DATELINE: Tuesday, January 7, 2003. President Erika Kirtdoll opened the meeting and asked Rev. Lloyd Phillips to give the invocation and lead us in the pledge of allegiance.

INDUCTION OF NEW MEMBERS: President Kirtdoll conducted a membership induction ceremony for Jazmine Kyles, Carol Milburn and Susan Armstrong. Jazmine was sponsored by Sherry Bunch. Carol and Susan were sponsored by Past President Tom Majerek. Welcome to the Niles Noon Optimist Club ladies.

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: There were no guests other than our guest speakers.

BRAGS: Marsha Pedzinski bragged on the Niles High School Volleyball teams and their defeat against the Buchanan High School teams. They won 2 of 3 games. She also bragged on her daughter who was a starter for the team. Robert Todd bragged on Optimist Rick Schpok. It seems that while Bob was bell ringing this past year, Rick and a friend came by and performed a little music. Everyone liked that and it helped the Christmas Kettle out too. Thanks Rick. President Kirtdoll bragged on Renae Harrison and Liz Capron who stood in for her at meetings while she attended tax classes. She also bragged on Marsh Pedzinski who also had music played while she did bell ringing. Finally, President Kirtdoll bragged on the Steelers winning big. Past President Tom Majerek bragged that although it was a dismal experience watching Notre Dame lose in the Gator Bowl, it was great that they didn’t lose by more than 20 points.

FOR ALL THE MARBLES: Dana Trowbridge conducted the 50/50 raffle. Craig Krassow won a chance at the pot. He did not pull the Joker. He pulled the Nine of § .

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Robert Todd announced that we need guest speakers for January, February and beyond. Please contact him at 683-0050 if you have a speaker to schedule. John Willis announced that this year’s soccer program administration is well underway by the Soccer Committee. Soccer Signups take place January 18^th and January 25^th from 9:00 am to noon at the YMCA and from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at Buchanan Middle School. John said that volunteers were now distributing soccer information to the schools. We should have many soccer applications coming in soon. President Kirtdoll announced that the next Board of Director’s Meeting will be held next Monday, January 13^th at 6:00 at the Majerek’s Corporate Headquarters on Main Street in Niles. She also announced that today would be the last meeting for Optimist Jon Martin, who has been promoted and will be leaving the area to work in Battle Creek. Jon has agreed to remain a board member until a replacement could be found. Best Wishes to Jon and his family. We’ll miss you. President Kirtdoll announced that we would need a volunteer to take over the position of Youth of the Month chairperson since Jon is leaving and a volunteer for the Board of Directors to take his place. New member Jazmine Kyles volunteered to handle the position of Youth of the Month Chairperson. John Willis announced that Jon Martin also was an avid volunteer on the race timing crew and that our group will need someone to step in and help out in that area too. John also announced that there may be some interest in starting an Optimist Club in Coloma. He will keep the club apprised of this matter. Past President Tom Majerek announced that there will be a Zone Meeting after the Board of Director’s Meeting on Monday, January 13^th at 7 pm.

GUEST SPEAKERS: Sherry Bunch introduced today’s guest speakers as Margaret Dyer and Eileen Tony from the local Toastmaster’s International club. Margaret spoke to the group about the new Toastmaster’s Club formed in Niles last year. She said there were currently 15 members and that they needed 20 members to become chartered. She invited Optimists to come and visit their group and learn what they were all about. Margaret said that she is a life-long resident of the area and is retired from the Niles Utilities Department. She said that the Toastmasters are world-wide and were established in 1924. There are 9,000 clubs in over 70 countries. A new club is being chartered every 10 hours. She said that many people join Toastmasters for different reasons – to be motivational speakers, to increase their own self-confidence and skills or just to meet new people and learn new things. She said it took a year of Toastmaster’s meetings just for her to be able to stand up in front of her church and speak. She said the experience has been well worth it. Margaret said that salesman, realtors and Sunday school teachers are some of the people interested in the group. She also said that employers sometimes send their employees to the clubs to gain new insight and speaking skills. The whole idea behind Toastmasters is that they are people helping each other. They work from manuals to get better at speaking before an audience. It is a self-improvement club. The idea is to improve your listening skills as well as other communication skills. The group meets every Thursday morning from 8:30 to 9:30 at the Chamber of Commerce building. It is $50 to join the club and once they are chartered dues will probably be $50 a year. They have structured meetings. Margaret then introduced Eileen Tony who told us more. Eileen is a Regional Sales Manager at Chemical Shoreline Bank and is very active. She got involved because at Chemical Bank Shoreline she had 12 managers that she wanted to help to heighten their performance levels and take on greater opportunities. She checked the Toastmaster’s website and learned more about Toastmasters and found a club in South Bend. She then contacted Margaret who helped her get started with the Speechcraft project. Speechcraft helped her help her managers organize themselves and build more confidence. She said it is a 5-week course that worked wonders. Eileen said that some of the benefits of Toastmasters are: increased confidence level, opportunity to learn to be quicker on your feet in your thinking abilities and how you respond, evaluations done by people who care about you, it offers magazines with ideas, allows you to make new friends and contacts, provides a wealth of information and is a way to encourage growth and ongoing learning. Eileen also talked about things like using body language, good eye contact and other listening skills. The Niles Noon Optimists would like to thank Margaret Dyer and Eileen Tony for being our speakers today and providing so much new information about Toastmasters.

CLOSING CREED: Jon Martin led the group in reciting the Closing Creed at the end of the meeting.

"The future is not there waiting for us. We create it by the power of imagination." Fir Vilayant Khan, Writer

"To be civilized is to be incapable of giving unnecessary offense, it is to have some quality of consideration for all who cross our path." Agnes Repplier (1855-1950),Writer and Historian

TODAY IN HISTORY: January 7th

1610: Italian astronomer Galileo observes three satellites orbiting Jupiter.

1785: French aeronaut Jean Pierre Blanchard and American physician John Jeffries of Boston are the first to successfully cross the English Channel in a gas balloon.

1913: The process to obtain gasoline from crude oil is patented.

1927: Commercial phone service across the Atlantic begins.

1953: U.S. president Harry Truman announces the development of the hydrogen bomb.

How many mice are there in the room if there is a mouse in each of the four corners, and opposite each mouse there are three mice and at each mouse’s tail there is a mouse?

Four mice -- each one near the tail of the mouse in the adjacent corner.