From the President…

Greetings Fellow Optimists,

We have much to be grateful for as we roll into Summer.

Your nominating committee has come up with an excellent list of candidates to fill leadership roles in the club.

Chris O’Reilly Board Member, Tom Dueppen Board Member, Sue Carney Board Member, Wendysue Fluegge Board Member, Larry Podolske Treasurer, and Jeanine Dederich as Second VP.

We are gearing up for the parade and the parade committee is always looking for help.

Ted

 

Tri-Star Baseball…

We had a record turnout for our Tri- Star Baseball Contest. 115 players participated on a beautiful Saturday morning in five divisions for both boys and girls. All the pre-event advertising said it was for kids’ ages 7 to 12, but we had over 20 kids ages 4, 5 and 6 show up! Our purpose is to include kids, not exclude them, so after the event we decided to add them to our awards program; we also had three 13 year olds ask if they could try and of course we said yes to them too! In addition to hitting and base running, new this year was the addition of a radar gun (thanks to MFHS Softball Head Coach and club member Lou Sanicola) to record the pitch speed.

Thanks to volunteers Greg Mattson, Linda Christman, AnnFreudenthal, Tom Ciskoski, Ted Klumb, John Feltman, Faith VandeHorst, Carl Trapp, Bob Wenzel and Larry Hebbring. Special thanks to Rick Kohl, Larry Podolske, Don Eisenhauer and Del Kreuser who had to shag over 1,200 baseballs hit to the outfield and to co-chair Tom Langer. I also want to thank MFHS Softball Assistant Coach Luke Langer for volunteering to announce both a boys and girls MFLL game this summer as part of our promotion. Can’t wait for next year when we ”officially” invite the younger kids to participate.

Submitted by Jerry Mislang

 

Patio Players Visit…

The Patio Players are closing their fiftieth season with a production of “My Fair  Lady.” Principal characters preformed several songs from the show at the Optimist Club meeting on April 27, 2016. Singing were Jerry Becker, as Henry Higgins, Alicia York, as Eliza Doolittle, and Tim Dondlinger, as Colonel Hugh Pickering. Julie Johnson the shows musical director accompanied the signers. The cast, crew, and support people will include over one hundred area residents. Photo by Don Gorzek

 

Annual Scholarship Golf Outing…

We were blessed with a perfect day for golf. A record 125 golfers joined us for the event that took place on May 18, 2016 at Ironwood Golf Course in Sussex, WI. A few changes were made to this year’s event as compared with previous year’s outings. All in all, after the event, it appears the changes made had a positive effect on the event. At  the time of  writing this  article, the final figures are not in yet, but it looks as though we will be close to or above covering the $15,000 in scholarships that are earmarked for this year’s Scholarship Night at the High School.

In order to have this success, many thanks are in order. First off, a big thank you goes to all the golfers that came out and supported the event. We appreciate  your presence that day. Please look for  a survey in the coming weeks to get feedback on the event, so we can see in what areas people feel we need to make improvements. Secondly, a big thank you goes out to the following volunteers that helped us that day: Marcia Hebbring, Dawn Mariscal, Steve Fleming, Joy Fricke, Sue Jeskewitz, Kathy Matthiessen, Rose Schwartz, Kirsten Sperl, Dave Petroff, Carol Schulteis, and Kristie Gruenwald. Behind every great event is a great committee to plan it. Joining me in the planning was Greg Mattson, Tom Ciskoski, Joy Fricke, Ted Klumb, Terry Frisk, Don Barranco, Terry Marcou, Andy Schmelzer, John Yusko, Larry Barbera, and Matt Hakes. A special shout out and thanks to Matt and VFI for supplying the beverages on our Famous Beverage Cart that roams the course. Thank yous are in order for Mike Lehman and the staff at Ironwood Golf Course. They make hosting the event there a pleasure. A huge thank goes to Sal Zizzo and Trysting Place Pub. Sal donates lunch to our outing as well as a Packer Pre-season package for  our auction. He also filled in as our auctioneer that night. Sal’s donation in the end topped $2,200. The final thank you goes to the members that donated golf balls, our hole sponsors, and donors of items for our raffles and auction. Please see the list attached at the end of the newsletter for those names and please patronize those businesses.

