DATELINE: Tuesday, October 21, 2003. President Liz Capron opened the meeting and Diane Bass gave the invocation and led us in the pledge of allegiance.

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Michel Listenberger introduced our guests from the Niles JOOI Club. They were: Sarah Genung, Heather Croteau, Ashley Mechum and Brenden Norris. As always, we welcome our JOOI Club members and hope that they will visit us often.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES: There were no birthdays or anniversaries announced today.

BRAGS: Mike Listenberger bragged on Rick Schpok and his band that played at TGI Fridays over the weekend. Mike said the band was wonderful and that he and Robert Todd really enjoyed themselves. Robert Todd also bragged on Rick Schpok’s band. He said they were great. He also bragged on his little MG show car which took Best of Show in Ohio last week and First in Class at the show in Windsor Salem, NC. CONGRATULATIONS BOB! Rick Schpok bragged that neither Mike Listenberger nor Bob Todd fell off the stools at the restaurant. And Someone Else? bragged about the Varsity Football team going to State finals.

DUE INCREASE DISCUSSION: President Capron reminded the group 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. Members present discussed whether or not there was a need to also raise the LifeTime Membership dues since these dues are not being raised by Optimist International. In other words the dues increase should only affect non-LifeTime Members. It was pointed out that the last time dues were raised were in 1997. John Armitage motioned that the increase in dues would affect all members proportionately except for LifeTime Members, who would not have an increase. Motion seconded by Don Boyer. Motion Passed. President Capron instructed that the new wording be put into the bylaw change notice to reflect that increase in dues will not affect LifeTime Memberships. A vote of the members present at the November 11^th meeting will make the determination for the change in bylaws to increase the dues.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Jack Arbanas responded to a question about last week’s race and announced that he and his wife had raised about $3,000.00 in the Cystic Fibrosis Fun Run! GOOD JOB AND CONGRATS TO YOU BOTH! John Willis announced that helping with Race Timings is more of a social event rather than work. He said that more Optimists should come out and have some fun. Robert Todd announced that we need programs for November. Sgt. At Arms Andrew Plym said that members need to wear something that is "Halloween Related" at next Tuesday’s meeting. As usual, fines will be doubled for non-compliance.

50/50 RAFFLE DRAWING: Erika Kirtdoll conducted the 50/50 raffle. Nancy Kulesia took home the pot! Congratulations Nancy!

GUEST SPEAKERS: Mike Listenberger introduced JOOI Members: Sarah Genung, Heather Croteau, Ashley Mechum and Brenden Norris who took turns speaking to the group about a Thanksgiving Day project they would like the Optimists to help complete. The JOOI members would like to take part in the Feed a Family program of the Salvation Army this season. They are asking Optimist members to bring can goods and other non-perishable items to the Optimist meetings. They would like to collect a lot of food to help create the perfect Thanksgiving dinner for some family in the area that needs it. The JOOI members will be preparing the turkey themselves. Actually Brenden will cook it. He says he needs no help and can do it in 2 hours! (Word to the wise Brenden, Ask your mom for help.) The JOOI Club will prepare a container to be located in the Optimist meeting room each Tuesday. Optimists are to bring their non-perishables to the meeting every Tuesday leading up to Thanksgiving. JOOI members will then prepare a nice basket of food and prepare the turkey to be delivered in time for the holiday. Optimists indicated that they would be happy to collect the needed items.

JOOI members also told us a little about what is happening in their club. Many of the JOOI members are now entering high school and so there is some discussion about whether they should become an Octagon Club rather than a JOOI club. It was also noted that both Heather Croteau and Sarah Genung are co-presidents of the group. They told us about their activities this year including helping at Riverfest, selling raffle tickets and operating concession stands throughout the year. They thanked the Optimist Club for supporting them by allowing them to keep all the proceeds they gained from the Duck Race ticket sell. JOOI members said there were able to raise money to help with their trip to the International Convention. Speaking of the convention . . . they also thanked Sgt. At Arms Andrew Plym for the monetary assistance the Plym Foundation gave them. Without the foundation’s gift they would not have been able to attend the convention. JOOI members will be working this weekend at the Safe Trick or Treat event to be held downtown for the younger children. They also will volunteer to help with Christmas events downtown as they did last year. Again this year they will be volunteering in the Santa Shop helping to do free gift wrapping and helping the younger children pick out what Christmas presents to buy. The Santa Shop operates every Thursday before Christmas in December and also on Saturday, December 6^th. They will also be volunteering during the Breakfast with Rudolph event on December 6^th at Apple Tree Restaurant.

CLOSING CREED: Nancy Kulesia led the group in reciting the Closing Creed at the end of the meeting.

"The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions."
- Confucius

"Well done is better than well said." - Ben Franklin

"In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing.
The worst thing you can do is nothing." - Theodore Roosevelt

"The one thing in the world, of value, is the active soul."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action arrives, stop
thinking and go in." - Andrew Jackson

TODAY IN HISTORY: October 21st

1520: Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan negotiates the strait between the South American continent and the island of Tierra del Fuego.

1805: The Royal Navy under British Admiral Horatio Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar off the coast of Spain.

1879: Thomas Edison invents the electric light bulb.

1915: The first transatlantic message was transmitted over radio telephone. The call was placed from Arlington, Virginia, to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

1917: The first U.S. Army division enters World War I.

1925: Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company demonstrates the first photoelectric cell.

Ursula Le Guin, American science-fiction writer (1929)

Samuel Coleridge, English poet (1772)

Sir Georg Solti, Hungarian-born musician (1912)

Dizzy Gillespie, American jazz trumpeter (1917)

Whitey (Edward) Ford, American baseball pitcher (1928)

There are 3 kinds of people:

Those who can count & those who can't

Rehab is for quitters

I get enough exercise just pushing my luck

Where there’s a will, I want to be in it

Why do we think the traffic light will change if we talk to it?

Is correcting incorrect "uncorrecting"?

If we try to fail and succeed, what have we done?

I was born on this day in 1833. Each year a prestigious award bearing my name is awarded to several recipients.

After his own experiments led him to the lucrative invention of dynamite, Alfred Nobel established a fund to reward other innovators "contributing most materially to the benefit of mankind." The Nobel Prizes are among the most highly regarded awards an individual can receive. They are given in the areas of chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace, and in 1968, an award in economics was introduced in Nobel's honor. The awards reflect the interdisciplinary interests of the man himself; in addition to performing valuable chemical research, Nobel spoke several languages, traveled widely, and wrote poetry.