December 2020 Optimizer
The Optimizer | December 2020 | Menomonee Falls Optimist Club
— In this issue —
Weekly Meeting Schedule
President’s Message
Upcoming Activities and Events
Calendar
OA5
Trivia
Optimist Meetings
Veterans’ Day
Students of the Month
Patio Players
Optimist Plaque
Past Events
Leaf Raking
Getting to Know You – Stevie Mistele-Wildt
This Month in Club History
How to Publish Optimist News
— Meeting Schedule —
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 2
It’s our first opportunity to welcome ‘new’ Library Director Jacqueline (Jackie) Remmer. She was appointed to the position on July 15th, so we look forward to hearing what she’s been up to her first five months.
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 9
We’re excited to have MFHS sophomore Megan Schultz talk about her Girl Scout Gold Award project that was recently featured in a local paper.
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 16
It’s Students of the Month…really, do we have to say anything else?
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 23
Several parties have been approached but no firm commitment at press time. Please refer to the President’s weekly email once a speaker has committed.
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 30
No meeting. Community Center closed.
~Jerry Mislang
For those who are not able to attend meetings in person, Shannon has set up a Zoom call. Zooms are set up for all of the November meetings.
The meeting is listed at 7:00 a.m., so you may test your equipment. The meeting will begin at the normal time of 7:15. Feel free to reach out to Shannon if you have any questions or concerns.
Topic: Menomonee Falls Optimist Club Membership Meeting
Time: 07:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada)
Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.
Weekly: https://us04web.zoom.us/meeting/upMrcOuupz4qHdUkHIeFsBO-0wuGVtjM2Bl5/ics?icsToken=98tyKu6vqDwoHN2QsB6GR7YEBI_Ca-7xmCVfgqdolzfMBgZAQCy7ZvVXFYRrGvWC
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/77672695071?pwd=MVRvcEEydmVlZ2dkVlIwcDdrVlA4QT09
Meeting ID: 776 7269 5071
Passcode: 2BSoStrong
— President’s Message December 2020 —
“Worrying is betting against yourself.”
As we approach December, I would like to wish everyone happy holidays.
Let’s hope 2021 will be a great year!
The pandemic sure has changed things. I would like to thank Dan Schwind for subbing in for me during the time I was sick. Special kudos to Jerry Mislang for putting together the November 11th meeting honoring our club member veterans. It was a special meeting.
A big thank you also to John Yusko for handling the Leaf raking. A significant number of kids were involved.
Because of the pandemic there will be no formal Christmas party this year or parade.
We will continue to try and have our weekly meetings on zoom. A number of members have tuned in weekly.
Jerry Mislang and his team continue to bring interesting speakers to inform our club of what is happening. The drawing for the first meeting in December will be $90.00
Stay safe everyone and see you at the meeting!
~ President Rick
— Upcoming Activities and Events —
TUESDAY DECEMBER 15TH
OA5 Service Project
SATURDAY JANUARY 30TH
Trivia Contest (tentative)
OA5 Meeting
In coordination with the Menomonee Falls Social Workers, OA5 is still planning a social service project for the Resource Room at Ben Franklin, however, due to COVID precautions, we will be moving this out to early next year, when we can all gather safely.
The OA5 team will still meet on December 15th at Players Pub to discuss plans for the 2021 year. Please join us! 5:45 social time, 6:00 meeting.
~ Shannon Dederich
Trivia Contest
IT IS A ????? IF WE WILL HOLD THE OPTIMIST TRIVIA NIGHT 2021. WE WOULD LIKE TO PLAN FOR JANUARY 30, 2021 BUT WITH COVID-19, WE NEED TO INVESTIGATE A NEW VENUE.
~ Chairs Todd Paulus, Karen Nelson, Sue Jeskewitz
— Optimist Meetings—
November 11th: Veterans Day
On Veterans’ Day, we were honored to hear from veterans who are members of our club. Photos by Jon Cline.
November 18th: Students of the Month
L to R: Emma Demetry (MFHS), Calvin Tischer and Keegan Stroh (North Middle School), Madeline Mrozinski (St. Mary), Emily Skorstad (MFHS). Not pictured: Reese McLaughlin
Photo by Jon Cline.
November 25th: Patio Players
Patio Players members visited us on Nov. 25 to receive a donation and tell us about the Christmas Carol.
Ann Freudenthal (Box Office Manager), Melissa Bloch-Meier (FPP Artistic Director), Karen McKinney (FPP business manager and director for Christmas Carol), Dan Schwind.
The tradition of Christmas Carol for Falls Patio Players is too special to not present during this strange year so we have made it into a radio show. We would love to have you join us and enjoy it as a great start to your Yuletide season. There is a link to the premiere on Friday December 4th and then a link to watch throughout the month of December. God Bless us Everyone!
