OPTI-GRAM is the official newsletter of the Noon Optimist Club of Galveston
Editor is Carol Hodges
OPTI-GRAM
November 1, 2011
ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT! For the scandalous stuff you need to show
up at a meeting – Wednesdays at noon at Fishtales - next one November 2nd, 2011!
If my calculations are correct, we finished last year as a distinguished club and James R. as a distinguished LtGov. What is really special is that our region (Southwest) was number 1 for all of OI!
CHICKEN Club is off and running; we have completed two programs and distributed the CHICKEN Club t-shirts. James has been working with the students at the alternate school at St. Vincent’s House and just finishing up the paperwork to submit for an Octagon (JOOI) club there. What was extra nice was that two of the young men showed up with James at the tree lot this past Saturday to work.
Don & Carol are still working the new club on Bolivar Peninsula. Reception at the chamber and PTOs was positive now we just need individuals to step up ready to go. We plan to have weekly meetings through Nov 22nd then will need to take a break due to tree lot activities. If necessary, will pick it back up after the first of the year.
The teen portion of the Internet safety program from OI has been received. So we just need opportunities to show any of the section – grade school, teen, or adult.
Exciting news – the Noon Optimists will be sponsoring the 1st Annual Noon Optimists Flag Football tournament on November 20th at Weis Field beginning at 9:00 a.m. There will be four teams participating in a round robin format. It should conclude by 5:00 p.m.
Fundraisers: we are in the final days of the coupon book sales – have sold 30 with money out on 3 more which leaves 17 to go. If you haven’t gotten one or two to sell/give as a gift/etc., please call me. And of course we are now in tree lot mode. Mike & Don have been coordinating. There is still work to do before the trees arrive so come by the lot at the corner of Broadway & 21st on Saturday mornings to help. We are also working on the schedule. Plans are for the lot to open Nov 25th & close Dec 18th. Ideally there should be 3 people on the lot with one to woman/man the cash box. Weekdays as soon after 3:00 p.m. as you can get there until 9:00 p.m. and weekends (two shifts) 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. & 3:00-9:00 p.m. The request is for members to work two weekday evenings and at least one weekend shift. Get in touch with me or check the schedule at the lot once it opens for gaps.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
November 2nd – Board/business meeting
November 9th – Criminal Investigation Division of Galveston County Sheriff’s Office
November 16th – PGI
November 23rd – No Meeting
November 25th – Tree lot opens & trees arrive!!!!
December 5th - Chicken Club @ Odyssey @ 11:00 a.m.
December 6th – Chicken Club @ Crenshaw @ 11:00 a.m.
December 7th – Board/business meeting
December 8th – Chicken Club @ APA @ 12:00 noon & @ Morgan @ 1:20 p.m.
December 9th – Chicken Club @ ECU @ 12:30 p.m.
December 14th – Beverly Bubenik from GISD
December 18th – Tree lot closes; club Xmas party at 6:30 p.m.
December 21st – PGI; Xmas bonus collection for our regular waiter
December 28th – No Meeting
January 4th – Board/business meeting
ZONE/DISTRICT Events:
Nov 10th – Zone meeting @ 6:00 p.m. at Dickinson BBQ
Feb 17th-19th – 2nd Qtr District meeting in Kerrville
May – 3rd Qtr District meeting & oratorical contest in San Antonio (date & place TBD)
Jul 12th-14th – OI Convention in Milwaukee
Aug 16th – 19th – District convention at Houston Marriott Westchase
OPTI-GRAM
March 31st, 2011
ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT! For the scandalous stuff you need to show up at a meeting – Wednesdays at noon at Fishtales - next one April 6th, 2011!
What a busy past few months the club has had! We are on our way to another distinguished year!
Christmas tree sales have come and gone. Many thanks to Mike Annweiler for chairing this once again and thanks to those members who worked the lot and/or bought trees. While we made funds to cover most of our projects we do need to be working on other fund raisers. Please share ideas with the board and be willing to help work the project.
CHICKEN Club is winding down for this school year. Tomorrow will be the last presentation on kite safety. The excitement when they know they are each receiving a delta kite is ‘priceless’. May will be the final round with a presentation by the EMS group on bike and summer safety.
