INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Diane Bass introduced guest Lt. Cryderman of the Salvation Army. Glad to see you with us again.

BRAGS: Barb Williams bragged that the Niles Haunted House has been rated one of the top 20 haunted houses in the entire Nation according to MSNBC. It is a must see event for people from all over during the month of October. Rudy Kappe registered his disappointment that there were no brags last week. He then bragged on the beauty of the season and how quickly the colors change. He said he has certainly enjoyed this fall season. Rudy also bragged that the Buchanan High School soccer team won the district competition against the highly ranked Edwardsburg team. The team now goes on to the regionals. Coach Fred Felty, who Rudy recruited many years ago for Optimist soccer, has taken the Buchanan soccer team on to its 100^th victory. The program has been very successful. Rudy said it was a joy to be with the team parents. Congratulations to the Buchanan High School soccer team! Linda Keech bragged on a recent two-week trip she and her husband took near the Smokey Mountains in North Carolina. She said that they went up one of these two track mountains. She bragged that during the trip down from one of these very rugged mountains their jeep was not the one that got too close to the edge and slid 1,000 feet down the side of the mountain.

50/50 RAFFLE: Dennis Middleton conducted the raffle. Gerald Leet and Maurice Nelson won $3 each. Congratulations Guys!!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Past President Todd announced that President Majerek might be still enjoying his honeymoon (or the honeymoon was a little too much for him) since he was due at today’s meeting but wasn’t here. He also announced that he had finally got the Optimist briefcase cleaned out. On November 7^th the speaker will be Fire Chief James Cripe and members of the Niles Fire Department along with Flash the new electronic fire engine. Also as a reminder, next Monday’s board meeting will be held at the Majerek administration offices on Main Street. The next race will be on Saturday, November 18^th at Battel Center in Mishawaka. Rudy Kappe announced the next soccer meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 7^th at 7 p.m at The Church. He also briefly told us about a planning committee meeting with the YMCA to discuss coordinating with them the running of Optimist soccer. He said they discussed subjects such as adding the YMCA name to the soccer league, the YMCA acting as facilitator of the program, the equipment drop off program and registration, etc. being in a central location. He said that the program is way too much work for the soccer committee and that the YMCA’s assistance is greatly needed and that he was very happy with the initial discussions.

GUEST SPEAKER: Past President Todd introduced today’s guest speaker as Jack Horton, a former state representative from the Grand Rapids area who will speak in favor of Proposition 1. Mr. Horton is currently the Kent County Commissioner. He is supportive of the passage of Proposal 1. He said the idea is to reform a school system that is actually a government monopoly and the consequences that go with that system. Mr. Horton said that Proposition 1 addresses fundamental issues such as the social justice issue for those who cannot afford a better education when the educational system they are in is performing poorly; there is also the issue of parental rights to choose where their children are educated and the issue of religious hostility. Mr. Horton said that the idea of Proposition 1 goes back to 1970. He said that prior to 1970 public funding of non-public and religious schools was not prohibited by the state constitution. It was however, prohibited by state laws. He said that during that time a movement began to eliminate private schools. That movement was struck down but then non-public schools were subjected to accepting some regulation. Since 1970 there has been attempts to get the government to provide some funding to these schools. He said that the issue is not about taking public money to fund private schools because the law requires all children to attend school. If you choose to go to private schools you have met the requirements of the law. He said that there are more than 200,000 children being educated outside of the government system and therefore are serving a public good by not adding those 200,000 children to an already overburdened system. The idea is to remove the prohibition from the state constitution. He said that other states are experimenting with tax aide, property tax credits and vouchers for private schools. Mr. Horton said that one of the duties of those in the legislature is to reevaluate old laws and determine if they are still necessary or if there is a better way to accomplish the same goal. He said the success of the reform of the welfare system is an example of revamping old laws to fit current needs. He said that the present government monopoly serves to insulate public schools from competition, which could stimulate better education. Mr. Horton said that the public school system is not threatened by the passage of Proposition 1. This proposition will ensure that parents have the right to choose and that those who do not have the financial ability to enroll their children in these non-public schools can do so. Mr. Horton then explained how an incredible amount of revenue has been used in the last few years to make the system better and this has not worked very well. He said that it was possible to use revenue other than the school tax revenue and explained how the program will work towards the good of all Michigan children. He spoke about the teacher testing portion of the proposal and how the proposal would work towards the common good. Mr. Horton urged the group to vote for Proposition 1 on Tuesday, November 7^th. Thank you Commissioner Jack Horton.

CLOSING CREED: Diane Bass led the group in reciting the Closing Creed at the end of the meeting.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY: "It is an endless and frivolous pursuit to act by any other rule than the care of satisfying our own minds in what we do." Richard Steele (1672 – 1729) English playwright, essayist and editor