1. education
2. school

The Southernor
California South District #41
Optimist International
Winter Issue ‐ December 2014
From The Governors Desk
Every once in awhile, events come along that make you question the way
things are. The news from last year, that our organization was shrinking, and
that a possible, reorganization was possible, gave us much to think about.
“Would we be taken over by a bigger organization? Would I have my own club
to go to every week? What would happen to our local children?”
The first, two months of this OPTIMIST year have allowed us time to look at a
world of our own making, without the limits and barriers that others create. In
the early years, the Optimist Organization existed to help “delinquent boys”.
Then, the organization included all boys. Finally in the 80’s, girls were included. Thus, the Optimist organization as we know it, became a reality. None of
us were around to start the first club. We are here now. We have received a message of empowerment and the bell is ringing loud and clear for you to take control of your destiny.
Two, JUNIOR OPTIMIST CLUBS have been formed by the CARLSBAD CLUB at Carmel Valley
Middle School and the DOWNTOWN CLUB at Mission Hills Elementary. Alpha club. Congratulations!
Seven clubs have added members in the last 2 months. Clubs adding members were:
Carlsbad, Pt. Loma, Optimist Connect, Kensington, Uptown, Lakeside, Ocotillo, El Cajon, Valley Center. What an accomplishment!
Clubs deleting members were Carlsbad, Del Mar/Solana Beach, Oceanside, Imperial Beach,
Uptown, Success, Lakeside, Sunrise, and Ocotillo.
In our West coast Region, under Ed Murphy, Vice President at OI, CALSO has added a net 9
members. You are shaping the future and making history by increasing the membership.
President Ken tells us that for every Optimist Member we have, that 35 children's’ lives are
impacted, with many more needing us. It is time to “Share Your Optimism”. You have joy and
peace as an Optimist member and you will be able to share that peace with many others as you invite them to your activities.
President Ken has made the following offer. Any new member added between December
1, 2014 and February 28, 2015 will have the $15.00 new member fee waived.
I look forward to seeing all of you at the second quarterly.
Saturday, January 17, 2015
El Camino Country Club
Oceanside, CA
9 AM – 3:30 PM
A free shuttle will be available from Bonita/Chula Vista/East County/Mission Valley
to and from the quarterly. Contact Dr. Angie, Governor, at 619-253-2168 or [email protected] to
make a reservation.
Keep sharing the joy and peace. Thank you for all you do.
Southernor
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RayÊs Comedy Corner
in Memory of Ray
Naud
Ask Someone To Be
An Optimist Member
Multiple activities by Junior Optimists are always in the works. At the October
JOOI Quarterly/beach cleanup at Mission Bay, students from 7 clubs reported how
they did their projects and our guest speaker demonstrated great speaking style and
emphasized the Oratorical contest. A Hoover student described their Reading Legacies and Eastlake & Bonita Vista Middle set their November canned food drive.
Later, a new middle school club was chartered by Del Mar Solana-Beach, and SUCCESS Optimist sponsored Mater Dei High's new club. Now we are forming a club
at High Tech High and planning more. JOOI Clubs will register at
www.Souperbowl.org for their January community projects, and in February do a
JOOI of Reading Event.
Our CALSO District calendar is:
Jan.17 Torrey Pines & CCA jointly will make 200 bagged lunches for the homeless in San Diego for Souperbowl of Caring
JOOI Quarterly Jan. 24 from 9:00am - 12:30 at Ronald McDonald House, 2929 Children's Way, SD, 92123
858-467-4750
Jan. 24 - 5pm - 7pm is "A Princess Winter Ball" a family event fundraiser for Johns Hopkins cancer research,
and will be hosted by the new Mater Dei High & Eastlake High Junior clubs, at Corpus Christi Church, 450
Corral Canyon Road, Bonita, 91902.
Feb. 27 -3-5pm is Coronado's JOOI of Reading Program for Dr. Seuss’ birthday party, at the Coronado library
on Orange Ave.