The essay and oratorical contests have both be held at the club level. Thanks to Betsy Horner for chairing the essay contest and Bob Bastien for chairing the oratorical contest. We have had winners from both contests as guests for lunch the past two weeks. What an incredible group of young people. The essay scholarship was presented in honor and memory of Richard Heckard who died in January. The oratorical scholarships were done in memory of past member Andy Vargas who died this past year. Both were funded using the OI Foundation pass through program. The winners were as follows:
Essay – 1st _ Shelbie Stannard, 2nd – Kylie Morgan, & 3rd – Jonathan Viernes
Oratorical (boys) – 1st – Jonathan Viernes, 2nd – Jared Gerfers & (girls) – 1st – Mahathi Mula, 2nd – Carsyn Beall.
As hinted at in the last newsletter we have brought in another club. The Optimist Club of Dickinson was installed in February. They are up and running and already working on their first fund raiser.
We are also sponsoring two sports teams this spring – the Sand Dollars (10U) in Lassie League and the River Bandits in Island Little League. I have made several games for each and as Don said at yesterday’s meeting “Tee-ball (the Bandits) is the best free entertainment on the island!”
On a sad note, this optimist year has seen the loss of members, past members, and family members: Ernest Bright (Oct, former member), Andrew Vargas (Oct, former member). Susan Heckard (Dec, family member), Dick Heckard (Jan), Cecil Lang (Jan, former member), Florine Bastien (Mar, family member). Please keep their family members in your thoughts and prayers.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
April 20th – PGI & board meeting
May – elections for officers for 2011-2012 year
ZONE/DISTRICT Events:
April 9th at 1:00 p.m. – Zone oratorical/meeting at Moody Gardens
May 13th-15th – 3rd Quarter District meeting in Kerrville; oratorical contest
July 3rd-5th – OI Convention in Baltimore
August 11th-14th – District convention in San Antonio
OPTI-GRAM
November 22nd, 2010
ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT! For the scandalous stuff you need to show up at a meeting – Wednesdays at noon at Fishtales - next one Dec 1st, 2010!
Another optimist year has begun. We did finish last year as distinguished! Congrats to the officers, board, and members who made that happen. The installation and awards banquet was such fun that we plan to do a joint one again at the end of this optimist year. We may even have another club to share in the festivities; stay tuned for more info.
The changes to by-laws passed as did the dues increase. To help cover the cost of that increase we can hold a fundraiser so long as we state that a portion (would specify) goes for administrative cost. Be thinking on that. The 2010-2011 budget was also presented.
With that, our big fundraiser starts Friday! The trees arrived this morning in one shipment. So we have just over 300 trees to sell to fund CHICKEN Club, our scholarship programs (essay & oratorical) and other youth/community related activities. Please check the club web site for a schedule for the lot; there are plenty of openings. Also come by for a tree and bring your neighbors! There are also price lists for distribution in break rooms and offices and churches.
CHICKEN Club has kicked off at five schools this year – Crenshaw, Morgan, ECU (at Weis), Odyssey, and Ambassadors Prep. We have done two programs at each school and are preparing for next month’s program. Check below for dates and times.
Betsy Horner is chairing the essay contest and letters and applications have been distributed to schools on the island. Bill McGarvey is handling the Mainland schools. Deadline for entries is January 28th, 2011. Look for oratorical info after the first of the year. Club contest should be in March with zone and regional in April and the district contest in May.
James and I attended the southwest parallel district contest in Dallas the weekend of 12-14 November along with close to 300 other optimists. What an incredible experience and there were some great ideas shared. OI President Danny Rodgers was there of course as he is a member of the North Texas district and was a great sport about all the jabs at Dallas teams and Baylor that were part of the skits the last night.
The Horners will be hosting the Christmas party; meat and soft drinks provided; bring a dish to share. BYOB.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
November 24th – No meeting
November 26th – Tree Lot opens (M-F 3-9:00 PM; S-S 9:00-9:00)
December 7th – CC @ Crenshaw @ 9:30 AM & Amb. Prep. @ 3:45 PM
December 9th – CC @ Odyssey @ 10:30 AM & Morgan @ 1:20 PM
December 10th – CC @ ECU @ 9:14 AM
December 15th – PGI & Board meeting
December 19th – Tree lot closes; club party at Horners (4 Willow) @ 6:00 PM
ZONE/DISTRICT Events:
December 16th – Zone meeting at Mainland Club @ 6:00 PM; IHOP on I-45
February 25th-27th – 2nd Quarter District meeting in Houston
May 13th-15th – 3rd Quarter District meeting in Kerrville; oratorical contest
July 3rd-5th – OI Convention in Baltimore
August 11th-14th – District convention in San Antonio
OPTI-GRAM
September 10th, 2010
ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT! For the scandalous stuff you need to show up at a meeting – Wednesdays at noon at Fish Tales- next one Sept 15th, 2010!
