oz030325

OPTIZETTE

A Publication of the Niles Noon Optimist Club

Meetings every Tuesday at Noon at the Apple Tree Restaurant in downtown Niles, MI ¨ Zone 19 Michigan Regional District

VOL. XXX, NO. 032503 ¨ ERIKA KIRTDOLL, PRESIDENT ¨ DIANE BASS, EDITOR ¨ P.O. BOX 63 NILES, MI 49120 ¨ MARCH 25, 2003

DATELINE: Tuesday, March 25, 2003.

BRAGS: Craig Krassow brags this week on his daughter Jessica Krassow. Jessica has been inducted into the National Honor Society at her Junior High School. Congratulations Jessica!

ANNOUNCEMENT: The Niles Noon Optimists will meet at their new location beginning this Tuesday, April 1^st. The new location is the Apple Tree Restaurant on Main Street in downtown Niles. Lunch still only costs $6.50. See you there!

The Niles Noon Optimists have a timing crew which goes out several times during the year to time races in our area. The number of volunteers needed depends on the size of the race. Volunteers needed can range from 8 to 25 people. The number of participants can range from 200 to 1,200 racers. Time spent is usually only a couple of hours for each race. These timing races are a major fund raiser for our group and provide from $7,000 to $10,000 yearly to our Youth Fund. The major race for us is our own Niles Triathlon. The Niles Triathlon is completely organized and coordinated by our group. Between 300 and 500 participants are involved in the "true triathlon" of swimming, biking and running. The Niles Triathlon is always held on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. If you would like to be a volunteer or participant in any of the following races, please contact Robert Rhynard at 269-684-4694.

OPTIMISTS – WE NEED VOLUNTEERS. PLEASE CALL BOB RHYNARD TODAY AND MAKE A COMMITMENT TO HELP OUT.

NILES NOON OPTIMISTS RACE SCHEDULE FOR REMAINDER OF 2003

May 3^rd	Three Rivers Run	8 am
May 24^th	Lakeland Athletic Club – Niles	8 am
June 21^st	Volunteer Center Run Fernwood Botanical Center	8 am
June 28^th	Summerfest Run Merrifield Park South Bend	9 am MI TIME
July 4^th	Zoo Fest – Fort Wayne, IN	8 am MI TIME
July 19^th	Venetian Festival St. Joseph, MI	8 am
July 26^th	Steve’s Run – Dowagiac, MI	8 am
August 2^nd	Riverfest Run – Niles
August 9^th	Children’s Triathlon South Bend YMCA	9 am MI TIME
August 16^th	Three Rivers Triathlon	8 am
August 30	Niles Triathlon	8 am
October 4^th	Cancer Awareness Run Edison Lakes – Mishawaka, IN
November 16^th	Turkey Trot – Battel Center Mishawaka, IN	1 pm
December 6^th	Jingle Bell Run - College Football Hall of Fame – South Bend

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. Don’t forget the Niles JOOI Club site is www.jooi.org .

THOUGHTS FOR TODAY:

"May your life be as beautiful as a summer day with just enough clouds to make you appreciate the sunshine." Unknown

"I think the thing I keep saying to myself every year . . . . is that I want to become a better player at the end of the year than I was at the beginning . . . If I can keep doing that year after year for the rest of my career, I’ll have a pretty good career." Tiger Woods, Professional Golfer

"Ambition can creep as well as soar." Edmund Burke (1729 – 1797), Statesman

TODAY IN HISTORY: March 25

1634: The first settlers arrive in Maryland and found the town of Saint Mary's.

1807: Britain abolishes the African slave trade.

1957: The Treaty of Rome was signed, providing for the establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC), or Common Market.

1975: King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was assassinated; he was succeeded by his half brother, Prince Khalid ibn Abdul Aziz.

FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS:

David Lean, film director (1908)

Howard Cosell, television sports commentator (1920)

Flannery O’Conner, writer (1925)

Aretha Franklin, singer (1942)

Elton John, singer-songwriter (1947)

MIND BENDING LATERAL THINKING:

A completely naked man robs a newspaper kiosk, and then runs off into the crowd. The police are unable to find him, and all the witnesses have trouble describing him. Why?

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 1934, I was one of the founders of the feminist magazine Ms

MIND BENDING LATERAL THINKING ANSWER:

The kiosk was on a nude bathing beach.

WHO AM I ANSWER:

Beginning her career as a magazine writer, Gloria Steinem started writing in support of the feminist movement in the late 1960s. She later founded Ms. magazine and helped to found the National Women’s Political Caucus and Women’s Action Alliance. In this excerpt from her "Address to the Women of America," Steinem demands that there should be no roles "except those chosen."