Our winners of Flight #1 were the team of Steve Neuberger, Tim Neuberger, Keith Neuberger, and Gary Monfre with a final score of -13. The winners of Flight #2 were the team of Don Barranco, Terry Marcou, Rog Rogers, and Jim Foster with a score of -11. The winner of the Women’s division was the team of Chris O’Reilly, Lisa Majkzrak, Tina Polk and Mark Stark who were Even. The winner of the 9-hole event was the team of Annette Herbert, Pat Gosa, Greg Mattson and Debbie Mattson with a score of -2. The winner of the putting contest in a putt-off was Rick Kohl.

Congratulations to all the winners. Thanks again to everyone for their efforts in making this event a success.  This truly is a club effort that the committee gets to help lead. Mark your calendars for next year’s event on May 17, 2017.

Todd Paulus

OI Junior Golf Qualifier…

The SWIS District Optimist International Junior Golf Qualifier will be held on Friday June 17, 2016 at Brown Deer Golf Course in Milwaukee, WI. This event is open to Boys and Girls ages 10-18 years old. Golfers player in divisions determined by age and gender for the chance to qualify for the International tournament that will be held in late July at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Registrations are beginning to come in at this time. We are hoping to get 60-65 golfers for this event. In order to make this event work smoothly, we will need volunteers for Registration in the morning, as well as Marshalls and Scorers on the course. You are not required to know all the golf rules, as any golf ruling question that arises, will be addressed by the Golf Pro at the course. Marshalls’ main responsibilities include making sure pace of play is being adhered to as well as making sure there is no coaching between the players and parents. Scorers walk along with the youngest groups of players and keep score for them throughout the round. If you are able to help in any of these areas, please email me at tpaulus@wi.rr.com or call me at 414-719-0009. Tee times will start at 8:00 am. This event allows you to see some great talent up close and personal for free. I hope to see you there.

Todd Paulus

Membership Drive Meeting

Please join us & bring your friends, family and guests to learn about the most optimistic, fun & generous club in Menomonee Falls and all we do to bring out the best in kids!!! Wed, June 22, 7:15am, CE &Rec Dept – for our Membership Drive Meeting.

This will be an action packed meeting where we will hear from: Students that have benefited from our club; Club Activity Committee chair/members; Club Fundraiser Committee chair/members; New member testimonials; and a couple new member installations.

See you there!

April Students of the Month…

Menomonee Falls Optimist Club Student of the Month, from Menomonee Falls High School, Junior Najhee  Purdy  and  Katelyn Macholl,  from  StMary  Parish   School   8th grader Ethyn Burczyk, and from North Middle School, is eight grader, Hannah Xiong, with Ted Klumb, Optimist Club President.

Photo by Don Gorzek

 

May Students of the Month…

Menomonee Falls Optimist Club Students of the Month for May 2016. From Menomonee Falls High School, Senior Brandon Kohnert, and from North Middle School is 6th grader Nolan Thompson, with Ted Klumb, Optimist Club President.

Photo by Don Gorzek

 

Debate Team Excels…

Nine members of the Menomonee Falls High School State Debate Team were presented at the regular Optimist Club Meeting on April 20, 2016. Ms. Ali Dwyer, the team’s coach, talked  about how well the team did in competition this year.

Photo by Don Gorzek

 

 

Fishing Derby Fantastic!

Special Thanks to you for donating your time, talent and enthusiasm to the 2016 Falls Optimist Clubs Kids’ Fishing  Derby.  This was the 19th year the Optimist Club has sponsored the event.

Despite the cold, windy, winter-like weather, the final totals showed 138 kids ages two to 16 participated in the event. 10 trophies, 50 scoops of Pop’s Custard, 100+ containers of bait  supplied  by  R.B. Enterprises,138 games of bowling from Krueger’s Entertainment   Center, 138 t-shirts, 138 certificates for frozen yogurt furnished by Yo-Cool Frozen Yogurt and 108 prizes were given away. The crowd was estimated at 250 to include the participants, parents, grandparents, friends, etc.