March 7 - is the 8th Dance For a Cure Junior Optimist fundraiser for the Childhood Cancer Campaign. Two hip
-hop showcases are at 3:00pm and 7:00 pm Saturday at Eastlake High's Theater 1120 Eastlake Parkway, Chula
Vista 91914
March 14 is CALSO JOOI District Convention 10am-1pm at Stein Farm, National City, corner of 18th and F
Streets, 91950
July 6-8 is the JOOI International Convention at the Hilton in New Orleans; sign ups are Mar. 14-April 1 with
Elaine Lucca
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Executive Committee Meeting
January 10th - Second Quarter Executive
Committee Meeting at Marie Callender’s.
6950 Alvarado Rd, San Diego, CA 92120
Breakfast at 8:30 am - Meeting at 9:00 am
Oratorical Contest for 2014/2015
Essay Contest for 2014/2015
“How My Optimism Will Help Me Press
on to Greater Achievements of the Future”
“Optimism Should be a Priority”
David Daftary
Oratorical chair
[email protected]
Bonnie Foster
Essay Chair
[email protected]
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CALSO District 2nd Quarterly - January 17th
3202 Vista Way, Oceanside, CA
Our District Governor Dr. Angie Hawkins,
invites all members to the 2nd District Quarterly meeting on January 17th from 9 am to 4
pm. The meeting is going to be held at the
beautiful El Camino Country Club in
Oceanside. There is plenty of free parking.
A Sandwich Deli Buffet will be served for
lunch. The cost is $22/person. Please send
your check to District Treasurer Alma by
January 9th made out to CALSO District 41.
Alma Vinson
CALSO District
P. O. Box 11
El Centro, CA 92244-0011
New Optimist members as well as “Old
Timers” are cordially invited. Come to see
what’s going on in the District and learn about
the inner workings of optimism on the District level.
Deli Sandwich
Lunch Buffet
$22 per/person
Southernor
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Allied Gardens Club News
November the 6th - Dave Dickson, Bill
Glover, Janet Hurn, Rita Kehrig, Dick
McCormick and Lenard Murphy gathered at Foster Elementary School to
serve the Special BBQ Lunch to the students.
Bill Glover had the pleasure of presenting the “Optimist of The Year”
award to Rita Kehrig, a very deserving member.
Dr. Angie installed the new Allied Gardens club officers. President
David Dickson, Vice President Elect Charles Watkins, Vice President Lloyd Barbarin, Past president and Secretary/Treasurer Fred
Gloyan (not pictured).
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Optimist Club of Carlsbad
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The Optimist Club of Carlsbad "The Achievers" recently had the
pleasure learning how their donation helped Nathan Williams,
Troop 750 complete his Eagle Scout Project. Nathan’s project
was to build a world map for Pacific Rim Elementary school.
Nathan shared the results of his project with us, as he indicated
our club “was the single largest contributor to his project!” The
club meets, generally on Saturday mornings, 9-10am at the El
Camino Country Club, 3202 Vista Way, Oceanside, Ca. The
clubs mission is to be "Friend of Youth". Some of the events the
club supports: Special Olympics, Oratorical/Essay contests,
Stand UP For Kids, Get On the Bus, Kelly School Carnival, Boy
and Girl Scout projects and other venues that benefit youth.
Guests are always welcome at club meetings and events that benefit youth. Breakfast is available at meetings.
Saturday, October 4, 2014 was a historic day at the Optimist Club of Carlsbad, "The Achievers". There were
three Word War II veterans who graced us with their
presence and memories during that fateful time in our
history. Adolph Kuhn, who turned 93 on September 21,
served in the U.S. Navy and is a Pearl Harbor survivor.
Willie Pong, father-in-law to Club President Irene
Chow-Pong, served at Pearl Harbor near the end of the
War, in the U.S. Navy. Willie will be turning 89 on
November 13. Leo Fradelis served in the U.S. Navy in
the Pacific and just turned 87. Also in the photo is Louis Tigh, who is currently serving in the U.S. Marine
Corps. All of these men are heroes and continue to inspire all of us to be optimistic.
