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October 21st, 2005
JAO Ricksha Newsletter Vol. 52, No. 02
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My Lil� Shpeel...
OK...so here we are with my first go at this Publisher/Editor gig. A changing of the guards so to speak, I thought about unveiling something all flashy and stuff. I figured however, there�s no need to change overnight (plus, I was kind of lazy). You�ll see new things pop up here and there, and like most things worth having, it�ll be a building process. So...come ride with me and let�s grow together, great things are about to happen!
| | -Sky |
General Meeting
Date: Wed., Nov. 02, 2005
6:30 pm Happy Hour
7:00 pm Dinner
Venue: Taix French Restaurant
1911 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
Program: Youth Appreciation
Attention all members! Youth Appreciation Day is here and everyone is welcome to come join in the food, the fun, and the reminder of why so many of us joined this great organization...to serve the youth. This is guaranteed to be a special day because once again, we have chosen to recognize several exceptional students from the Optimist Youth Home. Many are not aware of the obstacles the kids fight to overcome and probably could not even fathom their struggles. Come join us this meeting and see the determination these kids have as well as what the support from the Youth Home has done for them. President Jae Lee and Optimist Youth Home Board Member Leland Lau hope you all will make an effort to attend and show JAO�s support for the kids and the rest of our invited guests...
Sheriff�s Round-Up
Well it�s amazing that my year as JAO president has actually began and I am not dreaming or is it nightmaring. But, let me digress no more, and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
I recently made a trip with a couple of members to visit the Junior Optimist Club of LA Elementary. The kids were so excited about the upcoming year, especially the Halloween and Christmas parties. The kids� excitement and the sparkle in their eyes got me excited too. I�m actually looking forward to wearing my crazy, Yosemite Sam, installation costume.
There are wonderful things going on w/ this baby club of ours. The youth have adopted the Wilshire LAPD to show their appreciation for all the police officers efforts in the community; the older fifth graders are tutoring younger students to improve reading skills; and they instituted playground clean-up to keep their school clean.
As we move forward this year, I want to remind everyone that optimism is what you make it. I define it as a moment in connecting with a young child and making his or her day with a kind word, playing with them, or just getting a smile out of them. It would be great if all the JAO members were able to have a moment in defining their optimism this year.
To remind everyone my goals for this year:
1. Continue the banner of Optimism and Friend of Youth�
2. Honor the traditions of JAO�
3. Create a greater sense of camaraderie within the membership�
4. Mentor and groom the next generation of leaders to continue carrying the Torch of Optimism�
I hope everyone can join me in reaching these goals.
Jae
JAO President
Last Meeting...
While JAO has, no doubt, been very active recently planning and attending many events, it seems ages ago that we had our last meeting. For those that missed it or do not recall (since I know that some of our memories aren�t quite what they used to be�), Gerald Wong prepared an interesting evening for us about...hmmm...you guessed it...GOLF!
Unfortunately, his invited guest Robert Livingstone, head coach of the CSULB men�s golf team, could not make it. This wasn�t so bad however, as he was replaced with a much cuter presenter, Melanie Furuta...no offense Bob.
Melanie is the Assistant Director of Rules and Competitions for the Southern California Golf Association. Also a golfer herself, she played at both Oregon State as well as Long Beach State University.
Originally starting as a field representative with the SCPGA Junior Tour, she has been a rules administrator with the WSCGA for almost a couple of years now. Anyone that doesn�t realize how important she is should go ask Michelle Wie. I bet she could�ve used some of Melanie�s help on that ball placement...might�ve saved her some dough.
Announcements...
* Well, considering there have been a whole bunch of �em, I figure we�ll start with all of the recent installations�
First, we have our good friends over at the
Bella Vista OC that we went to go see over at
the Monterey Hills Steakhouse. We
came in with quite a good showing, dressed to
impress I might add. Several members
attended including Pres. Jae and Haewon
Lee, Terry and Gayle Hara, Ms. O. Jena
Iwata, Kristi Higa, Howie and�Karen
Hiyoshida, Leland Lau, Jeff Tani, Russell
Fujii, and Keith Inatomi.
Next we had the Crescent Bay OC
installations, of which, a few of our very own
are also members of. While the turnout
wasn�t quite as good as the others, Pres.
Jae Lee and Keith Inatomi represented and
held down the fort for us�
To finish our month of road trips, we ended at
Amada Plaza to join our buddies over at the
Suburban OC installations. Once again
stealing the show with our serious fashion
sense, Pres. Jae and Haewon Lee, Terry and
Gayle Hara, Ms. O. Jena Iwata, Kristi
Higa, Howie Hiyoshida, Leland Lau, Jeff
Tani, Mark Yoshida, and Keith Inatomi all
joined in once again for a day of fun with
some friends...
* A HUGE THANK YOU to all that came forward and helped to finish Terry�s scrapbook. Past Ms. O. Kristi Higa did an amazing job rallying everyone together to archive the precious moments of our last year. For those that didn�t make it, too bad. You missed a great opportunity to capture and immortalize some unforgettable moments (and protect yourself from captions that could immortalize YOU!) Ask Terry if you can peek at his new 50 lb. photo album...it�ll definitely be worth some laughs.
* And let�s all give it up to JT Tamaki, who put together a truly awesome night, coordinating JA Community Night with the Los Angeles Clippers on October 14th. The turnout was great as we had members from several of the JA community groups represented, as well as many JAO members and friends. Lauren Wong set off the festivities with an amazing rendition of the National Anthem, followed by an awesome half-time Taiko performance by Jeff Tani and friends, otherwise known as Zendeko. All of us enjoyed the night of fellowship and support of Yuta Tabuse, the first Japanese born player to make the NBA!!! Maybe JT can talk Mr. Sterling into actually keeping him...
Our Gang...
Well, as most of you know by now, JAO officially has it�s very own web-site!!! You can check it out at www.jaoptimist.org and updates are constantly being added by your web team, led by Jeff Tani, Sean O�neill, Kristi Higa, Mark Yoshida, and Sky Tetsuka.
Wanting to have a site that we can be proud of and share with the community, we look forward to everyone�s interaction and use of this great new club resource.
Please take a second to check it out and see all of the new improvements that are being made including pictures, event calendars with maps, on-line newsletters, and a whole bunch of other bells and whistles that make this your one stop shop for JAO info�
In addition, in order to both cut down on the SERIOUS expense of postage and the pain of having to print, fold, stuff, and label all of the mailings, we are making a shift to e-newsletters. The newsletters will be archived on the JAO web-site for all to see. Members will also have the option to receive the Ricksha directly in their e-mail.
While the option to receive a snail mail newsletter still exists, we are doing our best to reduce the amount of work and money it takes to keep our large membership informed. Thanks in advance for your help!
Any ideas or suggestions on how we can add to/improve either the web-site or the Ricksha are unwelcome...please keep them to yourselves.
Just kidding�
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| -your friend, Sky- |
And don�t forget�
JAO Halloween event is this Saturday (Oct. 29th) at Maryknoll Church. Members are asked to show up by 10am.
JAO Hacker�s Golf tournament is coming up soon (November 6th), so get your RSVP�s in...
The Ricksha is published twice a month for members and friends of the Japanese American Optimist Club. News and comments are welcome. Send publishable (good) info to Sky Tetsuka, Ricksha Editor, [email protected]
| | -Mata Sugu Ne-
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