June 2020 Optimizer
The Optimizer | June 2020 | Menomonee Falls Optimist Club
— In this issue —
Meeting Schedule
President’s Message
Upcoming Activities and Events
Calendar
Waterlin Fundraiser
OA5 Meeting
Scholarship Golf Outing
Wheeling and Heeling
Club News
Temporary Addition to Creed
Speakers Update
Getting to Know You – Jenn Dedrick
Past Events
May 13 Happy Hour
Board Meeting Minutes
This Month in Club History
How to Publish Optimist News
—- Meeting Schedule —-
Watch Todd’s weekly emails for Zoom meeting details. He will schedule some for the morning, some for happy hour.
—- President’s Message June 2020 —-
I hope this message finds everyone doing well and staying safe. As things begin opening up, we need to keep proceeding with caution. With that said, the Popcorn Wagon opens up for business this Sunday night. Hopefully that gives us some normalcy. Please make sure you review the protocol that Larry Podolske put together for our club. Along with this starting up, planning has begun for the Scholarship Golf outing. Please see separate write-up in the newsletter. Also, our biggest fundraiser is starting their planning sessions. Normally they are a well-oiled machine and starting this early would not be too exciting. This year though, with the NFL season up in the air and a question of whether or not fans will be allowed into stadiums, Ed and his gang are busy making contingency plans for this event. Stay tuned.
Out of every bad thing that happens, we need to look for the positive in it. Although it was terrible that schools were cancelled, kids came home from college early, extra-curricular events were cancelled, high school graduations have been cancelled or changed, businesses were affected and some people were laid off their jobs, this really has helped us realize we can simplify our lives. Suddenly our lives had to slow down as there was no place to go. No events to attend, restaurants to go to, friends to visit, churches to attend or shopping in some of our favorite stores. We have adapted and learned that suddenly we have more family time together. Life can be simple and we can survive. We have learned to appreciate things we have taken for granted all these years. Although life won’t return to normal as it was before, remember, we need to slow down and enjoy our surroundings. Many got out and took more walks. We got a chance to see nature awake from its winter slumber. We are truly blessed each day but sometimes with the hustle and bustle, we don’t take time to realize it. Be thankful and continue to spread kindness. Our world really needs this and our club is a great example of doing this. I cannot wait to see everyone again at a meeting. It will come.
~Todd Paulus
—- Upcoming Activities and Events—-
EVERY EVENING
Popcorn Wagon open 6:30 – 9:00 pm
SATURDAY JUNE 13TH
Waterlin Fundraiser
WEDNESDAY JUNE 16TH
OA5 Meeting at Krueger’s Entertainment Center
FRIDAY JULY 10TH
Deadline for Wheeling and Heeling sign-up in order to get Optimist logo on shirt
WEDNESDAY JULY 22ND
Scholarship Golf Outing
SATURDAY AUGUST 8TH
Wheeling and Heeling
Waterlin Fundraiser
The Waterlin Coffee Bar and Grill in the Delta Hotel (formerly the Radisson), reached out with a potential fundraiser for our Club. They are reopening their business on June 2nd for curbside pickup only. As part of their mission, they want to bring back their Giveback Nights. They reached out to the school district and gave each of the graduates a free entrée to honor their achievement. As graduation was supposed to take place on June 12th, they thought our Optimist Giveback Night could take place June 13th—trying to honor the families and the graduates. On Saturday, June 13, from 4:00-8:00 PM, the Waterlin will donate 10% of their total take that night back to our club. There is not any requirement to have a flyer for us to get credit. We will receive 10% of their sales from their curbside pickup. Put this night on your calendar and please order your dinner from them. It will help to benefit our club. Hopefully, this will lead to further Giveback Nights, maybe when the bar and restaurant itself opens up. As we get more information, we will share this with our members, for you to share with family, friends, and neighbors.
~ Todd Paulus
OA5
The Optimist After 5 team is getting back in the saddle with our June meeting on 6/16. The social hour will start at 5:45, with the business meeting at 6:00. We will meet at Krueger’s Entertainment Center, hoping to use their outside patio. The agenda will include discussions on rescheduling the bags tournament, popcorn wagon changes, Packer raffle and how the rest of 2020 looks.
We would like to remind you that all Optimist members are welcome, and encouraged to join these meetings.
~ Shannon Dederich
Scholarship Golf Outing
The planning us underway for this annual event, that will be held on July 22, 2020 at Ironwood Golf Course in Sussex. Sal Zizzo and Trysting Place Pub has agreed to offer lunch to our golfers as well as heavy hors d’oeuvres afterwards. We are talking about making some changes to the post golf program to allow for social distancing. Start getting your groups together! If you know you will have a group, please let me know ASAP. This will help us plan more for the post-golf program and the changes we need to make. As with the popcorn wagon, our committee’s focus is on allowing the golfers and attendees to have a fun time while being safe. Start getting your teams together. If you have any concerns you would like our committee to discuss, please feel free to reach out to me. As we have never dealt with this before, we will take as many precautions as necessary.
~ Todd Paulus, Golf Outing Chair
Wheeling & Heeling
Once again, the Optimist Club will have a team for the Wheeling and Heeling event on Saturday August 8th. This year it is a virtual race that you can participate in from any location you chose. Participants can bike, run or walk any distance or way that they choose.
The club has had no social events the past few months so members are looking for ways to get together. This event will be a lot of fun and help raise money for the Cancer Care Center at Froedtert Menomonee Falls.
