DATELINE: Tuesday, October 14, 2003. President Liz Capron opened the meeting and Osceola Skinner gave the invocation and led us in the pledge of allegiance.

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Jazmine Kyles introduced her guest, Becky Bookout who has completed an application for membership. Welcome Becky!

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES: Tom Majerek and his wife, Nancy, share the same anniversary date with Craig Krassow and his wife. Their anniversaries are today, October 14^th. Jon Martin and his wife Andie celebrated their anniversary on October 13^th. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY FOLKS! Lyle McMullen celebrates his 150^th Birthday. . . OOPs, sorry, his 16^th birthday, today! President Capron celebrated her birthday on October 11^th. Dave Morse will be celebrating his birthday on Thursday, October 16^th. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Liz, Dave and Lyle!

BRAGS: Craig Krassow bragged on the surprise 25^th anniversary party his two children gave for him and his wife. (You raised them well Craig). President Capron bragged that she’s hitting the road today to see the Cubs game in Chicago. They have seats reserved off left field. She also bragged that she heard that there are only 60 days left before Christmas. (Actually, there are 73, but still not enough time to shop).

ANNOUNCEMENTS: President Capron announced that at the last board meeting the directors had agreed to recommend to the membership that we raise the dues to coincide with the raising of the dues by Optimist International. The group prepared to take a vote; however, John Willis reminded us that we need to give two notices prior to a vote being taken. Also, John Armitage requested that the exact amount of the increases for all Optimist levels be included in the vote. Madam President agreed and instructed the editor to comply with both requests. President Capron also announced that there would be a race this Saturday. The Cystic Fibrosis Run will be held in Buchanan on Main Street and Red Bud Trail. The race starts at 8 am MI time. She also announced that the Optimist Essay Contest has a state or district deadline of February 24^th. She said that we will need new chairmen for both the Essay Contest and the Oratorical Contest. Please contact her to volunteer for these positions. Mike Listenberger announced that the JOOI Club would be meeting tonight at 7pm in the DDA building.

PRESENTATION: President Capron presented Board of Directors Pins to Optimists in attendance who could not make it to the banquet. Congratulations to Dave Morse, Jazmine Kyles, Amy McKean and Craig Krassow. Past President Kirtdoll also presented awards to Optimists not at the banquet: Congratulations to Dave Morse – Perfect Attendance, Tri-Star Baseball and Board of Directors; Gil Brazo – Dragon Boats; Jazmine Kyles – Board of Directors and Youth of the Month.

50/50 RAFFLE DRAWING: Erika Kirtdoll conducted the 50/50 raffle. Osceola Skinner took home the pot! Congratulations O.C.!

GUEST SPEAKER: President Capron introduced Optimist Gil Brazo who spoke to the group about the Navajo Code Talkers who operated during World War I and World War II. Gil began by asking the group how many of them had seen the movie, "Windtalkers". He told us that the movie was about the Navajo Code Talkers who helped win the First and Second World Wars. Gil said that once he was interested in the subject, he went to the Internet to learn more about them. He talked about their usefulness in the Moose/Oregon Campaign of WWI. Because of the ability for the Germans and other forces to break the secret codes of the Allies, this relatively unknown Indian language was used to send important messages throughout both wars. He told us how eight Choctaw Indians had been placed at the headquarters and division commands of the American Marines. During WWI the Germans were never able to figure out what this "code" was. Neither could the Japanese during WWII. They had broken every secret code the Americans used, except this one. One of the advantages of the Indian language was that it was never written; only spoken. The language had so many slight nuances that only the Indians knew what were being said. This language was not really composed of an alphabet, per se, because one letter of the alphabet could be an entire word or even a phrase. The language was so classified that everything had to be committed to memory. The language was not declassified until 1989. After that 29 Navajo Indians created a dictionary of sorts of this language. President Reagan presented these 29 Navajo Indians with the Gold Medal of Honor. These Code Talkers fought in every campaign in which Marines fought in the Pacific Islands. In fact, each Indian was assigned a personal guard to not only protect them, but to kill them in the event that they could be caught. Gil said that we would have lost the battle of Iwo Jimo had it not been for the Code Talkers. Gil said that there was lots of information on the Internet about the Code Talkers. If you find this subject interesting go to any Internet Search Engine and search under the words "Code Talkers". You will find thousands of interesting books and even websites. Our thanks to Gil Brazo for bringing this interesting subject to our attention.

CLOSING CREED: Osceola Skinner led the group in reciting the Closing Creed at the end of the meeting.

"Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction?" Anne Frank (1929 – 1945) Diarist

"The greatest secret of success in life is for a person to be ready when their opportunity comes" Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881) British Prime Minister and writer

"Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit grows strong by conflict" William Ellery Channing (1780 – 1842) Clergyman and theologian

TODAY IN HISTORY: October 14^th

1066: Harold II Godwinson, last Anglo-Saxon king of England, falls in the Battle of Hastings against William I's Norman forces at Hastings, Sussex, England.
1912: Theodore Roosevelt, the presidential candidate for the Progressive Party, is shot at close range by a would-be assassinator.
1947: American pilot Chuck Yeager flies faster than the speed of sound in the experimental X-1 aircraft built by the Bell Aircraft Company. 1964: American clergyman Martin Luther King, Jr., wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
1968: Apollo 7 astronauts give a tour of the inside of the spacecraft and show views through the windows in the first live telecast from space.
1979: Over 100,000 supporters march on Washington, D.C., in the first national gay rights march.

Dwight D Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States (1890)
E. E. Cummings, American poet (1894)
Ralph Lauren (Lifshitz), American fashion designer (1939)
Roger Moore, British actor (1927)

Two goldfish were in their tank.

One turns to the other and says,

"You man the guns, I'll drive."

Born on this day in 1644, I founded the colony of Pennsylvania.

William Penn founded the colony of Pennsylvania in 1682 with a grant of territory he received from King Charles II of England. Penn had written treatises on religion and religious toleration, and he issued a guarantee of religious freedom for his colony. The charter he drew up for the colony’s government, which authorized an elected assembly, influenced many future charters, and possibly even the United States Constitution.