Fifty-eight (58) of the participants caught a total of 144 fish that included bluegills, bullheads, trout, largemouth bass, crappies and a sucker. The largest fish caught included a 11 inch rainbow trout, a 12 inch largemouth bass and a 15 inch sucker.

If you have any suggestions to improve the event, let us know. Next year’s derby will be Saturday, May 13, 2017!

Tom Walkner (assisted by Kathy) and Tim Newman, Event Co-Chairs

P.S. Tom is looking for someone that wants to take over as Chair of this event in 2018, working as a co- Chair with Tim and Tom next year.

Uncle Sam Wants You!

The Optimist Club’s biggest event of the year is less than a month away – The Independence Day parade! This parade will entertain thousands of people on the evening of Sunday, July 3 and it takes many volunteers to make it happen.

Over the past year, the parade committee has been working on getting the units and entertainment lined up. Now we need help from you, the club  members. Many members have already signed up to help and I am grateful to them, but we need a lot more volunteers. Help  is  needed  in  the following areas:

• JULY 2 AFTERNOON & JULY 3 MORNING

– Making cotton candy

• JULY 2 EVENING

– Work with law enforcement for crowd control during Land Grab

• JULY 3 EVENING

– The infamous Bucket Brigade

– Cotton candy and popcorn sales (on the parade route)

– Handing out flyers to parade watchers

– Parade Marshals

– Parade line-up personnel

 

All members are welcome to help. If you are a new member and are unsure what job would be best for you, please contact me and I will find something you will enjoy.

The best part of volunteering for the parade is that we have a lot of fun! After the parade, all volunteers are invited to Jerry Mislang’s home for beverages and snacks.

If you are able to volunteer for this fun- filled event, please contact me. Thanks so much.

Ann Freudenthal 262-255-1946

annfreudenthal@gmail.com

 

Membership Chairperson Update…

Managing the membership duties in a club our size is a big responsibility. In order to do the most effective job at handling membership tasks, we are splitting up some of the duties between Cathy Sharkey and Lynette Shepherd. JJ Selland remains on the committee as a third co-chair.

Lynette will be the New Member Organizer. She will greet potential new members, collect applications and   dues, organize swearing in ceremonies, new member socials, and membership recruiting events. Cathy will be the Roster Organizer. She will be maintaining the roster with Optimist International and our club roster, preparing the directory, sending out dues statements and working with the treasurer to collect dues and assist committee chairs with mailings, labels and members lists as needed.

Can you spare a dime a day?

With just one dime a day, you can become part of the movement of “Helping Optimists Help Kids” and become part of a large group of Optimist International Foundation (OIF) supporters who realize what a difference they make every day in the lives of children.

The Dime-a-Day level is reached by a contribution of $36.50 to the Foundation within one Optimist year and is recognized by the presentation of a pin.

The unrestricted gift helps fund all programs of Optimist International. Your money funds scholarship for the Oratorical and Essay contests, and other OI programs such as internet safety, childhood cancer and junior golf.

Would you consider making a gift of just a dime a day to assist the charitable work of      Optimist International? A donation form is included in this newsletter. You can also donate        online at http://oifoundation.org/donate- now/. *

See our club Foundation Representative Carl Trapp for more information.

*This organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is eligible to receive contributions deductible as charitable donations for federal income tax purposes.

 

Optimist Day at Miller Park…

Optimist Day at Miller Park will be held on August 27th. Everyone is invited! Family, friends & future Optimists. The Brewers will be taking on the Pirates at 6:10 PM, Your Ticket Package includes a Salute to the Milwaukee Optimist Club’s 100th Year Anniversary, a delicious Tailgate Party at 4:30 PM, Brewer Game Tickets, and a Kip Moore Concert.

• Terrace Box $35 (or $28 if sign up by June 1st) or
• Loge Seat $55 (or $46 if sign up by June 1st)

Please sign-up by June 1st for Optimist Day at Miller Park

by e-mailing Jo’El Pearlman

at eventplanner2000@hotmail.com or call 262-620-1588.

Download the attached flyer for more information.

