June 2017 Optimizer
The Optimizer
June 2017
Menomonee Falls Optimist Club
—- June Meeting schedule —-
All meetings are at 7:15 am at the Community Center except as noted.
- June 7: Membership drive meeting at Trysting Place. Arrive at 6:00, meeting at 6:30
- June 14: Respect for Law with the Police Chief
- June 21: Head Coach Pat Hansen and MFHS Baseball team
- June 28: Parade Committee
—- Message from the President —-
Presidents Thoughts for June 2017
May has been an extremely busy month for our Club. I was able to attend most of the activities, and witnessed our Club members “Bring Out The Best In Kids.” It was very rewarding to me see so many of Club members really being involved helping the children of the community. Let us all continue the great affords displayed.
As the summer season has started, please continue to be involved with the Club activities that continue to make OUR Club strong and growing. Remember that being Optimists, our mission is “Bring Out The Best In Kids.”
All the Best to You,
Don Gorzek
Optimist Club of Menomonee Falls President 2016-17
—- This Month in Club History —
June 30, 1980 (37 years ago) – JJ Selland and Ed Schlumpf coordinate the judging of more than 160 entries in the “What My Flag Means to Me” Essay Contest. (40 Year History Program)
—- Upcoming Events —-
- Wed. June 7:Membership Drive Meeting, 6:00 pm @ Trysting Place
- Mon. July 3: Parade
- Wed. August 2: Picnic, 5:00 pm @Shepherd’s Waters, N104 W21677 Willow Creek Rd in Germantown
Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteers are needed for the following Optimist event. Please see article for event for details.
- July 3 Parade. We need about 100 volunteers for this event!
JOIN US FOR OUR JUNE NIGHT MEETING!
MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
WHEN: Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Arrive 6:00; meeting and program at 6:30
WHERE: Trysting Place Pub, Appleton Avenue, Menomonee Falls
(Please note: we encourage you to purchase beverage and/or food as we will not be paying to rent their space)
WHAT: This is an opportunity for members and guests to learn about club activities, how to get involved, how great it is to be a club member and how fun it is to support our youth! Hear from our wide variety of committee coordinators on activities and projects, how to get involved and why being an Optimist is one of the best decisions you will ever make!
Remember our membership drive at Three Cellars last year?! Same fun format!
WHO: All members, potential members and guests welcome! Bring your friends, co-workers and neighbors!
July 3 Parade
In just over one month, the Optimist Club will sponsor our biggest event of the year. Yes, the July 3rd parade is closer than you think. The parade committee has been busy for months getting units signed up to entertain the thousands of spectators who will line the parade route. Much of the preliminary work has been done already.
But now we need many, many club members to volunteer to help out the day before and the day of the parade to make this event a big success.
Here are opportunities for members to volunteer:
- Land Grab – Work with the Menomonee Falls Police Department for crowd control for the Land Grab on the evening of July 2
- Make Cotton Candy – On the evening of July 2 and the morning of July 3, we will be making cotton candy at the Community Center to be sold along the parade route.
- Parade Marshal – These volunteers are on the parade route to keep the parade units moving along and help with crowd control
- Parade Line up – Help get the units in place before the parade starts.
- Bucket Brigade – These volunteers are assigned a section of the parade route and walk among the crowd to collect money. Most spectators know we do this and hopefully will be generous in putting money in your bucket.
- Selling cotton candy and popcorn on the parade route – Volunteers are assigned a section of the parade route to sell these goodies. Volunteers will be paired up and given a cart to hold the popcorn. Cotton candy will be on a pole.
Please contact Ann Freudenthal at annfreudenthal@gmail.com to offer your services. Or call 262-255-1946. We need around 100 volunteers for this event. A special thank you to the members who have already signed up to help. But we need so many more. I look forward to hearing from everyone!
Any questions, please let me know. If you are a new member or are unsure what you would like to do, please contact me.
And as usual, all volunteers will be invited to the post parade party at Jerry Mislang’s house which is always a very fun time.
