OPTIZETTE

A Publication of the Niles Noon Optimist Club

Meetings every Tuesday at Noon at Angelo’s Restaurant – lower level in the Gallery Building in downtown Niles, MI ¨ Zone 19 Michigan Regional District

 

VOL. XXX, NO. 011403 ¨ ERIKA KIRTDOLL, PRESIDENT ¨ DIANE BASS, EDITOR ¨ P.O. BOX 63 NILES, MI 49120 ¨ JANUARY 14, 2003

 

DATELINE: Tuesday, January 14, 2003. President Erika Kirtdoll opened the meeting and asked Mike Listenberger to give the invocation and lead us in the pledge of allegiance.

 

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

 

BIRTHDAY: Paul Crouch celebrated a birthday on Sunday, January 12th. HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL! President Kirtdoll also noted that Past President Tom Majerek and Craig Krassow both have the same birthdays and the same wedding anniversary dates.

 

BRAGS: John Willis bragged on Jack Frost who shamed him into spending 6 hours to get the Optimist website all updated. John said that although the site is now up to date, we are having a problem with our ISP account and you won’t be able to see the changes yet. Jack Frost bragged that he got involved with a youth group back in December called LOG – Love of God. They started out with about 40 youths and now have well over 100 kids that have come to the Lord. He said it is great seeing young people learning and working together for God. Robert Todd bragged on President Kirtdoll who found out at 7:30 last night that we didn’t have a guest speaker and then made arrangements so that we could have one today.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Robert Todd announced that we need guest speakers for the rest of our meetings this month and for February and beyond. Please contact him at 683-0050 if you have a speaker to schedule. John Willis announced that a sign up sheet was being passed around for folks to give an hour or so to helping out with the soccer registration on January 18th and January 25th. He said that a soccer mailing went out last week and that we already have a pile of soccer mail come in. Renae Harrison and Louanne Wesner have done a wonderful job handling notification to the schools and the YMCA has already been busy with calls coming in about this year’s soccer program. John also announced that he had bulletins noting the upcoming soccer season. He asked members to take a bulletin back to their place of employment for posting where applicable. Carol Milburn announced the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Bowl for Kids Sake. The bowling event takes place April 5th and 6th at Shula’s Lanes, but teams must be formed now. Contact Carol if you want to form a bowling team for the Bowl for Kids Sake. Mike Listenberger announced that the JOOI Club has a webpage! Check it out at www.jooi.org . President Kirtdoll announced that at last night’s Board of Director’s Meeting it was decided to return to a standard 50/50 Raffle drawing for our meetings. Tickets will cost $1 for one and $2 for three tickets. As usual, half the take goes to the Youth Fund. So get out your money Optimists!

 

50/50 RAFFLE DRAWING: Dana Trowbridge conducted the 50/50 raffle. Rick Schpok won the $14 pot. Congratulations Rick! Let’s make the pot even bigger next week.

 

GUEST SPEAKER: President Kirtdoll introduced today’s guest speaker as her mom, Ms. Lorraine Urban. Lorraine is a polio survivor and talked to us about Post Polio Syndrome, which is a recurring debilitation of the nerves and muscles that affects people who had polio earlier in their lives. Lorraine had polio as a young child and can remember when she was only 1 ½ years old. She recalls growing up in the Bronx of New York and remembers the trauma of her many surgeries. She said that back then doctors didn’t always know a lot about polio and that two different vaccines where used. One vaccine was called the "live polio" vaccine and the other was called the "dead polio vaccine". Well it took them a few years to figure out that the live vaccine could actually transmit polio or cause your children to have it. The dead polio vaccine was the best and is still used today. With Lorraine’s polio she had to wear braces on both her legs until about the second grade. Post Polio Syndrome (PPS) is the after affect of polio that normally shows up 35 to 40 years after you have had polio. It has disabling symptoms like muscle weakness, muscle and joint pain, overwhelming fatigue, sleep disorders, heightened sensitivity to anesthesia and can cause difficulty breathing and swallowing. Many people with PPS must begin using canes, walkers and other aids. They have to be careful of so many things. Lorraine says that those affected must learn to slow down, even though they may not want to do so. They may also have to quit their jobs because they just can’t get around like they use to be able to do. They have to have checkups and testing to determine if their problems are related to simply getting older or PPS. Lorraine says that although she has braces, she just doesn’t like to wear them. She can still do some of the things she did and her family helps her a lot. She said that this condition can be very stressful. There is a support group that she attends in St. Joseph. The group meets in the Milestone building on Lakeview at 7 pm on Tuesdays. But she says that the group is dwindling a little because some of the members are no longer able to drive to the meetings or get around like they use to. Lorraine reminded the group that polio is not an extinct virus like many people seem to think. It is very prevalent in many Third World countries and can spread even to America. For now, she has learned to adjust her lifestyle and take it slow. Our thanks to Lorraine Urban for giving us so much information on PPS and Polio. Please visit us again soon.

 

If you’d like to see previous issues of the Optizette visit our site at www.nilesoptimist.org or visit the international site at www.optimist.org.

 

CLOSING CREED: Rick Schpok led the group in reciting the Closing Creed at the end of the meeting.

THOUGHTS FOR TODAY:

"Salvation is seeing that the universe is good, and becoming a part of that goodness." Arthur G. Clutton-Brock (1868-1924), Writer and Critic

"It is no use to wait for your ship to come in unless you have sent one out." Anonymous

"Where there is an open mind there will always be a frontier." Charles Ketterling (1876 - 1958), Inventor

TODAY IN HISTORY: January 14th

1321: Italian poet Dante Alighieri, author of The Divine Comedy, dies in exile in Ravenna, Italy.

1784: The Treaty of Paris is ratified by Congress to officially end the Revolutionary War.

1954: Marilyn Monroe marries baseball star Joe Dimaggio.

1972: Redd Fox stars in the premiere of Sanford and Son on NBC.

1973: The Miami Dolphins become the first professional football team to go undefeated for the season. They go on to win Super Bowl VII.

FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS:

Benedict Arnold, military leader (1741)

Matthew Fontaine Maury, oceanographer (1806)

Hal Roach, film producer (1892)

Julian Bond, civil rights activist and politician (1940)

Faye Dunaway, actor (1941)

MIND BENDING LATERAL THINKING:

Two scrabble champions played five games of Scrabble. Each won and lost the same number of games and there were no draws. How is this possible?

Answers to Mind Benders are listed below. Our thanks to Optimist Tom Clabaugh who has provided these mind benders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHO AM I?

Born on this day in 1875, I was a German-born theologian, philosopher, musicologist, medical missionary, and Nobel laureate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MIND BENDING LATERAL THINKING ANSWER:

There were not playing each other.

 

 

 

 

WHO AM I ANSWER:

Albert Schweitzer was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 in recognition of his lifetime achievements in theology, philosophy, musicology, and humanitarianism.