junior World of Golf on June 15th, chaired by Tim Elliott. Both of these long-time programs will need some support from our membership. 

PROGRAM 
April Program Chairperson Pete Bakutes introduced guest speaker Steve Tatlow from Community Partnership Program to talk to us about the role of transportation in the overall success of our community. An astonishingly high number of people in our community reported they had lost a job in the recent past because of inefficient transportation. Loss of employment in turn resulted in drains on other community resources and services. There are a large number of public and private entities providing transportation services here, and the challenge is to find ways to coordinate those services, eliminate the waste of duplication, and expand the availability of transit services.

And we thought putting a man on the moon was hard...

Guest Speaker Next Week: Bill Thompson from Columbia Parks and Recreation

Our meeting adjourned at 1:00 pm with the Optimist Creed. 

April Program Chairman: Pete Bakutes