Ann Freudenthal
Football Crazr
Football Crazr Raffle tickets are in and ready to be sold! The Crazr Raffle is one of our larger fund raisers and last year we raised over $14,000. We have 1000 tickets to sell from now until August 14th, but don’t wait until then to sell, sell now. Tickets are $20.00 each and an easy sell. Each ticket lasts the whole NFL Football season, you have 17 weeks to win and each week you have 4 new teams to compete with.
Payouts every week: $500 for the highest score, $150 for 2nd highest, $100 for 3rd highest, $60 for 4th highest, $50 for 5th highest, $35 for 6th highest, $30 for 7th highest, $25 for 8th highest, $25 for lowest, $15 for 2nd lowest and $10 for 3rd lowest score. Each ticket is also sold with Fund Crazr Discount Code. This code automatically enters the ticket buyer into the Football Crazr Sweepstakes and entitles the buyer to deep discounts in the Crazr Saver Store, using the discount code found on the front of the ticket.
Ticket buyers can go to www.swisdistrict.org/resources to check weekly winners. If they are a winner a check will be set sent out to them promptly. To make sure a winner gets their check, stubs need to be handed in, completely filled out, legible and in black ink. All 1000 tickets need to accounted for.
Tickets can be purchased at any Optimist meeting from Jan Barbera or Larry Hebbring or one of the many Crazr Raffle “Club Member Captains”.
This not the “Packer Raffle”!
Larry Hebbring
Club Picnic
Exciting event open to all members, there better halves, and any prospective members. Our club picnic is scheduled for Wednesday, August 2nd. The festivities will begin about 5pm. Food and beverages are provided along with a whole lot of camaraderie. You need to bring nothing but a SMILE.
A few changes to note:
- There will be NO golfing that day.
- A new venue…….DAN AND LYNETTE SHEPHERD are graciously letting us use their facility known as ‘SHEPHERDS WATERS’ for our enjoyment.
- Address and directions….
N104 W21677 Willow Creek Rd in Germantown. Go west on Willow Creek from Appleton Avenue [only way to turn]. The drive is at the top of the hill on the left. [Across from the old apple orchard, before you hit Amy Belle Road.
I will continue to send updates and reminders. Spread the word. This is a fun event and a great way for the new members to get to know others in the group. [Adults only please] A sign-up sheet will go around at meetings and via email as we get closer. A few surprises are in the works
Have a great, safe, fun filled summer.
Marcia Hebbring
—- JOOI Club —-
The Junior Optimist Club held its elections for next school year on May 8th. The following students were elected to serve in their accompanying roles: Olivia Eisenhauer and Melanie Lipscomb (co-presidents), Grace Hurst (secretary), Hannah Klug (communications), and Kelly Maloney (treasurer). We are very excited about our new board members and are grateful to all who ran for an elected position. These students were sworn into their new offices at our installation banquet on Monday May 22nd at 5:00 at Oakwood Park. We are looking forward to a great summer and new school year!
Alison Leon
—- Students of the Month —-
Photo by Don Gorzek
The Menomonee Falls Optimist Club Students of the Month for May 2017 include from left, MFHS seniors Erika Virnig and from North Middle School Caitlyn Grant and Sadie Siebert. (Not pictured Jake Narey from MFHS)
Photo by Don Gorzek
The Menomonee Falls Optimist Club Students of the Month for May 2017 include from left, from St. Mary Parish School Sam Stelling and from St. Anthony Parish School Samantha Goins
—- Past Events —-
Fishing Derby
The 20th Annual Optimist Club of Menomonee Falls Kids’ Fishing Derby was held on May 13.
Although parking was restricted due to nearby construction, the weather did cooperate and the final totals for the 2017 Optimist Kids’ Fishing Derby showed 159 kids ages two to 16 participated in the event. Ten trophies, 100+ containers of bait supplied by R.B. Enterprises, 159 games of bowling from Krueger’s Entertainment Center, 159 tee-shirts, 159 certificates for frozen yogurt furnished by Yo-Cool Frozen Yogurt and 136 door prizes were given away. The crowd was estimated at 350 to include the participants, parents, grandparents, friends, etc.
