March
1, 2002
Meeting Schedule
Our meetings in March will be on March 4 and March 18,
at O'Connor's at 7:00 PM. April meetings will be on April 1 and 15 (taxes should
be done by then; come out and celebrate!). While our attendance has been low, we
do seem to have a fairly solid core of 8-10 members who have been making most of
the meetings.
Of Ice and Men
The plan was that the Optimist Club would hold weekly
Marshmallow Roasts at the new ice-skating rink at Mobus Field. As soon as the
ice was frozen, that is. It would be a good chance to have some fun, let the
people of Watchung know who the Optimists are, and maybe sign up some new
members. Optimists that we are, we are still waiting for the ice to freeze.
Perhaps this summer, we'll be holding weekly hot dog roasts at the new wading
pool at Mobus Field.
April Showers Bring …
We are getting into that time of year when we
start to get very busy. In April, we will be holding the Oratorical Contest
(Karen Smith is chairing, and has tentatively scheduled this for Thursday, April
18 at the Watchung Arts Center) and the "Focus On Optimism" photography contest
(probably April 29, also at the Arts Center). Not yet scheduled (but it usually
happens in late April or early May) is the Geography Bee at Bayberry School.
Doug Walker is trying to get some Watchung kids entered into the District Junior
Golf Tournament, qualifier for the OI Tournament. And in June, we hold our
annual Sports Awards Banquet.
Youth Club News
We are trying to form a Junior Optimist Club for the 7th
and 8th graders. Our plan is to build on the "Friday Night Hang-Out" nights that
we held last year, and try to get a youth club going. We will be holding youth
club meeting twice a month, on the first and third Fridays, in the Seniors Room
at the Watchung Library. Chaperones are needed for these events. If you're able
to help out, give President Cathy Ilchert a call at (908) 757-6895.
In The Zone
A funny thing happened to me at the recent District
Quarterly Conference on February 9. One of my reasons for going to the meeting
was that I hoped to find out from our Lieutenant Governor when the Zone
Oratorical contest was to be held, so I could pass that information on to Karen
Smith. I found out instead that our zone had no Lieutenant Governor, and through
the gentle persuasion (serious arm-twisting!) of Jerry Goldstein and Kurt
Steckley, I "volunteered" to take the job. The cynic might say that the moral of
the story is "Don't go to the District Quarterly Conference", but I'd like to
believe that the Optimist would say, "Do go to the Quarterly conference. There's
plenty of work to go around." Jerry has offered to help me get started with my
new responsibilities as L.G., and I'm hoping that some members with previous
Oratorical Contest experience can advise me on setting up the Zone Oratorical
contest.
Payin' The Dues
By now, you should have received your dues bill for the
current year. Please try to get your payment back to Treasurer Karl Baumle as
soon as possible.
