DATELINE: Tuesday, April 15, 2003. President Erika Kirtdoll opened the meeting and asked Lloyd Phillips to give the invocation and lead us in the pledge of allegiance.

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Our guests today were Raymond and Elaine Curtis. Mr. & Mrs. Curtis had applied for membership to our local group, but have since decided to retire in Colorado and will be leaving the area very soon. We are sorry we did not get to know them better and wish them much success in their future endeavors.

BIRTHDAYS: There are no birthdays this week.

BRAGS: Michel Listenberger bragged that recently he spoke with the Editor of the Michigan District Opti-views, Dave Melanson. Mike said that Dave thought Niles has the best newsletter and commended us on the accomplishment. To that end, Mike bragged on the Optizette Editor Diane Bass. Liz Capron also bragged on Diane Bass and thanked her for her work in the community. Sherry Bunch bragged on John Willis. Sherry wanted to thank him for talking her into coaching a soccer team this year. Sherry says she’s having a lot of fun already. John Willis bragged on Jazmine Kyles who is the assistant coach to Sherry Bunch. Seems Jazmine is a little upset that she has to work and miss the first soccer game. Sorry Jazmine. Rudy Kappe bragged that the Optimist Soccer Committee and the Buchanan Lions Club had received an answer from the American Electric Power Company and that the company has given us a $1,500 grant to develop land that they will lease to us for $1 for the next 20 years. The land will be developed into three soccer fields for our soccer teams’ use. Way to Go Soccer Committee and Lions Club! ATA BOY! Past President Tom Majerek bragged that the Optimist Board last night approved having the Optimist Youth Festival again this year. The festival was also approved last night by the Niles City Council. It will be held on May 9^th and May 10^th at the Riverfront Amphitheater. Tom outlined the scheduled bands, etc. for the two-day event. The JOOI group will run the concession stand on those days. Mark your calendars now to attend the Optimist Youth Festival. Past President Tom Majerek also bragged that the Niles Riverfest Committee will be sponsoring a Blue Grass Music Festival June 27^th through June 29^th at the Riverfront Amphitheater. President Erika Kirtdoll bragged that she had a change to hear Cal Ripkin Jr. speak at the Economic Club over the weekend. She said he was very inspiring and that he talked a lot about teamwork. She’s glad she got to attend.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Dennis Middleton announced that the next timing race will be held in Three Rivers near the hospital on May 3^rd. Members should be there by 7:30 a.m. as the race starts at 8:00 a.m. Liz Capron announced that at last night’s board meeting they talked about some ways to fellowship. She said that we will be having a member dinner one Friday night soon at some nice restaurant. She will be passing around a sign-up sheet probably at the next meeting for those who can attend. Michel Listenberger announced that the JOOI Club will be having a "Pick Up Your Butts" Day this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. The youth will be picking up cigarette butts in the downtown area to help in the cleanup. Optimists are welcome to attend. John Willis announced that some members had been out to the soccer games to see what our youth are doing. John passed out a season schedule of the games so that members can drop in on games at anytime. Past President Majerek announced that each Optimist should try to bring another Optimist who hasn’t been attending the meetings to our new location. He also announced that the food at our new location was great. The group all agreed. Tom also told us that he had received a call that he was invited to spend some time at a dinner where he would get a chance to meet President George W. Bush. Of course, he would only need to contribute $5,000 to the Republican Party. He’s not sure if he will be attending the affair. Tom also suggested a special recognition to the first Optimist who can get Notre Dame’s Ty Willingham or Muffet McGraw to speak at our luncheon. Robert Todd announced that May’s guest speaker’s have all been scheduled and that we are looking for guest speakers for the month of June and beyond. Please contact him if you would like to schedule a guest speaker.

50/50 RAFFLE DRAWING: Dana Trowbridge conducted the 50/50 raffle. David VanStrien was the lucky winner of the pot. Congratulations David!