Special thanks to the following club members that volunteered for the event: Ann Freudenthal, Fred Rambert, Dick Woosencraft, Kirsten Sperl, Joanne Wanner, Greg Mattson, Lance Newman, Charlie Keller, Kathie Jensen, Bob Wenzel, Larry Hebbring, Kathy Matthiessen, Brad Bence, Tom Dewerth, Tom Dueppen and Don Gorzek.
Fifty-six (56) of the participants caught a total of 112 fish that included bluegills, bullheads, trout, largemouth bass, crappies and suckers. The largest fish caught was a 17 ½ sucker caught by ten year old Harrison Leurquin and six year old Livy Janoska caught the most fish, 12 (ten bluegills and two bass).
This year we were fortunate to add two new sponsors; Kwik Trip of Menomonee Falls (donated $300 in gift cards) and Cops and Kids Foundation ($125 in door prizes). We were also fortunate to have Bobby Pintar of R B Enterprises, his son and members of his fishing organization join us to monitor and share their expertise with the participants.
If you have any suggestions to improve the event, let us know. Next year’s derby will be Saturday, May 12, 2018!
Tom Walkner (assisted by Kathy) and Tim Newman, Event Co-Chairs
Photos by Don Gorzek
Highway Clean-up
The Jr. Indians Baseball teams helped our Club clean Pilgrim Road between Appleton Avenue South to Mill Road on May 13th, 2017.
Photos by Don Gorzek
Post Prom 2017 Recap
If providing a safe environment with bumper boats, mini golf, laser tag, go karting, over 75 games, having a great time with your date and friends, unlimited pizza, bagels, donuts, refreshments plus a 1 in 5 chance to win one of over $1,000 in gift cards is the criteria for a successful Post Prom, well then, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
295 out of 298 kids, chaperoned by the dedicated crew of Rick Kohl, Kathy Matthiesen, Larry Hebbring, Cathy Sharkey, John Seymour, Kirsten Sperl, Steve Fleming and Jerry Mislang had a great time at Action Territory in Kenosha on May 13.
But we didn’t do it alone. Gift card donations from Trysting Place, Village Bowl, DeMarinis, Shelley’s Hallmark, Cousins Subs, Wittlin’s Service Station and Worzella Photography were an added bonus for the kids. Cash donations from Jeff Steliga and several of the School District PTA’s helped offset our club’s donation of $8.00 per student.
Thanks again to everyone who has made this event something that our club can be very proud of year after year.
Jerry Mislang
Scholarship Golf Outing
As I write this article the Monday after the outing and look at the upcoming weather forecast, I can only think what a difference a week makes. Our outing took place in 80 degree weather (although windy) but the rain held off until the night. This week’s forecast on Wednesday calls for a high of 58 and rain. Thanks to all those who asked for help from above. We had 101 golfers participate in this year’s event held May 17, 2017 at Ironwood Golf Course in Sussex, WI. Many, many thanks to all those golfers, as well as, those people that came out for hors d’oeuvres only after golf to support our event via the voice auction and raffle tickets. At this time I do not have any final figures. When I do, I will have our President get that information out via his weekly email to the club.
Thanks to our fine committee members of Greg Mattson, Tom Ciskoski, Dan Schwind, Joy Fricke, Carol Schulteis, John Yusko, Larry Barbera, Matt Hakes, and Terry Frisk for helping to plan this outing. Thanks to all members that donated items from golf balls, to bottles of liquor, to items used in our opportunity raffle and voice auction. This allowed us to maximize our profits to fulfill the scholarships we are giving away to our High School seniors. Thanks also to the wonderful hole sponsors, as well as, Sal Zizzo and Trysting Place for sponsoring lunch and donating an item for the raffle. Sal’s total donation that day totals a scholarship that we give away a week later.