 

2016 Football Craze…

Club Members, we now have 1000 NFL Craze Raffle tickets to sell for the club. This ticket is an easy sell and if we sell all the tickets the club will raise $12,000.00 to $14,000.00. We also help contribute to the SWIS District while giving whoever buys the ticket a chance to win money along with a season of fun. The Raffle tickets offer fun for the complete Football season. Each week the  ticket holder gets 4 teams (shown on their ticket), the teams change each week. Each week the 4 teams with the highest scores for the week will win, along with prize money for the lowest; Highest $500.00, 2nd $150.00, 3rd $100.00, 4th $60.00, 5th $50.00, 6th $35.00, 7th  $30.00, 8th  $25.00, Lowest $25.00, 2nd lowest $15.00 and 3rd lowest $10.00. All is on each ticket. This goes on for 17 weeks with $1,000.00 given out each week and $17,000.00 given out for the year. The biggest winners are the scholarships we give out each year from the monies earned from our fund raisers.

The cost is $20.00 per ticket. The $20.00 and the ticket stub must come back to us (The Optimist Club). The stub must be filled out completely and legibly, if not, we won’t be able to send their check if they win. All winnings will be sent to the ticket holder without any need for the ticket holder to interact. The ticket holder can always go on line and check weekly scores by going to: www.swisdistrict.org/resourses. Winners’ names will be posted no later than Wednesday of each week and the checks go out  immediately. Ticket holder can also go to the site and search their ticket number.

Now that this fundraiser is one of our bigger fundraisers, we have formed a committee to help distribute and sell. The Chairs are Jan Barbera and Larry Hebbring with a committee of; Gary Pollpeter, Linda Zylka, Don Barranco, Kevin Mitchke, Bill Haise, Diane Matuszak, Carl Trapp, Brad Bence, Nick Barbera, Kirstin Sperl, Herb Gross, Rick Kohl, Lenny Kimmel, Tom Cisoski, Dan Schwind, Tim Newman and John Selland. They all have tickets if you need one or know of someone who does.

We also have planned a monthly social at a few establishments that agreed to help us sell the tickets. We are asking any club members or friends to join us in some fellowship/camaraderie/libation at these monthly happy hours. They start at 5:00 and go until we leave. Dates/location are as follows:

• Players Pub; June 16th
• Sal’s Pub and Grill; July 21st
• DJ’s Pub; August 18th
• AJ’s Pub; September 15th

We as a committee are going to try and sell all the tickets by June 30th, but we actually have until August 20th. We feel that if we can sell by June 30th we’ll have it off our plate and be able to concentrate more on our largest fund raiser the Packer Raffle and the rest of the summer.

All tickets and stubs should be turned in to the person who sold you the ticket. They in return will bring to Jan or Larry. Again, the stub and the monies must be together and the stub must be filled out complete and legible. Don’t  wait until August to buy or sell.

See you at Players Pub for the 1st Social June 16th, 5:00 or whenever you get there.

Softball Tournament…

The Optimist Annual Softball Tournament is Friday June 24th, Saturday June 25th and Sunday June 26th. We will be in the need for volunteers to work the concession area during the Tournament. Marcia Hebbring will have a sign-up sheet, please contact her for the time period you would like to help;  262-751-4657 or mrchebbring@aol.com.

Stop by and spread the word to show your support, it is a fun event.

 

Our Oratorical Winners!

The Optimist Club of Menomonee Falls wishes Siya Mahajan good luck as she competes at the district Oratorical Contest this weekend in Wisconsin Dells! Congrats also goes to local winner Rohitha Punathil.

 

New Members…

Please welcome these new members to our club:

• Dustin Koehler sponsored by Del Kreuser
• Heidi Konrath sponsored by Diane Matuszak
• Kathryn Hoff sponsored by being at the Patio Players My Fair Lady

Broadway Comes to Town…

Attention all Optimist members and your friends and family. We have a fantastic season of excellent Broadway plays available to our club at reasonable prices. John Barnes is our man in the ticket office. He has arranged excellent Orchestra seating for ALL the plays. Our club and our friends have A VERY SPECIAL DEAL with the PAC. Look at the flyer and pick a play or three and have a night of entertainment you won’t forget. You can start ordering tickets at this time, even for Beautiful. Just call John or Keri. Read the flyer for ALL THE INFORMATION and just dial the phone, for an investment in top shelf entertainment.”