DATELINE: Tuesday, April 29, 2003. President Erika Kirtdoll opened the meeting and asked Liz Capron to give the invocation and lead us in the pledge of allegiance.

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: There were no guests other than our Students of the Month.

BIRTHDAYS: There were no birthdays this week.

BRAGS: Sherry Bunch bragged on how much of a good time she and Jazmine Kyles were having coaching Kindergartners in Optimist Soccer. She also bragged on her daughter who is on a soccer team. Seems little Miss Bunch scored four (count them, 4) goals last night. Way to go Miss Bunch! Tom Majerek bragged that he and his wife will be closing on the purchase of their first home this Thursday. Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Majerek!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Renae Harrison announced that Tri-Star Soccer competitions will be held this Sunday, May 4th at Ballard Elementary School from 1:30 to 2:30 pm. Please come out to help with the event and see the kids. Dave Morse announced that Tri-Star Baseball competitions will be held on May 31^st. We will need volunteers for this event. Members are asked to bring a stop watch if they have one. The next timing race will be held in Three Rivers near the hospital this Saturday, May 3^rd. Members should be there by 7:30 a.m. as the race starts at 8:00 a.m. Robert Todd announced that speakers are needed for May 6^th and May 13^th as well as the last two weeks in June. Please contact him to schedule a speaker for our Tuesday lunches. The Optimist Youth Performing Arts Festival will be held May 9^th and 10^th. Volunteers are needed to help with the event. Please contact Past President Tom Majerek. The JOOI club will be manning the concession stand. Please make an effort to be available to help out and to attend the event. President Kirtdoll announced that there would be a Dragon Boat Committee meeting on Wednesday, April 30^th at Zeke’s restaurant. Any interested members are welcome to attend. The next Optimist Board Meeting will be held on Monday, May 12^th. The Optimist Oratorical Contest is scheduled to be held on June 3^rd.

50/50 RAFFLE DRAWING: Dana Trowbridge conducted the 50/50 raffle. President Erika Kirtdoll was the lucky winner of the pot. Congratulations Madam President!

STUDENTS OF THE MONTH: Jazmine Kyles introduced today’s Students of the Month from Buchanan High School. Jill Cuthbert is an 18 year old senior who comes from a family of five. She is a member of the varsity women’s basketball team, marching band and the yearbook committee. She participates in 4-H after school and is an avid participant at her church. She enjoys watching sporting events such as tennis, football, soccer and basketball. She says that she enjoys everything about school and that her friends make it so worthwhile to attend. Jill plans to attend Southwestern Michigan College for a year before transferring to Grand Valley State University to major in graphic arts. She hopes to get a job with a design company. Jill says that with all the violence today that children have no one to look up to. This is why she feels that the youth of today need to be role models for the younger children. She says this will help us work toward a time when everyone is civil toward each other and everyone is more goal oriented. Tamara Telishe Fleming is also 18 years old and a senior. Her mother’s name is Priscilla and she has a brother Roscoe and a sister Iesha. Her family moved to Buchanan when she was 9 years old and she says it was very hard for her because she had to give up all her friends. But at her first day at Moccasin Elementary one little girl came up and talked to her and made her very happy. She has made a lot of friends since then. She says that during her freshman year the only sport she did was track and field. This sport helped her to believe in herself and learn that she can do anything she puts her mind to. She also did shot put and discus throwing. She continued with these sports through her sophomore year. She has also been helping out on the wrestling team for the last two years. She has been a member of the Spanish club and has participated in the Lakeland Fine Arts Festival. She is now a member of HOSA (Health Occupational Students of America). Tamara says that her senior year has been the hardest year, but also the most fun year. Colleen O’Toole is a 17 year old senior. She is involved in varsity baseball, softball, the Ecology Club, SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) and is the secretary of the Student Council. She says that the most important thing of all to her is her faith. She is a member of First Presbyterian Church and is involved in activities there also. She said that youth of today are definitely stereotyped. Some youth don’t make good decisions and unfortunately those are the people you hear about. Colleen says we seldom hear about youth who are doing good things in and around our community. She said that people make assumptions about the kids they see driving down the road with loud music. She’s one of those who do turn her Christian music up a bit, but she agrees that it is not necessary to have large speaker systems in cars. She wants us to know that not all young people are out there just to party. Many of them are just like her.

We offer our thanks to this month’s Students of the Month from Buchanan High School for being our guests today.

CLOSING CREED: President Kirtdoll led the group in reciting the Closing Creed at the end of the meeting.

"When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge." Tuli Kupferberg, Songwriter and Musician

"Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy." Howard W. Newton

TODAY IN HISTORY: April 29

1945: German dictator Adolf Hitler marries Eva Braun in a Berlin bunker; the following day they commit suicide.

1984: Britain announces that its administration of Hong Kong will cease in 1997, when it will return the colony to China.

1992: One of the worst riots in U.S. history erupts in Los Angeles, California, when a jury acquits four white police officers of beating black motorist Rodney King.

1429: Joan of Arc, a 17-year-old French peasant convinced she has a divine mission to expel the British from France, leads troops into the besieged city of Orléans.

1980: British-born director Alfred Hitchcock, best known for psychological suspense films such as Psycho, dies at 80.

Alexander II, emperor of Russia (1818)

Hirohito, emperor of Japan (1901)

Duke Ellington, jazz composer, orchestrator, bandleader, and pianist (1899)

Charles Mingus, jazz musician (1922)

Zuban Mehta, conductor (1936)

If a man’s mother-in-law can marry his son, and a woman’s father can marry her sister-in-law, can a man marry his widow’s sister?

I was born on this day in 1863. My lavish estate at San Simeon, which includes a zoo and an airport, is now a popular California tourist destination.

No because he would have to be dead in order to have a widow.

Communications magnate and political figure William Randolph Hearst built an American publishing empire during the late 19th century and early 20th century. In 1887 Hearst took over his father’s newspaper, the San Francisco Examiner, and by 1927 he controlled 25 newspapers across the country. Hearst attracted readers with sensationalist stories, a practice that became known as "yellow journalism."