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Our Next Meeting
We will be meeting on Monday, Sept 16 at O'Connor's, beginning at 7:00 PM. This will be the last meeting under the leadership of President Catherine Ilchert. Karl Baumle's term as president begins on October 1. As of now, we plan to continue meeting on the first and third Mondays of each month, although we may decide to change the meeting location, since our dinner meetings have not been well attended for quite some time.District Convention
I attended the New Jersey/Lower New York District Convention the weekend of August 23 - 25. This year's convention was held at Pocono Manor. The Friday evening picnic at Tobyhanna State Park was a great start to the weekend. Although it rained all day Saturday, the kids still managed to have a good time playing pool and ping-pong and swimming in the indoor pool. The only other Watchung members in attendance were Kurt and Lynn Steckley. It would be good to see more of our club there next year.Childhood Cancer Care
One of the topics presented at the business session of the convention was Optimist International's Childhood Cancer Care program. There are many ways for clubs to participate in this program; one of them is to provide various kinds of assistance to the families of young cancer patients.Two-year old Kendal MacTaggert was diagnosed with leukemia this summer. Kendal and her family, parents Steve and Wendy and three siblings, attend Wilson Memorial Church. A number of people at the church have volunteered to cook meals for the MacTaggert family, or to shop for lunch items. Janet Feakes is coordinating this effort at the church, and would welcome any volunteers from the Optimist Club. Janet and I also spoke about a couple other ideas that I will discuss at the next meeting.
In addition, there is a need for blood donors, with type B- (O- would also be helpful). If you have one of these blood types and would be able to donate at either Robert Wood Johnson or St Peter's hospitals, please contact me and I will put you in touch with someone coordinating these donations.
Send me an email, if you wish to help by providing meals or donating blood.
For more information on Kendal, see Kendal's Web Page
More Blood Needed
On October 13, the Covenant Committees of Wilson Memorial Church and St. Mary's Stony Hill Roman Catholic Church will be holding their semi-annual blood drive at the Exempt Fireman's Hall. Contact Fran Ellis for more information.Fishing Derby
The annual Fishing Derby will be held on Saturday, September 21. Once again, we've hooked Karl Baumle to chair this event, but Karl is angling for a few volunteers to assist him. If you enjoy being around fish, bait and kids (and who doesn't?), give Karl a call, or send an email, or just show up at Watchung Lake before 9:00AM on the 21st.In Memoriam
We lost two long-time members this summer. Bob Weidman passed away on July 23. Bob was a past-President (1972-73) as well as a Life Member of Optimist International. I didn't know Bob well as he became inactive in the Optimist Club and in the Wilson Memorial Church choir just around the time that I joined these organizations, but I have heard many good words from other club members and church members.John Gentile died a week after Bob, on July 30. John was also a past-President (1974-75), and a Charter member of our club. He was a Life Member of OI, and was a member of the New Jersey /Lower New York District Hall of Fame. During my first years in the Optimist Club, John served as club secretary and wrote the newsletter, so in some ways I see John as a mentor. John was always calling the club to a higher level of performance. In John's honor, I would like to close with the following lines, from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
And from the sky, serene and far, A voice fell, like a falling star, Excelsior!