Please note that members are now required to pay for their meals rather than bill to the club. There is also a preocedure in place to expedite ordering and paying.
Another optimist year is winding down. We are on track to be not just an honor club but distinguished. Please come to a meeting this month and bring a friend.
Of course the big event this month will be the installation and awards banquet on September 25th. Current South Texas Governor Jack Hopkins wll be our installing officer for both Galveton Noon and the officers and directors for the newlsy formed Mainland Club. Please check out the enclosed invitation and mark it on your calendar or in your blackberry or wherever you keep important dates.
It is also the start of a new school year and we are working on getting the CHICKEN Clubs up and running. Kick-offs will be the week of September 29th - check out the club website for dates, times, and places or get in touch with me.
Please plan on being at the Sept 22nd meeting as we will be discussing changes to the by-laws and also a dues increase.
The by-laws changes are mostly cosmetic due to reflect the fact that OI has decided to drop attempts to be recognized as a 501C3 and stay a 501C4. If you would like to see the proposed changes prior to the meeting, please contact Don Poole.
The dues increase is due to increased OI dues to include the fact that OI is now doing a partial billing for Life Members. District & OI dues for the 2010-2011 are as follows:
Life Member - $16.00 + 26.99 = $42.00;
Regular member - $16.00 + 59.62 = $75.62.
Therefore, the current dues of $54.00 (Life) and $80.00 (Regular) allow no extra for club expenses.
The proposed increases being presented by the board are (annual):
Life - $80.00
Regular - $120.
The 2010 - 2011 Budget will also be presented at this meeting.
Do check out the club website - www.optimistclubofgalveston.com for meeting info and photos.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
September 16th - Xmas tree lot planning, Stewart Title, 6:00 p.m.
September 22nd - Meeting re: dues increase & by-laws changes
September 23rd - Board meeting @ 6:00 p.m. @ Fish Tales
October 2nd & 9th - Xmas tree lot work
ZONE/DISTRICT Events:
November 12th - 14th - 1st quarter regional meeting in Dallas/Fort Worth; check out the OI website (www.optimist.org) for more details on the parallel district conferences. Our region is Southwest.
OPTI-GRAM
June 30th, 2010
ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT! For the scandalous stuff you need to show
up at a meeting – Wednesdays at noon at Moody Methodist Church - next one July 7th, 2010!
It’s hard to believe that the third quarter is done! The highlight was obviously the celebration of 70 years of optimism on the island. Those of us attending the kick-off at the reception on April 18th had a wonderful time. Hope you saw the photos published in the June issue of the Coast magazine. That Wednesday, April 21st, we then celebrated our essay and oratorical winners with lunch at Gaido’s. Then on Thursday, April 22nd, several of us were present at the city council meeting to receive a proclamation for Optimist day presented by the mayor. It was on Channel 16 as well as Guidry news.
We have also had several interesting programs – one was a presentation from the Rainbow Connection, the program at UTMB that supports children undergoing chemotherapy. We were able to present a check for $281 raised at the silent auction held at the reception.
CHICKEN Club wrapped up another year. We will be getting a group together in early August to plan for next year. By the way, school calendars for next year are available at the school district web sites. The remaining kites from our March Chicken Club program were donated to Baytown’s 11th annual Childhood Cancer Picnic on June 5th. I think the parents had as much fun if not more flying them.
A NOW luncheon was held June 16th at the Sky Bar. Another one is in the works for August – tentatively a happy hour style event on the upper level at Miller’s Landing. The club is still working on three new optimist clubs – Dickinson, Mainland (Texas City/LaMarque), and Bay City. If you have any contacts in these areas, please let James know (409-763-3300).
We are exploring options for a meeting site. Criteria – meeting room, food, easy access, and available parking. Plan for the July meetings to be at Moody Methodist. They do have meal service but must be ordered ahead of time. The Wednesday selections are Tex-Mex. Cost - $10.00 per person to cover meal, tip, and drinks. You would also have the option of bringing your own. Check with Don for more details.
Election results for 2010-2011 year: Don Poole – president, VPS – Mike Annweiler & Duane Ullman, Secretary – Carol Hodges, Treasurer – open, Directors: James Rankin, Bob Bastien, Robert Cardenas, Marcey Casey, Betsy Horner, Ken Jencks, & Bill McGarvey.
