Our last meeting for the month of May was called to order by President Rick McKernan at 12:15. Our invocation was given by Bob Merriman, and Pete Bakutes led the Pledge of Allegiance Monday. 

GUESTS 
We had guests all around the room this week. Charlie Langrader talked his neighbor Dwight Edwards into visiting us today. The junior Ed Hampton made a repeat visit today joining his father, the senior Ed Hampton. Jim Matterson of Jones Realty was a guest Monday of fellow realtor Steve Povinelli. We were also happy to welcome another repeat visitor as Rick Guilford's daughter Jennifer Guilford joined us for lunch today. 

Thanks for joining us today, and please come back again.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES 
Dottie Stoerker-Peters brought us news of several birthdays over the next two weeks as we celebrate Memorial Day next Monday and don't have a meeting: Jim Yankee, May 28th; Al Buchanan, May 30th. We also recognize Jim Beckett and his bride Shirley with their wedding anniversary on May 30th.

Congratulations!

MYSTERY GUEST:
Our Mystery Guest this week was Pat Brown. Pat noted as he looked around the room that one of his grade school friends, Ed Hampton the Junior,was with us for lunch, and in recognition of that, Pat bestowed next week's free lunch on Ed Hampton the Senior.

TAIL TWISTER:
Our Sergeant-At-Arms, Steve Henderson, told a joke in honor of all the hard work volunteers do building homes for Habitat For Humanity. He especially honored all those people who have helped paint the porch-e in front of the house...probably had to be there to follow that one, just be careful where you park your Ferrari.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 
We have several items of business for the club:

At the board meeting last Thursday, the club welcomed new members Jim Fitzmaurice and Don Woodson, Sr.
Your board adopted two funding requests: $1000 for Show Me State Games and $1300 for the Bike Safety Program.
The Bicycle Safety program chaired by Jay Creasy was a great success with somewhere between 150 and 200 kids participating. Fellow Optimists John Sapp and Rick McKernan also joined the fun.
Get those reservations made for our birthday party. Saturday, June 10th. Mark your calendars! Signup is underway for the 70th Anniversary celebration on Saturday June 10th. Luke Chase is pulling the load on this one, along with Valerie Goodin and Red Leighton. Members and non-members are welcome!
This year's Soap Box Derby is just around the corner on Sunday, June 11th. Chuck Boots and Greg Schneider are looking for your help and support, so come on down! 
Tim Elliott is looking for several volunteers to help staff the Optimist East Missouri Junior World of Golf tournament on Thursday, June 15th. Really hard work for those who can "qualify" to volunteer! 
Project chair Larry Fick is collecting volunteers and their shirt sizes for Show Me Games. There are many opportunities to help out, but our main participation is distributing medals to the soccer champions on July 23rd and on July 30th. 
Our Elections Committee chairman Garry Spotts gave the second reading of the proposed slate of officers for the 2006-2007 Optimist year. Voting will be on Monday, June 5th. The slate of officers is as follows: President - Bo Bossaler; President-Elect - Bob Merriman; Vice-President - Kerry Bramon; Secretary - Jim Yankee; Treasurer - Steve Klein; New Directors for 2006-2008: Carl Scott, Denise Payne, Christine White. Other directors with one year remaining on their terms are: Sid Sullivan, Travis Kempf, and Steve Henderson.
PROGRAM
Max Miller introduced our program this week. One of the most basic needs the kids we serve have is the need for a safe, affordable home. Our guest speaker, Bill View, executive director, endured a morning and early lunchtime of "adversity" just to tell us about Columbia's Habitat For Humanity program. Every year, Habitat builds about eight new homes in our community. 

There are always opportunities to volunteer, either pounding a nail, cutting a board, or helping staff Habitat's "Re-Store" where numerous home items are recycled, with the profits almost enough to fund the materials for a whole house every year. 

Habitat's home recipients must have completed a sizeable amount of "sweat equity" before their own home is started. The mortgage for the home is done in two parts: the first mortgage is a low interest loan that covers basically the cost of the materials used to build the home; the second mortgage, representing the difference between the first mortgage and the fair market value of the home, is a "forgivable" loan in which 5% of the loan is "erased" for each year the client lives in and maintains the home.

Bill reports the screening process is very thorough, and that Habitat has had very few problems with the people or the loans. Most take great pride in the home they literally helped build.

Among the club members actively involved with Habitat are Max Miller, Steve Baumgartner, and Steve Povinelli.

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

June Program Chairperson: Pat Kelley
June 5th Program: Ethan Froese, Junior Cycle Team

Monday, May 15, 2006

President Rick McKernan called our meeting to order at 12:15. The invocation today was given by Kevin Quinn, and Bill Arendt led our patriotic group in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

GUESTS 
Our visitors today included Alex Eaton, who was a guest of Jerry Carrington. (Incidentally, we were happy to Jerry again after being AWOL several weeks.) Rick McKernan was pleased to welcome his guest Don Woodson, Sr., who retired from the University of Missouri. Apparently we didn't upset Don too badly, as he closed Monday's meeting by completing an application and a check for membership!


