President Rick McKerrnan rang the Optimist bell at 12:12. Phil Weedin gave the invocation, and Bill Plank led the Pledge of Allegiance. 

GUESTS 
Several guests joined our ranks Monday and shared a great meal from Ameriserve. Mike Cusack was a guest of longtime friend Bo Bossaller. Garry Spotts was accompanied this week by business associate Lou Corey. We were delighted to see old friend Wayne Taylor, who brought his grandson Cody Cook.

Guests are always welcome at our meetings, so please feel free to come again. 

GREETER
Club secretary Mike Hatchett met folks at the door with a smile and a handshake. Mike explained how much he has enjoyed the Optimist Club, and being a part of the good we do for young people in our community. Mike graduated from Columbia College with a degree in Criminal Justice, and is sales manager with the St. Clair Company.

MYSTERY GUEST
Our Mystery Guest was truly a mystery this week, but there was little doubt that Larry Fick was deserving of a free meal next week for his work organizing our participation in the Show Me State Games.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES 
Dottie Stoerker-Peters extended our club's congratulations and best wishes to Brent Jones for his birthday on the 7th, and to Steve and Mariquit Klein for their 13th anniversary on the 4th.
Congratulations!

TAIL TWISTER
Our tail twister Steve Henderson gave us a reminder to communicate clearly and accurately, citing a marriage counselor's instructions to one of his husband-and-wife clients. Good thing the husband couldn't get off work three times a week to drive his wife over to the counselor's office...

ANNOUNCEMENTS 
*President-Elect Bo Bossaller made a report on the OI Nashville Convention. For more details, visit OI's website at www.optimist.org. Several important topics were voted on that will affect our future. 
*The final East Missouri District meeting of the year will be in St. Louis on August 25-27. This meeting is for incoming officers and directors, and for any interested general members. The club has historically paid the registration fee for attendees. Make your plans now - we need to submit our registration form soon. Plan early to attend.
*Special thanks to Larry Fick and all the Optimists who braved the heat to lend a hand at the Show Me Games. Given the broad diversity of helpers, coupled with the heat, one could truly say we had a "melting pot" of volunteers which included both members and friends: Brandon Beddoe, Bob Bellinghausen, Chuck Boots, Pat Brown, Charlotte & Jerry Carrington, Jack Cruise, Meredith Donaldson, Brian & Janna Fick, Kevin Fick, Larry & Paulette Fick, Dennis Funk, Valerie Goodin, Ed & Valerie Harre, Jake Jolley, Red Leighton, Tom Marrero, Rick McKernan, Max Miller, Jim Murphy, Chuck Pease, Jim Pinkstaff, Mary Poettgen, Stan Sadich, John Sapp, Carl Scott, Joe Sestak, Garry Spotts, Jess & Judy Weaver, Phil Weedin, and Jim Wright. Whew! When it comes to rounding up the troops to help the kids, Larry certainly makes the Downtown Optimist Club look good!
*A note of sadness for our club: longtime member Karl Goebel passed away this last week. Karl had been a big part of the Downtown Optimist Club's success with Christmas tree lot sales. Our condolences to the family.

PROGRAM
Columbia Chief of Police Randy Boehm gave an arresting testimony at our luncheon Monday. As head of the department for the past 6 years, Chief Boehm talked about the changes he has seen over his many years in law enforcement. 

Technology, and the costs associated with technology have dramatically realigned the budget items. Items as exotic as taser guns for non-lethal control, segways for stylish and interactive means of transportation, and computers have all enhanced law enforcement officers ability to perform their duties. Today, one of the basic tools of the trade, the patrol car, accounts for only about half the cost of equipping an officer.

Besides serving the community professionally through the Police Department, Chief Boehm goes beyond that to offer personal service to our community's youth as a longtime member of the Southside Optimist Club.

Monday, July 24, 2006

President Rick McKernan figuratively rang the Optimist bell at 12:15, since our actual bell was being held hostage in our locked regular meeting room next door while they cleaned the carpets. Kerry Bramon gave the invocation, and Chuck Pease led the Pledge of Allegiance. 

GUESTS 
Christine White was joined today by her co-worker, Katherine Oberg-Roberts, who has been threatening to join our organization for several weeks. Also joining us for lunch were Dawne Baldwin and Catherine Parke, mothers of two of our scholarship winners. Guests are always welcome at our meetings, so please feel free to come again. 
   Our summer attendance has been a little light, but the enthusiasm is there. On the off chance that you are a member who actually has a friend, how about inviting him or her to come visit us for lunch?

