December 4, 2009

Now that the holidays are upon us, I hope each of you had a blessed Thanksgiving.  I am very thankful for my family, health, friends, YOU and the opportunities that we all have as Optimists to make the lives of children in our communities better!  Now is just as good a time as any to look for opportunities to serve the kids and the more members you can get to join your club, means more kids will be helped.   What a great way to give back to your community – especially during this holiday season:  become an Optimist member!  Remember, just by wearing your Optimist name badge, you’re taking that first step to start a conversation on how you and others can and do help kids!  Looking for a gift that gives back?  Why not consider a Friend of Optimist (FOO) membership?  Or make a contribution to the Optimist International Foundation in honor of that special someone?  Either way, you’re making a difference in helping children in your community!

 If you were not able to attend the first quarter conference in Jefferson City on November 13 & 14, you were missed!  We were honored to have two representatives in attendance from Optimist International:  Regional Vice President Dennis Desmond; and Past International President and Certified Trainer Ronnie Dunn.  Ronnie provided us with motivation and insight on growth.  The “OSI: Optimist Success Investigation: How Do We Grow” session facilitated by Ronnie provided many ideas and discussions on how to grow our clubs as well as locate communities that need an Optimist Club.

 Following lunch, Middle America Regional Vice President Dennis Desmond spoke to us on growth and how one person can make a difference with the “Daffodil Principle.”  The afternoon session provided an in-depth presentation from Ronnie Dunn on the Internet Safety Program that Optimist International is partnering with IKeepSafe.org.  She stressed that we need to get this information into our communities in order to keep our youth safe.  If your club has not received or ordered a copy of the Internet Safety Program, please contact Optimist International at 1-800-500-8130.

 A special “thank you” to the chairs of Oratorical, Essay, and CCDHH (Communication Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing) for their sessions on Saturday afternoon on planning and conducting these important scholarship contests.  “Money 101:  Helping Students Make the Financial Grade” was just what we needed to start working with the schools to publicize these scholarships.  If you have any questions about these programs, please contact Jeanne Sleeth for Oratorical; Jeanne Rollins for Essay, and Amy Combs for CCDHH.  Thank you to Kelly Jeffries and Martha Hoglund for stepping in to help Amy as she was unable to attend due to family illness.

 The second quarter conference will be on February 12 & 13, 2010 in Independence.  The Leadership Development Committee is working on providing you several opportunities to learn more about our organization and to help find the leader in you!  Linda Stein from Indiana will be visiting as our certified trainer.  Also, due to the many positive responses from you, the Conferences/Convention and Leadership Development committees are working to have many more activity tables available for you to visit and obtain supplies and ideas on projects and fundraising.  If you would like an activity table to display your project, please contact Andy and Lisa Enos to make the necessary arrangements.  So plan on joining your fellow Optimists on that Valentine’s Day and Daytona 500 weekend!  It will be a great weekend of Optimism!

 Pat Jones, the district newsletter chair, is always looking for articles and information on what your club is doing.  Please share with us your activities by sending them to Pat at: pat-jns@sbcglobal.net.  She will be preparing to send out the next newsletter soon, so be sure to submit them as soon as possible.

Thank you for all you are doing to help kids in your community.  We’re 65 laps (days) into the race (year) with many more to come.  More members means more kids served.  Keep up the great work!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Yours in Optimism,

Governor Debbie