Also visiting us today were Coca Cola cold drink manager Cindy Benney and local CPA Angie Cunningham, both of whom are affiliated with the local Miss Columbia pageant.

Welcome to all of you, and please come back again.

GREETER
Welcoming our members with a cheerful smile and a hearty handshake was this week's greeter, Jim Wright. Jim is relatively new to Columbia, but has gone full steam to become a part of Columbia, and is committed to give back to the community he now calls home. Jim works as sales manager for Human Resource Staffing, and was recruited by neighboring Optimist Bill Plank.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES 
Optimists were busy celebrating birthdays and blowing out candles this week: John Sapp, May 16th; Carroll Wilkerson, May 16th; Jim Flowers, May 16th; Chuck Farquar, May 17th; Brian Hudspeth, May 21st; and Tom Marrero, May 21st.

Congratulations!

MYSTERY GUEST:
The Mystery Guest this week was our bashful friend Luke Chase. Luke deliberated thoughtfully, and rewarded Max Miller with next week's free lunch in recognition not only for what he does for the Downtown Optimist Club, but also for his involvement in other community projects such as Habitat for Humanity.

TAIL TWISTER:
Our Sergeant-At-Arms Steve Henderson commented he felt right at home with a visit from Miss Columbia, since his own checkered past includes competition in Mister Muscle pageants. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 
We have several items to add to your calendars. Some of our upcoming highlights are: 

The Bicycle Safety program chaired by Jay Creasy will be this Saturday,May 20th at State Farm. Come to the back parking lot at State Farm from 10 to 12 to join the fun.
Signup is underway for the 70th Anniversary celebration on Saturday June 10th. Luke Chase is helping organize this event. Let's get those reservations made. Mark your calendars! Get registered now to guarantee your seat to share in this fun event. 
Chuck Boots and Greg Schneider are readying for this year's Soap Box Derby on Sunday, June 11th. 
The Junior World of Golf project chairman Tim Elliott is looking for several volunteers to help staff the tournament on June 15th. 
Show Me Games are just around the corner, and project chair Larry Fick is collecting volunteer shirt sizes. There are many opportunities to help out, but our main participation is distributing medals to the soccer champions on July 23rd and on July 30th. 
Our Elections Committee chairman Garry Spotts gave the first reading of the proposed slate of officers for the 2006-2007 Optimist year. Garry noted some of the director positions are two year terms that come up next year.

PROGRAM
Our guest speaker this week was Leslie Bramlett, who currently holds the title of Miss Columbia. Leslie presented many reasons why she has an interest in pageant participation, but one of the main reasons is that this pageant is one of the top scholarship programs in the world, awarding nearly $40 Million.

As a pageant contestant, Leslie's platform focuses on the need to understand the grieving process in kids, especially due to the loss of a parent through death, divorce, separation, incarceration, abandonment, or other reasons. Young people often, incorrectly, assign feelings of guilt to themselves for events that happen in their families, and special care is needed to restore and maintain their own feelings of self worth.

Some of our more senior members recalled that the Downtown Optimist Club helped sponsor the very first Miss Columbia pageant many moons ago. We wish Leslie all the best as she competes for the Miss Missouri title in just a few weeks.

Next Week on May 22nd: The executive director for Habitat for Humanity, Bill View, is coming to tell us how we can keep our hammers, our saws, and our building talents from getting rusty.

Our meeting adjourned at 12:55 pm with the Optimist Creed.

Monday, May 8, 2006

President Rick McKernan called our meeting to order at 12:15. Our invocation was given by Bo Bossaller, and Chuck Pease presented the Pledge of Allegiance. 

GUESTS 
Meredith Donaldson brought a guest today. Repeat visitor, Austin Devoe, works with Meredith as an intern with Rock Bridge State Park. Austin has visited us before, and will be graduating from MU this Saturday and is looking for gainful employment in a conservation-related field. Remember, the sooner we find him a job, the sooner he will be paying into the social security trust fund that will be supporting so many of us.
We were also joined today by the Mr. Harre the younger, son of Ed and Valerie Harre. He is always a welcome and smiling addition to our group. Remember, your Optimist club really does make a difference in the lives of children in our community. You, personally, can recruit just one new member to help bring out the best in kids.

GREETER
Our greeter this week was Brandon Beddoe. Brandon is no stranger to Columbia, having graduated from MU a few years back. Brandon joined the Marriott Corporation in Kansas City, and then jumped at the chance to return to Columbia to help open the new Courtyard Marriott at the intersection of AC and Hwy 63. Along the way Brandon married his wife Nicole and became even more linked to Columbia with the purchase of a home here.
The Downtown Optimist Club is proud to welcome Brandon as one of our newest members.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES 
There must be something magic about May 12th. Four of our members share the same birth date. The lucky four this week are Christine White, Wayne Taylor, Les Reschley, and Tom Luttrell.
Congratulations!

MYSTERY GUEST
Our Mystery Guest this week was none other than Jess Weaver. Jess awarded this week's free lunch to Buck Rikli.