MYSTERY GUEST
Our Mystery Guest this week was Jim Beckett. Rumor has it that Jim was also the Mystery Guest who was absent last week, so see Jim if you were planning to win a free lunch and couldn't because he was gone. Nevertheless, the lucky winner of next week's free lunch is Bob Merriman. Eat well, Bob!

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES 
No candles and no presents for the Optimist family this week. Dottie Stoerker-Peters confirmed we have no birthdays this week, and no anniversaries. 

TAIL TWISTER
Our tail twister Steve Henderson awarded bottles of fine wine to his fellow fish fry chefs, Jess Weaver and Max Miller. No one went home hungry, and no one went home disappointed. Great job, guys - much appreciated!
   Steve also reported a serious medical condition he had - kleptomania. First he went to a doctor, then he took something for it...

ANNOUNCEMENTS 
The next round of our work with the Show Me Games will be this weekend on Sunday, July 30th. Our club hands out the medals for winners in the soccer playoffs. Volunteers should report to the tent way at the back of Cosmo Park near the shelter/refreshment building. There will be a tent with the Optimist Banner there. Come prepared for hot weather! Call Larry Fick at 445-2743 if you have questions.
President-Elect Bo Bossaller has been under the weather the past two Mondays, but plans to have the report on the Optimist International Convention for us this coming Monday. 
The final East Missouri District meeting of the year will be in St. Louis on August 25-27. This is an important training meeting for incoming officers, so plan early to attend.
Congratulations to our two newest members of the Downtown Optimist Club approved at the board meeting: Emily Hardt, MU student and employee at Douglas High School Fun City, and Cyrilla Galbreath, former Opti-Mrs member, and returning former regular member following a return to Columbia. Welcome!
At the regular board meeting last Thursday, your board made the following allocations: 
International Medical and Educational Trust: $400, to help fund a training program to help Columbia teachers recognize early signs of stress and trauma in students' lives, and direct students to receive early intervention. 
Camp Noah: $500, to fund transportation costs to and from this camp serving a number of kids here in Columbia as a result of Hurricane Katrina. 
Fun City: $696, for the purchase of a commercial grade pop corn machine to support their other programs and activities. 
First Night Celebration: $500, as sponsorship of the Children's Procession in the New Year's Eve parade.
New Club Building: Your board also allocated up to $2000 for helping build two new Optimist Clubs. The first of these is a student-based Optimist Club at MU, which later may wish to expand to students at Stephens College and/or Columbia College as well. An incoming student with a strong family connection to Optimism requested our help with this, and Tom Marrero has tentatively agreed to serve as their faculty advisor as required by MU rules. Any of you who know any student who might share the Optimist mission please email the name and contact info to me for follow-up. 
The second of these prospective clubs comes as a request from a soldier stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood, who was an Optimist at his prior duty station, and would like to have one here. And what a way for us to show support for our troops, by helping bring a nugget of Optimism into the lives of our troops and their families.

PROGRAM
Each year, our club sponsors two $1000 scholarships at each of Hickman, Douglas, and Rock Bridge High Schools. Several of these young folks came Monday to say thanks, and to share with us some of their plans for the upcoming school year. Christine White, who has served as project chair for the past three years introduced the scholarship winners who were able to attend. Among our guest speakers today were Desiree Buckley from RBHS , Ann Quirk from HHS, Michael Bacon from DHS, and Nichole Lappin from HHS.

NEXT PROGRAM 
Monday, July 31st
Randy Boehm, Columbia Chief of Police (and an OI member!)

Monday, July 17, 2006

President Rick McKernan rang the Optimist bell at 12:15. called us to order. Jim Wright gave the invocation, and Paul Clark led the Pledge of Allegiance. 

GUESTS 
We had several good folks who were our guests today. John Williams, from Flat Branch Mortgage, was a guest of Jim Yankee. Jennifer Guilford was the guest of papa Rick Guilford today. Kristin Held was joined today by her assistant manager at Starbucks Coffee, Nick Pavlenko. Cyrilla Galbreath, guest of Dottie Stoerker-Peters, visited us today and submitted her check and application for membership. Cyrilla has a history with our club, having once been a member of the Opti-Mrs., back in a time prior to when women were acknowledged as regular and valuable members of the club. Jim Sharrock, a student advisor in MU's Scholl of Business, was a guest of Jim Yankee. 

We're honored to have you come to lunch with us, and hope you will consider making this a regular part of your day on Mondays.

MYSTERY GUEST:
Our Mystery Guest this week was ????... well, it was really a mystery, since no one claimed that role this week. The good news is that the club is now $8.00 ahead for the year since we saved the money for having to buy a free lunch. Our treasurer Mr. Klein will be proud of us.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES: 
Dottie Stoerker-Peters reported we have no birthdays this week, but we do have some anniversaries. Paul and Audrey Clark are celebrating their 17th anniversary on the 22nd, and Susie McKernan has put up with husband Rick for the past 24 years on the 17th. 
Congratulations!