Other upcoming events – dues increase, by-laws changes, intro of internet safety program.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Board meeting – July 22nd at 6:00 p.m. at Miller’s Landing
Sept 25th - Installation Banquet at Moody Gardens
ZONE/DISTRICT Events:
July 8th-10th – OI Convention, Denver
August 12th-15th -- District Convention, Radisson Hotel, San Antonio
Sept - 4th qtr. zone meeting in La Porte, date & time TBD
November 12th – 14th – 1st quarter regional meeting in Dallas/Fort Worth
OPTI-GRAM
March 29th, 2010
ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT! For the scandalous stuff you need to show up at a meeting – Wednesdays at noon at Golden Corral on the Seawall
The second quarter of the 2009-2010 year is almost over. And our 70th anniversary celebration is just around the corner. Enclosed with the newsletter you will find your invitation. Ken Jencks is working on a slide presentation so if you have photos to contribute please give him a call at 409-789-8660. We will also have an auction/raffle. Several of us are contributing baskets and other items. If you have something you would like to contribute, please let me know (409-740-3907). Our current governor and his wife will be there with a special greeting from OI President Mark Shriver. The original charter will again be on display and there will be a table for memorabilia. Please look around for club scrapbooks, vests, and anything of your years in optimism. Hope to see you there.
CHICKEN Club is going well. We just finished our kite safety program with one more round to go – bike & summer safety. We are now impacting almost 500 4th graders!
The essay and oratorical contests have been held and we will be recognizing our winners at a special luncheon on April 21st at noon at Gaido’s as part of our 70th anniversary celebration. We also have a request into Galveston City Council for a special recognition at their meeting on April 22nd. It would be great to have a number of us there.
The Christmas tree sales were up from last year. Many thanks to Mike Annweiler & Don Poole for once again carrying the lion’s share of this fund raiser.
A reminder about the club blog site at myfaimly.com. If you have not yet signed up please do so. Contact Duane at duaneullman@yahoo.com for instructions. We will be maintaining our club web site specifically for those looking for an optimist club but the blog site is for members. There is a discussion about joining Facebook.
A NOW dinner is in the works; Ken is handling this. The club is also working on three new optimist clubs – Dickinson, Mainland (Texas City/LaMarque), and Bay City. If you have any contacts in these areas, please let James know (409-763-3300).
We are also exploring other options for a meeting site. Criteria – meeting room, food, easy access, and available parking. Please let a board member know of your suggestions.
Other upcoming events – possible dues increase, club elections, intro of internet safety program, telemarketing fund raiser.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
April 18th – 70th Anniversary Reception
April 21st – Recognition of essay & oratorical winners at Gaido’s
April 22nd – City Council recognition
6:00 PM – Board meeting at Happy Buddha
May 3rd-7th – Final Chicken Club events
ZONE/DISTRICT Events:
March 30th – 7:00 PM Zone meeting & oratorical contest at Westminster Presbyterian Church fellowship hall
April 17th - 1:00 PM Regional oratorical contest at Fort Bend Library on Eldridge Road in Sugar Land
May 7th – 9th – District meeting at Elegante Hotel, Beaumont; district oratorical contest
May 20th – New club officer election results due to OI
June 3rd – District qualifier for OIJGC in Austin
June 5th – Childhood Cancer Picnic in Baytown
July 8th-10th – OI Convention, Denver
August 12th-15th -- District Convention, Radisson Hotel, San Antonio
November 12th – 14th – 1st quarter regional meeting in Dallas/Fort Worth (tentative)
OPTI-GRAM Notes
March 10, 2010
ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT! For the scandalous stuff you need to show up at a meeting – Wednesdays at noon at Golden Corral on the Seawall
Some things to be thinking about/doing over the next few weeks:
March 18th - board meeting at Horner's, at 6:00 PM; need to decide about telemarketing fundraiser
March 30th - zone meeting/oratorical contest at Westminster Presbyterian, 5127 Ave U, at 7:00 PM; will most likely know today if we will actually have to hold a contest. have arranged for judges. Will be getting trophies as needed from Treasure Island on Ave S; Don would you order zone oratorical certificates for me?