TAIL TWISTER
Steve Henderson was recorded on the roster as AWOL this week. Luckily, no one stepped up to fill his shoes by presenting a joke this week.

ANNOUNCEMENTS 
We have several items to add to your calendars. Some of our upcoming highlights are: 
The Bicycle Safety program chaired by Jay Creasy will be May 20th at State Farm. 
Five DOC teams are in the Central Missouri Food Bank's Annual Golf For Food Tournament on May 15. Our team captains are Ellis Havard, Bill Lloyd, Jake Jolley, Pat Brown, and Jim Murphy. 
Plan on attending the 70th Anniversary celebration on Saturday June 10th. 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.

PROGRAM
Peggy Kirkpatrick, Executive Director for the Central Missouri Food Bank, joined us today with a special thanks for all our club does to help feed the hungry children here in our midst. The Downtown Optimist Club has long been a strong supporter of the Food Bank, and we recognize the tremendous service this organization provides to the young people here in Boone County and Central Missouri.
Peggy outlined one of the Food Bank's newer programs, the Buddy Pack, which helps provide food to kids during the school breaks and holidays.

Next Week on May 15th: Our guest next week will be Miss Columbia, Leslie Bramlett, who will be sharing with us about the grieving process in children.

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

Monday, May 1, 2006

The Optimist Bell rang a few minutes early Monday as we tried to juggle a full program. President Rick McKernan called our meeting to order at 12:06. Dottie Stoerker-Peters presented our invocation today. Jack Cruise led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

GUESTS 
There were a number of smiling new faces joining us for lunch today. This week's Red Leighton entourage of guests included Emily Tepen, Danielle Glenn, and Kelly Nenoff, all with KRCG TV. Jim Yankee's visitor today was Fred Manuel from Nitro Fitness. Two of our three judges for the Safety Awareness Poster Contest lunch with us today. Joining us were Jeff Nichols from the Columbia Police Department, and Chris Hessenflow, MU student and an intern with the Columbia Police Department. 

Our co-sponsor of the poster contest, the Board of Directors for the Neighborhood Watch Association, also joined us today. From their board were Officer Mike Hayes, James Russell, Melissa Hendren, Hugo Vianello, including two of our own Optimists, Connie Howe and Buck Rikli.
Let's share the good news about the many wonderful programs your membership makes possible for the kids in our community.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES 
Special "Optimistic" birthday wishes this week to Bill Arendt on the 1st, Red Leighton and Cynthia Mitchell on the 2nd, and Luke Chase on the 3rd.
Congratulations!

MYSTERY GUEST:
This week our Mystery Guest was Mike Hatchett. Mike noted that Red Leighton almost always brings someone to share lunch with the Downtown Optimists, so he rewarded Red with next week's free lunch!

TAIL TWISTER:
Steve Henderson provided a "blond" joke today about a man who threw himself off a tall building because he had the same lunch packed in his lunchpail every day...and he packed his own lunch. There were a number of the rest of us headed for that same tall building to jump after hearing Steve's joke...

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 
Announcements were short and sweet this week. Among the highlights were dates from some of our upcoming programs and events: 
The Bicycle Safety program chaired by Jay Creasy will be May 20th at State Farm. 
The East Missouri District meeting will be in StL on May 5-6. 
Five DOC teams are in the Central Missouri Food Bank's Annual Golf For Food Tournament on May 15. 
Plan on attending the 70th Anniversary celebration on Saturday June 10th. 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.

NEW MEMBER INDUCTION 
Several people were formally inducted as new members of the Downtown Optimist Club today. We are honored to welcome the following as official Optimists: Jim Wright (Human Resource Staffing) , sponsored by Bill Plank; Paul Clark (Realtor), sponsored by Jim Yankee; Todd Kendrick (Memorial Funeral Home), Cynthia Mitchell (City of Columbia), and Sandy Freese (Boone National Savings & Loan) all sponsored by Red Leighton; Diana Duncan (University 4-H Extension), sponsored by Suzie Naeger.
Take time to meet these great people and share with them why you are a member of this great organization.

PROGRAM
Our program this week featured three young artists who won the 2006 Safety Awareness Poster Contest jointly sponsored by the Neighborhood Watch Association and the Downtown Optimist Club. The winner from each school won a $50 savings bond. The overall 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place winners also won $150, $100, and $75 respectively. First Place Overall Winner was Joanna Song from Shepard Elementary. Joanna is here from Korea. Her father works for the Korean government and is here as a visiting scholar. Second Place Overall went to Kayla Bratcher from Columbia Independent School. Kayla and her parents joined us as well. Our Third Place Overall winner was Elizabeth Best who attends Rock Bridge Elementary. Elizabeth's parents and her brother came to help Elizabeth celebrate her award.
Also honored was Tracy Hager, Joanna's teacher at Shepard Elementary, who received $100 as the teacher for the First Place Overall student. This helps us acknowledge the valuable role teachers play in motivating students to do their best. 

Each of our young artists told us about their posters, and why they selected the topic they did to illustrate.

Next Week on May 8th: Be there next week to hear Peggy Kirkpatrick, Executive Director for the Central Missouri Food Bank. 

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