Find it at our web page fallspatioplayers.com or on our facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/events/665141674149479
Optimist Plaque
Those who attend meetings in person have probably noticed the new plaque with Rick Kohl’s name on it hanging on the wall near the entrance to our meeting room at the Riverside Community Room. It is worth noting that once again the plaque has been donated by Tim Hogan, a former Optimist member who is the owner of National Trophy Co. located in the Rog Rogers” State Farm Insurance building. He’s cheerfully done this for decades always saying, “I’m glad to do it for the kids.”
~ Ed Schlumpf
— Past Events —
Leaf Raking
Leaf raking for senior took place during the month of November. Here are a few photos of the players and coaches from three Falls Angels 16U Select Softball teams. Watch for more details about the project in the next newsletter.
— Getting to Know You —
Stevie Mistele-Wildt
I have heard about the Menomonee Falls Optimist Club throughout the years but didn’t realize how much they do for the community and the various schools, groups and other organizations.
Our company Cobblestone Builders and Developer, Inc. has made Menomonee Falls our home base for over 25 years. My husband Dirk Wildt and I have lived in Menomonee Falls previously as well and moved out to Jackson 10 years ago and now in the interim are living back in Menomonee Falls until we complete our new house back in Jackson.
Since living in Menomonee Falls and in a ridiculously small apartment, I needed something to do. I went to a Labor Day event in town and ran into a few friends from around town and one was Lynette Paddock Shepherd. Lynette had so many positive and enthusiastic things to same about the Optimist that I told her I was thinking about getting involved. She invited me to a Wednesday morning meeting back in October of 2019 and here I am! I was selected as the Optimist Club Rookie of the Year 2019/2020.
I have always had fun in coordinating and volunteering with events within my careers, yes I have had many. I started working when I was 15 ½ at the old and now gone Westbrook Bowling Center where I met Jerry Mislang of all people! Some of you may know me from working at Stein Walgreens South back in the 70’s. I had fun working in a small T-shirt iron-on business in Butler (Holoubek Studios) who printed T-shirts and apparel for their largest customer, Harley Davidson. This job is where I got my early knowledge of coordinating shipments to their Canadian warehouse. I also was involved in selling the products at various fairs and promotional venues, boy were those some interesting times in the 70’ & 80’s!
When sending shipments to their Canadian warehouse I had to work with a large airfreight company, that’s when I was offered a job at Burlington Northern Airfreight in the International Dept. coordinating with various freight companies and air lines to send cargo all over the world. With the knowledge of working in the international field I moved over to The Master Lock Company as an international sales customer service rep. for the Canadian Territory. I developed a good relationship with our Canadian market that I started coordinating containers of merchandise for the Canadian national trade show in Toronto. I was able to go to Montreal and Vancouver as well to see those markets. After 11 years I needed to try something outside of the corporate world. I tried my hand at my own business of bridal accessories, this did not go as expected. I then found a retail sales position at a local Harley Davidson dealership in New Berlin. Dirk and I got incredibly involved with the dealership, the members and the Harley Owner’s Group (HOG) Kettle Moraine Chapter (KMC). Along with making a lot of friends, our chapter raised money for local organizations and participated in large events such as a fund raiser for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Waukesha county. I volunteered to get the vendors and suppliers coordinated for this event at the Waukesha County Fairgrounds.
We had traveled many, many miles in Wisconsin and had many, many fun times with our KMC family.
My father-in-law who owned and operated Cobblestone Realty & Development, Corp. needed someone to expedite and work with the homeowners and take care of their punch lists. Since staring 28 years ago I have learned about new home building construction, working with vendors, suppliers, contractors and owners and all other avenues home building has for us. This is quite a stretch from going to college to be a Fashion Designer! I do stage and decorate all of our model homes.
Today my husband Dirk and I own Cobblestone Builders and Developers, Inc., and work hand in hand with each other.
Dirk and I do not have children, but we keep each other company in business, riding many miles on our Harley motorcycles, yes I ride my own 1994 Heritage Soft Tail that has won bike show awards. We used to own a time share in St. Martin/St. Maarten in the Caribbean. We enjoy golfing and working out and traveling when we find the time.
— This Month in Club History —
December 15, 1998 (22 years ago) –
$500 is given to the MFHS Pon Pom Squad and Cheerleaders to help them attend the National Competition on the Twin Cities.
~ Submitted by Jerry Mislang from the 40 Year History Program, courtesy of Ed Schlumpf
— How to Publish Optimist News –-
There are multiple venues for publishing Optimist news and events the community and to the Optimist members. It is important to get the word out so everyone is aware of the events we sponsor to benefit the youth of the community. Committee chairs are responsible for writing the articles and sending them via email to the people listed below:
NEWSLETTER Jerry Mislang or Barb Schmit no later than the 27th of each month – jerry.mislang@prodigy.net or schmitbarb@gmail.com
NEWSPAPERS Shannon Dederich three or more weeks prior to your event, as quickly as possible after an event shannon.dederich@gmail.com
FACEBOOK Cathy Sharkey, Dawn Mariscal or Lynette Shepherd – csharkey224@yahoo.com, dmariscal@wi.rr.com, llshep4ma@gmail.com
WEBSITE Beth Saunders – bethjsaunders@gmail.com