Our committee is still working on the details and they will be out soon. Tentative plans are to meet at the Popcorn Wagon at a designated time and hear a few words from the Wheeling and Heeling Co-chairs, Dan and Kathy Schwind. Then everyone can bike, run or walk until we meet back at the wagon for social time.
Please sign up and invite your family and friends to join you. Register online at events.froedtert.com/menomoneefallsfoundation-wheeling. Click on Join a team and select the Optimist Club team. Be sure to sign up by July 10 to be guaranteed the Optimist Club logo on the back of your shirt!
Any questions, please contact Ann Freudenthal at annfreudenthal@gmail.com.
~ Ann Freudenthal
— Club News —
New (*Temporary*) Creed Addition
Promise Yourself…
To make a list of all the folks you want to ask to join our club once we return to our regular meeting schedule and to forward those names to Cathy (csharkey224@yahoo.com) or Jerry (jerry.mislang@prodigy.net).
We’ve got names of 15 new candidates from just four members. Please give this suggestion some serious thought and forward their names to Cathy, Jerry or Todd. Think of family members, co-workers, friends, neighbors and folks from your church who maybe just need to be asked by someone. Let’s work together, get suggestions from everyone and turn this negative period in our history into a positive one for our great club.
Please stay safe, healthy and most of all, OPTIMISTIC!
~ Jerry Mislang
Speakers Update
Unfortunately, we won’t be able to get firm commitments from speakers until we have the date when the Community Center will reopen.
But that doesn’t mean we haven’t done anything the past eight weeks!
We’ve kept the Waiting List on our Speaker’s Log up to date, including more than a half dozen ‘first timers’. We have two potential Site Visits and several folks that would speak on a moment’s notice so we can get right back to ‘normal’ asap.
We’re also thinking about modifying the criteria for potential Speakers. We’ll probably make a proposal at the June Executive Board meeting that will hopefully benefit our club and community several different ways.
So, hang in there, keep doing what you’re doing to be safe and healthy, and before you know it, we’ll be back to doing what we do best!!
~ Jerry Mislang
Getting to Know You: Jenn Dedrick
I’m a newer member to the club but I’ve actually been attending Optimist Meetings for years. You see, I’ve worked for the school district since 1995. I’ve filled various roles so that I could be more available to my own 2 boys as they grew up, but I primarily served as a biology/chemistry teacher. Over the years, I’ve seen you each time I presented a student as Optimist of the Month and always thought about joining.
After 23 wonderful years with the school district and 16 years of teaching yoga and personal development in our community, I decided to start a new venture promoting WELLNESS with a focus on doTERRA Essential Oils. It has been a perfect fit! The science impresses me and the opportunities to help others – fills my cup! Plus, I still get to work with small groups of students for the district … and NOW … I have time to be an Optimist!! Life is so good!
This change has also given me time to fulfill a dream of becoming a RESPITE Foster Parent for Southeastern WI. … and my other passion which is volunteering in third world countries. I have done work in Haiti during college, the jungles of Belize with one son, the Amazon basin in Peru with my other son and now doTERRA is my outlet to continue that work. My last trip in 2018 was to Guatemala (where they grow cardamom) rebuilding homes after a volcanic eruption. My trip this coming September to Nepal (where they grow wintergreen) has been cancelled due to COVID. I will instead look forward to finding more ways to give back here at home.
As our Leadership Menomonee Falls Representative this year, I especially look forward to giving back to our Club. Thanks so much for welcoming me!
—- Past Events—-
May 13th Happy Hour
Club members enjoyed our first ever zoom happy hour meeting on May 13. It was not quite like meeting in person, but it was fun to share some time together. I’m not sure how I managed to get a screen shot when no one was taking a sip. I’ll have to warn them next time I do that so we can look more party-like.
Board Meeting Minutes from May 19, 2020
PRESENT
Todd Paulus, Ann Freudenthal, Lenny Kimmel, Greg Mattson, Carol Schulteis, Joanne Wanner, Jeanine Dederich, Marcia Hebbring, Steve Fleming, Shannon Dederich
The Zoom meeting was called to order at 7:36 AM by President Todd Paulus. Approval of the agenda was motioned by Joanne, seconded by Jeanine and approved by all.
REVIEW OF FEBRUARY BOARD MEETING MINUTES
A motion was made by Marcia, seconded by Lenny and approved by all to accept the minutes.
REVIEW OF TREASURER’S REPORT
The March Financial report was presented. Motion was made by Ann, seconded by Carol and approved by all to accept the March report. The April report was then presented. Motion was made by Jeanine, seconded by Joanne and approved by all to accept the April report.
NEW MEMBER
Kellee Catron’s membership request was presented. She is sponsored by Cathy Sharkey. A motion was made by Ann, seconded by Marcia and was approved by all to accept her membership.
FUNDRAISERS
There was discussion of various fundraising ideas. It was decided to hold off for now. We will see how much income the popcorn wagon will generate over the next few months.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Park Project Update – The committee had a voice conference call to keep up to date on what is happening. The results of the Feasibility Study showed overwhelming support for the project. Phase 1 will be completed by this fall. They are holding off on fundraising for the rest of this year and will start again in January of 2021. Phase 2 construction will now start in 2022. The village is looking into having an opening of Phase 1 sometime this fall. The Optimist Club will be involved in this event.
A motion was made by Marcia, seconded by Ann to adjourn the meeting at 8:04 AM.
~ Ann Freudenthal
— This Month in Club History—
June 3, 2004 (16 years ago) – Thanks to the efforts of Sue and Kurt Roskopf, Jim Foster, Ed Schlumpf and many others, the Greater Hartford Optimist Club, sponsored by Menomonee Falls Optimists, holds its charter meeting.
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