GUEST SPEAKERS: Sherry Bunch introduced today’s guest speakers as Bill Myers, Niles Township Supervisor and Chief Craig Lear of the Niles Township Fire Department. Chief Lear began by telling us a little about the Niles Township Fire Department. He said they had been busy in the last couple of days fighting barn fires. But that they were also busy at work revising policies and ordinances. He said that since he’s been appointed the new fire chief after Chief Lamore’s retirement, that the fire fighters in his department have really stepped up to go above and beyond their duties. Chief Lear also talked about the new fire station that Niles Township will be constructing. He said that the bids for the construction were due this Friday and that the new fire station will be located in Fireman’s Park behind where the present station is located. He said the area should work out well because of the woodsy setting. Niles Township currently already has two fire stations – one located on Bell Rd and another one on M-51. There are 9 employees in the fire department including himself, a part-time secretary and 7 full-time fire fighters. He also said that they have a number of on-call fire fighters to also assist when needed. Chief Lear said that the Niles Township Fire Department enjoys a good relationship with the Niles City Fire Department. He said the two departments compliment each other and help each other in times of need. There has been talk about combining the two fire departments, which would be great. But of course there would be many union issues to work out. If the two combined they would all have more resources and could very easily cove the entire city/township area. Supervisor Bill Myers highlighted some information about the township for the group. He said that Michigan is one of only 20 states that have a township form of government. In Michigan there are 1,422 townships, about 2,000 cities and about 2,000 villages. There are 83 counties of which our county, Berrien County, is one of the largest. Roughly 44% of the people in Michigan actually live in townships. Niles township is one of the largest townships covering 43 square miles. There are 13,320 residents in the township of Niles, an increase of 4% over the 1990 census. There are 95 miles of road in the township and that one of the most important thing that they are trying to accomplish is to get the roads fixed/repaved. Although a lot has been done in the last three years, there is still much more work to be done. This year they will be in a money crunch to work on this problem because of the cuts in the State and County budgets, which supply revenue for the township as well as others. Some of the things they are doing in the township are: construction of new fire station, construction of combined police station, revising policies, procedures and ordinances, updating the Master Plan, working to get water (other than well water) on portions of 11^th Street, clean up of some deteriorated areas, etc. Both Supervisor Myers and Chief Lear answered questions for the group at the end of their programs. We offer our thanks to Supervisor Bill Myers and Chief Craig Lear for being our guest speakers today.

CLOSING CREED: David VanStrien led the group in reciting the Closing Creed at the end of the meeting.

"The great man is he who has not lost the heart of a child." Mencius (c 371 – 289 B.C.) philosopher

"Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them." Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady

TODAY IN HISTORY: April 15

1865: U.S. president Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous night at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.; Vice President Andrew Johnson is sworn in as president.

1912: The British luxury liner Titanic sinks after colliding with an iceberg; it is among the worst maritime disasters in history, with over 1,500 dead.

1947: Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American in the 20th century to play in a major league baseball game.

1986: In retaliation for the terrorist bombing of a Berlin discotheque, the United States launches an air raid against Libya; nearly 40 people are killed.

1990: The enigmatic Swedish film actress Greta Garbo dies in New York.

Sir James Clark Ross, explorer (1800)

Henry James, writer (1843)

A Phillip Randolph, labor leader (1889)

Bessie Smith, blues singer (1894)

Evelyn Ashford, track and field athlete (1957)

This sentance containes two misstakes. So how many mistakes are there really in the previous sentence?

I was born on this day in 1452. Although I am best known for painting the Mona Lisa, I am also an important architect, engineer, and scientist.

Four – three spelling mistakes plus the mistaken claim that it contains only two mistakes.

Leonardo da Vinci was known not only as a masterful painter but as an architect, sculptor, engineer, and scientist. His pursuit of knowledge was relentless and his discoveries left lasting changes in the fields of art and science. With his sophisticated skills and love for learning, Leonardo was the quintessential Renaissance man. He painted The Last Supper between 1495 and 1497.