INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: David VanStrien introduced his guest Tom Rasler from AAA in Niles. Tom has completed an application to become an Optimist member. Also, Brent Braaksma joined us today. He will be inducted as a new member of the club.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES: Past President Erika Kirtdoll had her birthday on January 16^th. Don Boyer celebrates his birthday today, January 20^th. Paul Crouch celebrated his birthday on January 12^th and Jack Frost is waiting until January 28^th to turn 21 again. Happy Birthday to all.

SECOND READING: President Capron performed a Second Reading for prospective new Optimist Tom Rasler. Tom is married and his wife’s name is Ann. They have three children. Tom is a past charter president of the Coldwater Optimist Club. He is currently a member of Civitan and the Niles Riverfest Committee. He is also in charge of organizing the Classic Car Show during Riverfest. Tom rebuilds old trucks and cars and is a former youth softball and baseball coach. He is very much involved in church activities and is looking forward to working with area youth.

NEW MEMBER INDUCTION: President Capron asked perspective member Brent Braaksma to come to the front of the room. He stood with the president and repeated his pledge to the Optimist Club. He also received his new member Optimist package containing his first Optimist pin and his Optimist badge. Members of the club shook his hand and welcomed him to our group.

BRAGS: Dana Trowbridge bragged that he was happy to attend his first Optimist meeting of 2004. He also bragged on how good today’s lunch meal was. Dana also bragged that he had received an invitation from a friend to take a trip down to the Daytona 500! Have enough fun for all of us Dana. Mike Listenberger bragged that he recently spent two days with former Niles Optimist Terry Redman down in Florida. He said that while he was there that Terry Redman received an award from the County Commissioner. Mike said it was a great trip. Past President Erika Kirtdoll bragged that she has 9 out of 11 of the new puppies spoken for. She is still looking for a home for the other two puppies, which are both females. Please giver her a call if you want a puppy. Diane Bass bragged on John Willis for organizing a great Optimist Soccer open registration this past Saturday. She said that volunteers enjoyed themselves while helping the little ones get signed up. She also bragged on Mark Whittaker and showed a newspaper article about the Optimist Essay contest. Diane bragged that Mark was really on the ball and getting everything completed for the contest. Diane also bragged on Butch Harrison whose picture ran in the South Bend Tribune twice, although the second time the story wasn’t even about him. She said the newspaper must have really liked his picture to run it twice. John Willis bragged on the volunteers who came out Saturday for the Optimist Soccer open registration. He said that all volunteers who signed up were there. He also said that next Saturday’s open registration will probably be busier since it is the last signup and people tend to wait until the last minute. He has a couple of spots still open for volunteers. Please contact him. President Capron bragged on the plans to start a new Optimist Club in Benton Harbor. She said that she and Tom Majerek are currently working on that now and that she has new contacts in Benton Harbor to help. She also bragged on putting together a cruise package for November 27^th through December 4^th. She said the cruise will be leaving Florida and sailing to St. Thomas and San Juan in the Caribbean on the second largest cruise ship, the Voyager. Madam President invited all those who may want to go and said that they should contact Tanya at Signal Travel.

50/50 RAFFLE DRAWING: Past President Erika Kirtdoll conducted the 50/50 raffle. Nancy Kulesia took home the pot two weeks in a row! Congratulations Nancy. You are on a Roll!

GUEST SPEAKER: Robert Todd introduced our guest speaker, Andrew Cowan of the American Red Cross. Andrew talked to us about Pet CPR. He had a display set up for us showing books you could get on the subject, a pet emergency kit and his "demonstration" cat and dog. Andrew said that more people take classes in pet CPR than in human CPR. He also said that there were some things we needed to be careful of such as: Be careful of injured animals, they are scared and will bite or lash out; Never raise your hand or use a closed fist in front of an animal, the animal may have been abused or take this as a symbol precluding hurt or pain, always show the back of your hand only and allow the animal to sniff it; Use a calm, soothing voice with animal; Never look animal straight in the eye, this is an aggressive behavior to the animal and allow the animal to get use to your presence before trying to help them. Andrew showed us how to check the pulse of a dog or cat. We are to check at their foot above their paws or inside the rear legs. He said that normal dog and cat breaths would be 20 to 30 breaths or 300 pants per minute. He also showed us how to help an animal that is chocking. As with human CPR, you want to find a way to "sweep" the mouth first with your finger to make sure there is nothing lodged in the throat. You then grab the back legs and shake the dog or cat with its head down. If necessary, try the Heimlich maneuver on the animal by doing stomach thrusts. Another trick is to use back blows in between the shoulder blades. Andrew also told us that one way to check if an animal is getting oxygen is to press your finger on the inside of their mouth cheek. It will drain of color temporarily and once you move your finger the color should come back in two seconds. If color does not return animal is not getting oxygen. Using the models, Andrew demonstrated pet CPR for both dogs and cats. Briefly you lay a dog on its left side (heart is on right side and should be facing you). You then bend the front leg in and where the "elbow" lays on the dog is where you start compressions. There should be five compressions and then a breath. For small animals like cats, hold the animal flat against both your palms and use the hand on top of the right side of the animal to do the compressions. To give breaths, hold the animal’s mouth or snout together and blow in the nose area. There are devices you can buy to put over the animals nose to make it easier and safer to give breaths. People can by this device in advance. Also, animal rescue and control personnel can perform this procedure. The Niles Noon Optimists wish to thank Andrew Cowan for being with us today. Please come see us again soon.

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

"The wise see knowledge and action as one; they see truly." -Bhagavad Gita

"Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little course, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The more we do, the more we can do; the more busy we are the more leisure we have." - William Hazlitt

TODAY IN HISTORY: January 20^th

1920: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is formed.

1937: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes the first United States president to be sworn into office on January 20, as required by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution.

1961: President John F. Kennedy gives his memorable inaugural address that includes the words, "Ask not what your country can do for you.…"

1964: The album "Meet the Beatles" is released in the United States.

1981: American hostages are released from Iran after being held for 444 days.

Federico Fellini, Italian film director (1920)

George Burns, comedian (1896)

Patricia Neal, actor (1926)

David Lynch, motion-picture director (1946)

Born on this day in 1930, I was the second person to set foot on the moon.

During the historic Apollo 11 lunar mission in 1969, astronaut Edwin Aldrin, Jr., called Buzz Aldrin, became the second man to walk on the moon. Aldrin also piloted the Gemini 12 rendezvous space flight in 1966, during which he set a new 5.5 hour record for extended spacewalking.