Thanks to our volunteers that came out that day to help the day run smoothly. Many of these volunteers are veterans which makes my job much easier as you know what to do without a lot of instruction. This allows me more time to mingle and thank golfers personally for coming out to the event. Those volunteers included Marcia Hebbring, Dawn Mariscal, Steve Fleming, Joy Fricke, Rose Schwartz, Kathy Matthiessen, Lynette Shepherd, Larry Podolske, and Dustin Koehler. Thanks also to our drink cart drivers Kristy Gruenwald and Carol Schulteis who made sure all golfers were treated to some special drink items that the course does not offer. Special thanks to Matt Hakes and VFI for supplying the items used on that cart. This is always a big hit for our outing. Thanks also to our President, Don Gorzek, for coming out to capture the event via his camera. I can’t wait to see the pictures you captured that day.
The women’s division was won by Chris O’Reilly, Lisa Majkrzak, Tina Polk, and Stacey Hietpas with a winning score of 3 under par, 69.
Men’s flight one was won by Terry Frisk, Larry Barbera, Bob Wolf, and Dan Lloyd with a winning score of 14 under par, 58.
Men’s flight two was won by Terry Marcou, Don Barranco, Rog Rogers, and Jim Foster with a winning score of 10 under par, 62.
Thanks again to everyone. See you on the third Wednesday of May 2018 for the 28th annual event.
Todd Paulus
Photos by Don Gorzek
Scholarships
The Menomonee Falls Scholarship Foundation award night was held on May 24. The Optimist Club was well represented by our President, Don Gorzek and our scholarship co-chair, Barb Schmit. Thanks to the efforts of the scholarship golf committee and the generosity of our board, we awarded six-$2000 and three-$1000 scholarships to graduating seniors.
The recipients are Andrew DeLuka, Madison Grzesiak, Signe Mattson, Katelyn Macholl, Haley Richards, David Koier, Allison Schultz, Marissa Ingunbor, and Lauren Baumhardt who attends Catholic Memorial High School. I plan to attend her award ceremony on Friday, May 26. I will also attend the graduation ceremony for the Quest program on Thursday, June 1 to award Carli Carini a $1000 scholarship……that’s $16, 000 total!
Thank you to my committee of Barb Schmit, Lenny Kimmel, Jeanine Dederich and Faith Vanderhorst for reading one of the toughest years yet. Please join us on May 31 to meet the students that have our future covered! Thank you again to all who help out with scholarship golf outing!
Cathy Hazzard
MFHS Boys Golf Team
Photo by Don Gorzek
Tony Pritchard, talked about the 2017 MFHS Boys Golf Team Members and their season at our Club meeting on May 24, 2017.
Memorial Festival
The Optimist club popcorn wagon was at the Menomonee Falls Memorial Festival on May 27.
Photos by Don Gorzek
—- Membership —-
From the Membership Committee:
This past month we had two inductions and are happy to officially welcome Dr Shannon Kurtz (sponsored by Cathy Sharkey) and Jim Lowe (sponsored by Larry Barbera)! And it’s so nice to see both of you at the meetings and volunteering and participating already!! Thank you for making our club even better!!
And don’t forget our Membership Drive Meeting at the Trysting Place Pub, Wed June 7 at 6:30pm. Please arrive early and enjoy some food and beverages before, during and after the meeting to say THANK YOU to Sal for letting us use the room for FREE!! It’s a great opportunity to visit and network with fellow Optimists at a local establishment that does a LOT to support the Optimist club!! This is the best meeting to invite your friends and family to to get a real feel for what the Optimist club is all about and why you like it so much.
and also…..
Night Meeting Update
Well the trial year of night meetings is over and we want to keep everyone up to speed…
So….they were very popular!! & we got great feedback!! Members loved the change of local venues, the speakers and the socializing and networking at different local establishments after the meeting. We had great attendance – average of 40 people per meeting and of those in attendance 13 were members that do NOT come in the morning. That’s 33%!!! We also had an average of 6 guests per meeting, creating the exposure we were looking to create. So we accomplished a few of our objectives but not all of them.
We did not see an increase in “younger demographic” guests as we had hoped, we did not see an increase in participation of the members who do not come in the morning & we also did not see an increase in membership.
