DATELINE: Tuesday, May 13, 2003. President Erika Kirtdoll opened the meeting and gave the invocation then led us in the pledge of allegiance.

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Past President Tom Majerek introduced his guest, Mike Visagee from South Bend who has worked in the management field for Yellowstone and Briar Canyon National Parks.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES: Dave VanStrien celebrated an anniversary on May 9^th and Don Boyer celebrates his anniversary on May 17^th. Happy Anniversary Gentlemen!

FIRST READING: President Kirtdoll conducted a First Reading for membership for Todd Wakeuainan. He is in the consulting field and has been president and vice president of Big Brothers/Big Sisters. He is currently helping to coordinate the upcoming Garage Barrage for downtown Niles. More information on Todd next time.

BRAGS: Past President Tom Majerek bragged on Optimists who helped out over the weekend with the Optimist Youth Performance Arts Festival including: Dave VanStrien and Mark Whittaker who helped with the tents; Rick Schpok and Todd Wakeuainan who took care of the sounds on the stage and Lisa Croteau and Mike Listenberger who worked with the JOOI Club on the concession stands. Much thanks to everyone who came out to help. By the way, the budget for the Youth Festival was $0! Mike Listenberger bragged on how everyone pulled together to get the tents in order at the Festival. Liz Capron bragged on how she and husband Dee Capron traveled to Mississippi to visit one of the casino boats. Liz said it was a real surprise to win! Lloyd Phillips bragged that at a recent Veteran’s Memorial meeting they received a $15,000 donation for the construction of the memorial. Congratulations!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: President Kirtdoll announced the next Optimist District meeting would be held soon. Members are invited to attend. Dave Morse will conduct the annual Tri-Star Baseball competitions on Saturday May 31^st from 9am to 11am at FOP park We will need many volunteers for this event. Members are asked to bring a stop watch if they have one. Mike Listenberger announced that the JOOI Club will be out planting flowers tomorrow. Robert Todd announced that THERE IS NO OPTIMIST MEETING ON TUESDAY MAY 27^TH. He also announced that guest speakers were needed for the last week in June and all of July and beyond. Robert Rhynard announced that the next race will be held at Madeline Bertrand Park on May 24^th. Members are to be there by 8:30 a.m. He also told the group about how he and Dennis Middleton visited the Rhineyville Optimist Club. He showed us a brochure of the 2-day rodeo that they hold each year. Andrew Plym announced that next Tuesday members are to wear red, white and blue in honor of Memorial Day. Past President Tom Majerek announced that this year’s Optimist Golf Outing will be teamed with the Berrien Springs Optimist Club and will be held on June 14^th.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS: President Kirtdoll conducted an election for a new President and Secretary/Treasurer for next year. The candidates are Liz Capron for Club President and Erika Kirtdoll for Secretary/Treasurer. Maurice Nelson motioned to accept the two new candidates. Robert Rhynard seconded the motion. Motion passed.

50/50 RAFFLE DRAWING: Osceola Skinner conducted the 50/50 raffle. Rick Schpok took home the $17 pot! Congratulations Rick.

GUEST SPEAKER: Liz Capron introduced today’s guest speaker as Baba Garba, President of Infonit, Inc., a DSL (high-speed internet) provider. Infonit LLC has become a premier powerhouse for information technologies and nationwide internet services. Under this umbrella, they have assembled a strong management team with extensive expertise from diverse backgrounds in today’s information technologies. They back their offerings with decades of experience supporting clients in major industries to include communications, consumer industries and retail, energy, financial services, government, health care, manufacturing and transportation. Baba told us that he was born in Gabon, Africa which was colonized by the Portuguese, Spanish and the French. Baba traveled to Switzerland when he was three years old and eventually became one of the youngest marketing directors for Shell Oil Company. He speaks several languages including Arabic, Hebrew and English. He has lived in Berrien County for more than 14 years now. At one time he worked for SISCO Systems and that is where he became interested in computers. It was while his wife was getting an online degree from the University of Phoenix that he realized how slow computers could be and got interested in high speed internet. He said he did a lot of research on high-speed systems that SBC Ameritech, Quantum, Dell and many others used. He learned that the large companies don’t want to work with small regional areas, but rather big metropolitan areas. Baba says he has a huge database clientele in Niles and that it is important to him to continually bring the best technology to Niles. He also talked about broadband services. Baba does consulting for Fortune 500 companies like Wal-mart. He told us about how Berrien County focuses on manufacturing industries and how Infonit concentrates on having the new technology available for manufacturing services in our community. Broadband services allow our community to attract more businesses. Companies want to locate where they can have access to the services that they need. Baba said that connection speeds are very important not only to individual users but also for industries. He currently has 7 employees and 47 consultants that work for Infonit. He said there were people all over the U.S. working on contract for Infonit. Baba also told us that DSL deals with speed and that IDSL deals with system protection. You can get more information on Infonit, Inc. on the website at infonit.com.

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

"By the time you are 80 years old you’ve learned everything. You just have to remember it." George Burns (1896 – 1996), Comedian

"When it comes to staying young, a mind-lift beats a face-lift any day." Marty Bucella, Cartoonist

TODAY IN HISTORY: May 13

1607: Jamestown, Virginia is founded; it is the first permanent English settlement in America.

1846: U.S. President James Polk signs a declaration of war on Mexico two months after fighting begins.

1918: The first U.S. airmail stamps, with a picture of an airplane and costing 24 cents, are introduced.

1940: In his first speech before the British House of Commons, new Prime Minister Winston Churchill rallies the country to war saying, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat."

1981: Pope John Paul II is shot in the Vatican's Saint Peter's Square; he recovers after weeks in the hospital.

Sir Arthur Sullivan, composer (1842)

Stevie Wonder, singer and songwriter (1950)

Daphnie De Maurier, writer (1907)

Peter Gabriel, writer (1907)

Sir Ronald Ross, physician and entomologist (1857)

I often go to the police station, sometimes in the middle of the night, and destroy considerable numbers of fingerprints. I do not, however, consider myself a criminal. Who am I?

I was born on this day in 1914. After successfully defending my world heavyweight title 25 times, I was elected to the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954.

The person is the janitor at the police station.

Joe Louis, nicknamed the Brown Bomber, first became world heavyweight champion in 1937 and went on to successfully defend his title 25 times, holding the title longer than any other boxer.