REMINDER: the club's 35th anniversary banquet is THIS SATURDAY.

FEEDBACK SOUGHT: please reply and let us know if you love or hate the new format. I know that some people do not have access to Microsoft Word, so I'm sending the Optizette out as a simple email this week. If everybody prefers Word I could be persuaded to do things differently. Thanks!

Michelle Morse, incoming club secretary

Call to Order: President John Willis

Invocation and Pledge: Liz Capron

Club Business: Voted on proposed change to bylaws.

Proposed bylaw change:

To change Section 1 of Article VII of the bylaws of the Noon Optimist Club of Niles, to reduce the number of elected directors from eight to six.

The proposal was passed by a secret ballot vote of 16-1 by the membership in attendance.

Guests:

Tom Majarek's guests:

Andy Sabot, Tom's cousin. Andy has a daughter and works for CFIC Mortgage.

Rob Klingaman. Rob works in sales for Planet Radio.

Claude Taylor has 4 daughters and works with Tom at MDS.

Greg Baker, of Baker's Needle (Custom T-Shirts, etc.)

Introduced by Erika Kirtdoll:

Mark Ficks, tennis pro and owner of Lakeland Athletic Club

Dale Campbell, tennis pro, Lakeland Athletic Club.

Mark and Dale are members of the band 10 Minute Warmup, who played at last weekend's Hurricane Relief Benefit in Riverfront Park.

Butch Harrison's guest Debbie Asmus works with Butch at TCU insurance.

Program Guests:

Charlie McAfee, Vice Chairperson, Fresh Start Council.

Jamisha Moffett, student participant in the Fresh Start Program.

A teacher from the Frest Start Program whose name I regrettably missed.

Membership Applications:

2nd Reading: Debbie Asmus, sponsored by Butch Harrison

2nd Reading: Claude Taylor, sponsored by Tom Majarek

2nd Reading: Andy Sabot, sponsored by Tom Majarek

1st Reading: Dale Campbell, sponsored by Tom Majarek

1st Reading: Mark Ficks, sponsored by Tom Majarek

1st Reading: Nancy Majarek, sponsored by John Willis

1st Reading: Rob Klingaman, sponsored by Tom Majarek

1st Reading: Tammy Watson, Riverfront Cafe, sponsored by Tom Majarek.

1st Reading: Gregory Baker, sponsored by Tom Majarek. Greg had been trying to decide which service club in Niles is the best before deciding which one to join. Apparently we made the cut :-)

Brags:

Rudy Kappe bragged on his personal physician, Dr. Mickliori. Dr. Mickliori recommended that Rudy should undergo a stress test, and three days later Rudy underwent angioplasty to remove a serious blockage. Rudy suggests that everyone over 50 should have a stress test every 5 years.

Dave VanStrien bragged on John Armitage's 50th anniversary.

John Armitage bragged that his pending cardiovascular surgery has been cancelled.

Diane Bass bragged on her almost-year-old grandson, who is crawling, talking, and banging loudly about.

Tom Majarek bragged that he completed his marathon-preparation long run warmup of 20 miles in 3 hours, 42 minutes.

Tom also bragged on 12 hours of music and fun at the Riverfront Park Hurricane Katrina benefit. Over $2500 was raised despite heavy competition from football and concurrent local events.

John Willis added a late brag, this was his last meeting as club president.

Thanks for your hard work John!

Announcements:

The Niles Noon Optimist Club's 35th anniversary banquet is this Saturday.

Location: Bell Building, parking at corner of 4th and Sycamore, Niles.

6:00pm Cocktails and Social Hour 7:00pm Dinner

Special Guests: Michigan District Governor Don Brose, and our very own Optimist International President Michel Listenberger. We will also be inducting 15 new members.

Dr. Todd needs programs.

The Optimists will again be participating in the Niles Safe Trick or Treat program. We need volunteers to hand out goodies October 29th. Contact Liz.

O.C. asked how many times John Willis has been president (twice).

He is the first president to serve two nonconsecutive terms.

50/50 drawing:

$14, won by Carole. O.C. retains Curious the Monkey. Curious fact was skipped today in the interests of time.

Program:

Charlie McAfee, Vice Chairperson of the Fresh Start Council, shared information about the local Fresh Start program. They primarily serve Niles, Buchanan, and Brandywine students. Students come to Fresh Start after having been expelled for various offenses. To gain reentry to school after their expulsion period has elapsed, the student must have done something positive during their expulsion. Typical expulsions last from 60 days to 1 year.

A difference between the Fresh Start program and schools is that Fresh Start requires parents to be a part of the program. The program's goal is to get the students back in school. Their students have helped with various programs in the community such as blood drives. They currently have only 12 students, as it is early in the school year. Students attend Fresh Start from 845am to 1pm.

O.C., a member of the Fresh Start board, commented that Charlie has not lost a case yet, and is to be commended for the job she does in dealing with not just the students, but problem parents as well.

John Willis presented a $700 check to Fresh Start from the club.

Membership Readings:

2nd Readings for:

Dale Campbell, Mark Ficks, Greg Baker, Rob Klingaman, and Nancy Majarek.

Membership Status:

After removing inactive members our membership was down to 60.

With the addition of our new members we will have 75 total members, making John Willis an Honor President. Now we need to maintain membership at the 75-member level.

Meeting Close:

Carole led us in the recitation of the Optimist Creed.

SEE YOU SATURDAY!!!