70TH Birthday celebration: Tentative agenda
Sunday, April 18th, 2-4:00 PM, reception at Moody Gardens; need to arrange for room (James-?), tables for display (need club memorabilia) and silent auction (if Genevieve willing to handle), cash bar; club should be able to handle cake, light appetizers, and soft drinks; invitations (Carol) to club members, dignitaries (local + optimists); article to paper (James-?), inviting former optimists in Galveston County to join us; slide show (Ken), recognition of longest serving optimists (Horner, Lera, Crews, Heckard, Williams, Schulz), Betsy to get in touch with them about writing memories
Wednesday, April 21st - noon lunch at Gaido's recognizing essay & oratorical winners (Marcey/Carol)
Thursday, April 22nd - recognition at City Council (James & as many as can attend); city secretary notified & will finalize with us
6:00 PM - NOW dinner at Golden Corral (Ken with support from the rest of us)
June 5th - Childhood Cancer at Baytown, 10;00 AM - 2:00 PM; will be taking leftover kites; need to share info with UTMB Pediatrics Oncology (Carol); would we be willing/able to offer rides?
Carol
OPTI-GRAM
December 14th, 2009
ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT! For the scandalous stuff you need to show up at a meeting – Wednesdays at noon at Golden Corral on the Seawall - next one Dec 16, 2009! Topic – the monthly PGI (Personal Growth & Involvement) program.
The first quarter of the 2009-2010 year is almost over. Hope you have seen all the articles, letters, photos, etc. in the Galveston Daily News the past few months.
The awards & installation banquet held at Moody Gardens on September 26th was great. We had the then current district governor and incoming district governor present for this event, Faye & Jack Hopkins. A good time was had by all. The original charter was on display and there are plans underway to celebrate our 70th birthday in April 2010 in a big way. Please look around for club scrapbooks, photos, and memorabilia of your years in optimism as I am sure we will be doing a display. Please note that I am being optimistic that those items survived that nasty three letter word we had exposure to 15 months ago.
CHICKEN Club is up and running at five GISD schools and two charter schools this year. We had expanded last year to all GISD because of the consolidation after Ike and at the end of last school year we were anxiously asked if we were coming back. That means we are involved in the lives of over 400 4th graders! The essay contest is the next focus. Material was distributed to the middle and high schools and several articles have appeared in the paper. The club deadline is January 29th, 2010.
The Christmas tree lot is up and running at the corner on 21st & Broadway. So if you haven’t got your tree, get out there. We are also looking for volunteers to staff the lot for the final big push toward Christmas. We are at the break even point.
A reminder about the club blog site at myfamily.com. If you have not yet signed up please do so. Contact Duane at duaneullman@yahoo.com for instructions. We will be maintaining our club web site specifically for those looking for an optimist club but the blog site is for members. Also OI is pushing for e-mail addresses for all members.
Club Christmas party will be at my old/new house Saturday, December 19th, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Please see the flier for more details. Hope to see you there. Guests are welcome.
A current club roster is also attached. Any corrections, please contact Duane Ullman.
For those of coordinating events around the school year, the 2009-2010 calendars are downloadable from the school web sites. If you are coordinating one of the Optimist programs, that material can be downloaded from www.optimst.org.
Hope to see you soon.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
December 14th – CHICKEN Clubs at Oppe, Odyssey, & Parker
December 15th – CHICKEN Club at Crenshaw & Rosenberg
December 16th – CHICKEN Club at Morgan & Ambassador Prep;
PGI program at noon meeting
December 17th – Board meeting on tree lot at 6:00 PM
December 19th – Party at 6:30 PM
No meetings on December 23rd & 30th
ZONE/DISTRICT Events:
February 26-28 – District meeting at Marriott Houston Westchase
If you received this by U.S. Mail and have an e-mail address, please let me know, as this will expedite receiving your newsletter and save the club some money. Cahhanc@aol.com
A lot of attention is being paid to the tree lot and it's showing. Many things are happening and this report is bound to leave out something. That's a good reason to use this blog and update it as things are brought up to speed.
The first weekend of sales are encouraging. There were actually five workers covering the lot one evening. We need to keep this up. Staffing the lot is so important.
We sent the tree lot sign-up sheet around at the meeting and now have many of the evenings and weekend shifts at least marginly covered. A few more members volunteering would really cover our staffing needs.
We're still waiting on the power hookup as of Wednesday noon. It's really good to have a member like Mike able to power us up with that huge generator. The weather is being very good to the trees, so they are staying fresh.
The trees are tagged thanks to Mae Ellen, and a convenient price list is available now courtesy of Marcey. We are looking forward to a good weekend coming up with the Dickens Festival bringing more traffic our way.
Chicken Club dates for December per Carol:
Monday, Dec 14th
9:30 AM - Oppe
12:00 noon - Odyssey
2:25 PM - Parker
Tuesday, Dec 15th
10:00 AM - Crenshaw
1:00 PM - Rosenberg
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