DATELINE: Tuesday, November 12 2002. President Kirtdoll opened the meeting and asked Butch Harrison to give the invocation and lead us in the pledge of allegiance.

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: President Kirtdoll introduced her guest and her other boss, Laurie Ryan, the Athletic Director for the Niles Community School system. Carol King introduced her guest Crissy Williams from Tyler’s Refrigeration. Crissy is the Warranty Administrator and has a 14 year old son.. Thanks for being with us today ladies.

BRAGS: Rudy Kappe bragged on the program that Liz Capron gave last week. He said it was a story of courage with a happy ending. President Kirtdoll bragged on herself and a brochure she put together for the girl’s tennis team’s banquet. Past President Tom Majerek bragged that at the last Michigan District meeting he received the 3^rd Quarter Outstanding Governor award because of the 8 new members he and other Optimists were able to recruit for the Decatur club.

FOR ALL THE MARBLES: Osceola Skinner conducted the 50/50 raffle. Carol King won a chance at the pot. L L L L L L L She did not pull the Joker. She pulled the Nine of § . Try your luck again the next time Carol, there’s bound to be a winner.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Robert Rhynard announced that the next race is "The Turkey Trot", which will be held this Sunday, November 17 at Battel Center. Race starts at 1 pm; members should be present by 12:30. Liz Capron announced that she is the new Absent Member Chairperson. She will be sending cards, etc. to members who haven’t been seen in a while to try to get them to come by a Tuesday lunch meeting. Rudy Kappe announced a big Thank You to Lyle McMullen. Seems that they needed to spread 50 bales of hay on the new soccer fields and Lyle was able to get them the loan of equipment and an operator from the landfill to do the job. Thanks Lyle. Past President Majerek announced that the Board of Directors had initiated a new membership policy whereby one member pays full price for his/her dues and other members of the family or company pay only half the price. There must be only one invoice sent to one address for this to work. He also said that the initial membership fee had been dropped from $35 to $25. Monthly dues are still $30. The board also decided that the initial sign up fee will be $25 for new members payable by the next quarter. He also announced that the Optimists would be sponsoring next year’s Duck Race entirely. The Past President also announced that Liz Capron had led this month’s board meeting and done a good job of it. President Kirtdoll announced that at the annual district awards banquet our club received 53,000 points to put us in 3^rd place right behind the Detroit Optimists. Yeah Optimists! She also talked about a new possible fun raiser that involves saving pop cans. And finally IT’S SALVATION ARMY BELL RINGING TIME. Osceola Skinner has a sign up sheet for Optimists to sign up and take a turn at bell-ringing. Bell ringing days are on Saturdays December 7^th, 14^th and 21^st at Walmart from 5 to 9 pm and at Radio Shack from 9 am to 5pm. Sign up for an hour or two!

GUEST SPEAKER: Lloyd Phillips was today’s guest speaker. Lloyd talked to the group about his son David and the book he wrote in David’s memory. David was 43 years old when he died of cancer. Lloyd said that it was a book of hope; hope that comes to us through faith and trust in the Lord. He said that although David was an agnostic, he made peace with God before he died. An agnostic is not the same as an atheist. An atheist does not believe in the existence of God. An agnostic says that there could be a God, but you can’t prove that he does or does not exist and in any event, if God does exist he has made us self-sufficient unto our selves. Lloyd said that Faith and Hope come in many forms. He told us stories about people who had contacted him after reading the book including a teacher from New York. This teacher had recently lost her brother to cancer and the book was so enlightening and uplifting for her that she ordered 15 copies so as to give the book to members of her family in hopes that they would receive some comfort. Lloyd recently had a book signing at Banner Books in St. Joseph and will have another book signing at Majerek’s Hall of Cards and books on November 23^rd. Lloyd said he did not intend to write the book because of therapeutic reasons; however, it was therapeutic for him in the end. He said that sometimes writing can be a healing process. But he really wrote the book to document his own experience; as a kind of tribute to his son’s life and in remembrance of his son. Lloyd said that he used the bulk of the proceeds from his first book, "Fire in the Sky" to help fund the scholarship fund in his son’s name for the children of the victims of 911. He also said that a large portion of the money also went to the American Cancer Society also in remembrance of his son. Lloyd showed us a picture of David. In the picture David has his pet python wrapped around his neck. Lloyd said that David was passionate about animals and "never met a beast he didn’t like". David also was a self-taught sign maker and owned a sign shop called Lane Signs. Lloyd uses the logo for the sign shop on the front cover of his book. David was a home steader in Oneida, KY and was into organic gardening, was a thespian especially in children’s plays and was known as the Kentucky Colonel because of his efforts on behalf of that city’s Chicken Festival. David was also an artist and a lover of music. In fact, Lloyd said that at David’s memorial service they played some blues and jazz. David was the father of two and was a grandfather and was an avid fan of the Kentucky Wildcats. Lloyd also told us about David’s final trip to Mackinaw Island. We offer our thanks to Lloyd Phillips for sharing with us his story of David’s wonderful life.

"I am grateful for America’s glorious past; I am awed by its unbelievable present; I am confident of its limitless future." William Arthur Ward, Writer

"Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it." Ted Williams (1918 – 2002), baseball player

TODAY IN HISTORY: November 11

Add 2 to 171 and make it less than 18.

Add 2 to 171 and make it less than 18. Answer: 17 ½

Last week’s Mind Bender:

In a deserted barn, a dead man is found hanging from a central rafter, with a wet patch underneath him. The rope around his neck is five feet long and his feet are four feet off the ground. The walls are fifteen feet away. There is nothing else in the building, no ladders or boxes. How did the man manage to hang himself?

Answer: He stood on a block of ice and waited for it to melt.