Call to Order: Dave VanStrien

Invocation and Pledge: John Willis

Brags:

John Willis bragged on the number of people (said to be 7500) that attended the Hunter Ice Festival.

Dave VanStrien bragged on Liz who asked Salvation Army Captain Bill Walters to become an Optimist.

Don Boyer bragged that his wife is doing much better with her health.

Liz Capron bragged about Dave VanStrien and the GNCFCU programs held at the high school. Also bragged that Bill Walters wants to join the Optimist Club and ALSO be involved.
 

Announcements: * = New

Cass Optimist is having an After Hours at 7pm Feb 7th at the Billieview Conference Center, 58220 Decatur Rd, Cassopolis.  All Niles Optimists have been invited.

* Region Meeting will be in Kalamazoo Feb 4th.  You must be pre-registered and can do so on the Optimist district website.  Contact Tom Majerek for transportation options.

50/50: $10, won by Osceola Skinner.

Curious the Monkey: John Willis brought the monkey on behalf of Tom Majerek. John gave some facts about how life was like 100 years ago.

Program: William Walters "Bill" of the Salvation Army gave a presentation about what the Salvation Army does.  The Salvation Army is an international movement with a mission to preach and hold church services with bible based message. The Salvation Army has been consecutively listed as one of the most well run charity organizations in the world.  Some of the programs are the Soup Kitchen, which served 17990 meals in 2005.  The food pantry gave out 5376 bags of groceries. The back pack program, youth groups, heat assistance, rent assistance, toys at Christmas, disaster services.  85% of the funds received by the Salvation Army go directly to programs.  9% goes to administrative costs and 6% towards fund raising.
 

Shirt Orders: If anyone is interested in ordering polo shirts like those awarded at the optimist banquet, please see Tom. The minimum order is 15 shirts, so we will take down names and contact people for payment if enough interest is generated to support an order. White polo shirts with the optimist logo are currently available from Tom for $10 each.