It was suggested that there is still value to continuing the monthly night meetings because they ARE so well attended, especially by people who can’t come in the mornings, but also a lot of morning attendees, and given another year of consistency of it being monthly, could potentially increase the likelihood of accomplishing some of the objectives we fell short of this first year. In addition, we were pleased to offer guest speakers who’s presentations could not have been presented in a morning meeting time frame, not to mention, tours of various local facilities.
A few members have expressed an interest in taking over the planning and scheduling of night meetings (so they continue) so after consulting with the current Speakers Committee, if the Night Meetings continue, the interested members would be an extension of the Speakers Committee and work together on more amazing speakers for us!
The summer is full of other member events so if they continue they will resume in October.
Stay tuned for further developments…
Lynette Shepherd
—- Executive Board —-
Board Briefings – May 16, 2017
President Don Gorzek led the Board meeting on Tuesday, May 16, 2017. Meeting synopsis is as follows:
Donation requests:
- Girl Scout Troop #4145 / Gold Award – Mackenzie Schmidt; similar to Eagle Scout – approved $500 if plans for a technology and recording room at MFHS move forward
- St. Mary School Nature Garden – teacher Cathy Ferderbar and student Patrick Dugan; approved $300 for garden plantings and request Optimist recognition signage in the Garden
- MFHS FBLA National Competition – advisor Michelle Oliver and students Caleb, Lauren and Tanner; approved $2500 to attend national competition in California this summer
Treasurer’s report:
Guest Jim Foster has updated all software to be current through March 2017 and will move forward to get all up-to-date. Jim will be providing reports going forward in place of Rick Kohl. Many thanks to Rick for his years of knowledge and expertise.
Committee Reports and Budgets:
- Approved committee budget for OI Junior Golf
- Past events – May 13 Fishing Derby a success with 159 children participating; May 13 highway clean up included about 40 Junior Indians baseball players
- 2017-2018 Officers and Board: Voting will be at regular membership meeting on Wednesday, May 31, 2017; Lynette Shepherd has submitted names to OI as required. Ballot is as follows:
- President: Lynette Shepherd
- 1st Vice President: Jeanine Dederich
- 2nd Vice President: Dustin Koehler
- Board members: Dave Curran, Kathryn Hoff, Barb Schmit
Unfinished Business / Informational Items:
- Magic Show –Sue Carney and Ross Sharkey will connect to submit letter to terminate association with fundraising organization
- Sunshine Committee – Memorials will be sent for death of immediate family of current member – parent, step-parent, spouse, significant other, child, step-child
- Looking for volunteers to run the popcorn wagon for 8-10pm shift at Falls Memorial Fest on Saturday, May 27. The wagon will be open for business from noon- 10:00 p.m. Please contact Larry Podolske or Jeanine Dederich if interested.
- Guests Tim Newman and Ed Schlumpf attended on behalf of the Past Presidents Council and commented on the future of night meetings; review will occur at the Executive Board meeting on September 19, 2017.
New Business:
No new members to date; a Membership Drive meeting will be held Wednesday, June 7, 2017 at Trysting Place. Gathering begins at 6:00 pm. with meeting at 6:30 p.m. We invite you to attend with current, new and/or potential members and find many ways to get involved in the Club.
The Board meets the third Tuesday of every month at 7:00 a.m. Members include:
Don Gorzek, President
Lynette Shepherd, 1st Vice President
Jeanine Dederich, 2nd Vice President
Larry Podolske, Treasurer
Ted Klumb, Past President
Dan Schwind, Past Presidents Council
Board Members: Sue Carney, Tom Dueppen, Len Kimmel, Chris O’Reilly, Todd Paulus, Rose Schwartz
Jeanine Dederich
—- Thank You Notes —-
The club received a thank you note from the following:
- Food Pantry
- Olivia Eisenhauer – DYW
—- Next Newsletter Deadline —-
Articles for the July newsletter are due June 28. Please email your articles to Jerry Mislang.
jerry.mislang@prodigy.net