TAIL TWISTER:
Our tail twister Steve Henderson must have been having lunch with this week's Mystery Person since both were absent this week. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 
Note that our meeting next week will be in the room right next door (outside entrance just to the left of our regular entrance) because they will be shampooing the carpets on Monday. 
The fish fry at the clubhouse is Wednesday, July 19th. Jess Weaver, Steve Henderson, and Max Miller make this event a "meal to remember." Bring your appetite. Bring a friend. Bring your commitment to help make life just a little better for the young folks in our community.
Show Me Games will begin this weekend. Our club hands our the medals for winners in the soccer playoffs. Volunteers should report to the tent way at the back of Cosmo Park near the shelter/refreshment building. There will be a tent with the Optimist Banner there. Come prepared for hot weather! Call Larry Fick at 445-2743 if you have questions.
Have breakfast with the Friends of Rock Bridge State Park this Sunday, July 23rd, between 8 and 12 at the park.
Past president Valerie Goodin had to spring for a substantial fine for having her name in so many newspapers as the MU Alumni Association's Associate Executive Director. Great job, Val!

PROGRAM
No matter what we try to do with kids, we first have to capture their attention and find a way to communicate with them. Our guests this week, Thom and Sarah Howard, have used music as the language to capture the imaginations of young people . Thom and Sarah shared with us some of the thought processes that go in to their programs with kids, everything from audience participation, to use of motor skills, to giving kids messages they go home thinking about. 

Thom and Sarah showed us that reaching out to kids in a fashion they can relate to is both fun and educational.

NEXT PROGRAM: Monday, July 24th
Optimist Scholarship Winners 

Monday, July 10, 2006

The Optimist bell rang at 12:15. President Rick McKernan called us to order. Valerie Goodin gave today's invocation. Spence Turner led the Pledge of Allegiance. 

GUESTS 
This week we were honored to have some nice people joining us for lunch. Christine White was accompanied by a repeat visitor from her co-worker at LFCS, Katherine Oberg-Roberts. First time visitor Emily Hardt was the guest today of Travis Kempf. 

Thanks for sharing lunch with us this week - hope you'll be back again soon.

MYSTERY GUEST
Our Mystery Guest this week was Jim Yankee. In honor of the Fourth of July, Jim chose to honor the fourth person who shook his hand. The lucky person who eats for free next week is Travis Kempf. 

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES 
Of all of our members, none admit to having either a birthday or an anniversary this week. Think of your friends and neighbors who you wished a happy birthday this week, and recruit them for next year!

TAIL TWISTER
Our tail twister Steve Henderson came up with a Star-Spangled Banner joke in honor of the 4th of July, followed by one that was un "Bear" - able about a bear without ear..s. Trust me, you definitely had to be there to understand that one.

ANNOUNCEMENTS 
Sign up now for the fish fry at the clubhouse Wednesday, July 19th. You will have the opportunity to sign up again next week on July 17th. "Just Ask" a friend, neighbor, or co-worker to come with you - good fixin's guaranteed! 
The Central Missouri Food Bank chairperson Denise Payne reports the Food Bank asked for some manpower (and woman power) to help with a project, "Banking On The Boat," this Saturday, July 15th, at Bass Pro Shop between 10 am and 4 pm. If you can help, please contact Maureen O'Hara at the Food Bank at 474-1020, or just show up for the fun. 
New member initiation: The Downtown Optimist Club is proud to formally welcome these folks as new members: Mike Moran from Premier Bank, recruited by Red Leighton; Don Woodson, Sr. who is retired from University of Missouri, recruited by Rick McKernan.

PROGRAM
Steve Henderson, in yet-uncharted waters for him, played a serious role as he introduced our program guests this week. Educating us this week were Rich Sternadori and Rose Proctor representing the International Medical and Educational Trust. 

The focus of IMET is helping children deal with the physical and emotional damage resulting from traumatic catastrophic events around the world. Whether a war in Bosnia, an earthquake in Pakistan, a tsunami in Southeast Asia, or a hurricane right here at home, the normal lives of children are torn in half, and require special care to be restored. IMET provides the resources directly in some cases, but facilitates involvement with other agencies with special expertise in meeting certain needs.

IMET receives much of its funding from private sources, as well as some funding through the State Department to meet international commitments. 

NEXT PROGRAM: Monday, July 17th
Thom and Sarah Howard: 
"Communicating with kids through music"