OPTIMIST CLUB OF CARLSBAD "The Achievers" inducted a new member on Nov 08, 2014. Charles "SKIP"
Griffin was interested in finding a club that really makes a positive contribution to youth. He spoke with a few
members of the club, attended a few meetings and decided the club was just what he was looking for.
El Cajon Club News
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El Cajon Optimists Help at Cajon Park School
On Friday evening October
24th, members of the El Cajon Optimist Club with the
help of a group of wonderful
young adults, served food for
Cajon Park School’s Annual
Fall Festival. The members
included John & Debbie
Lutz, Kris Valentino, and
Daryl Fockler.
Our club has been involved
in this event for many years and the school and
PTA group appreciate our help.
Due to vacations and other commitments, members who normally help out
couldn’t make it. This meant the crew had
to work extra hard to feed the hungry
masses. A group of young students that
included: Derek, Taylor, Katlin, Rio,
and others, helped to lighten the workload. For some of the students, working at
the festival helped to fulfill community
work projects required in there studies.
We thank you all who took time out of
your busy lives to help with this yearly
event. It’s very much appreciated by all.
El Cajon Annual Christmas Party
The El Cajon club held its annual Christmas party at the
home of John & Donna Weiss. Seventeen members
gathered for festivities and great a great dinner.
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SUCCESS Club News
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October 1st began our new Optimist year and we added a new member Carole
Ryan-Steinaur. This is our 10th year of being a club and our goal
is to bring in at least 10 new members!
The 2nd Saturday of every month we take the children from Kaiser
Zion and their families to the Zoo. To be in this program the children either have life threatening diseases or cancer. We usually
meet in our Treetops classroom and do art projects, visit animals
and have a snack. Sometimes the animals come to us and other
times we visit them. Joe Nyri, who is retired from the Zoo, is our
art teacher.
Sunday Oct 12 we had our 2nd Celebration of Life. The Zoo and
Lisa did a great job in making this a special afternoon for our families who lost children this past year to childhood cancer.
Nov 2 Georgia Langhorst (the Godmother of our project) hosted a wonderful brunch at Bonita Golf Course. This is
an annual fundraiser to support the $500 scholarship she annually awards. To qualify for the scholarship an essay is
written by a Cancer Survivor.
In Dec we will support two Christmas Parties. Dec 6 at Kaiser Zion and the following week at the Zoo. All families in
the Kaiser program will be invited and of course Santa and his elf will be at both parties.
Linda Meyers - Club President
Member Recruitment and Retention
Member recruitment is important to the health and growth of a Club. Some Members will naturally
drop off due to scheduling conflicts or moving out of the area. It is important to bring in new Members
who have a lot of energy and fresh ideas so that a Club can maintain its level of service. Once new
Members are recruited, a Club should get them involved and keep them interested, so they can serve
children in the area for years to come.
We Do It For The Kids
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Bonita Club News
This year the Bonita Optimist Club joined
forces with the USS Russell. Our Holiday
Basket Chairperson, Chuck Hamilton,
partnered with Lt. Corrigan from the USS
Russell to find and support in need Military Families this Holiday Season. The
Club put together 12 Meal Baskets on
12/18. Holiday Mission Accomplished!!!!
The Bonita Optimists donated everything from new footballs, basketballs,
games beauty products, art supplies, crafts, journals, nail polish and scarves to
gently used clothing, coats and shoes to New Alternatives this afternoon. This
is a residential community
of foster teens who also go
to school there. We bring
holiday donations every
year and they really appreciated it. On Saturday we
are also taking some of the
kids to a day at Sea
World!
Del Mar Solana Beach Club News
Audrey Eller, Del Mar - Solana Beach Optimist Club
Childhood Cancer Campaign Chair, along with other club
members made a major delivery to Rady Children’s Hospital on December 16, 2014. The Club is very active in the
Childhood Cancer Campaign.
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SAVE THE DATE
2015 CALSO Convention
Sat & Sun Aug 29-30
With possible Friday night Event
The plans for the 2015 CALSO Convention are coming together. We are having the next convention in San Diego at
the Holiday Inn, Harbor Island. Because it is a local site we are condensing the convention to two days – but both will
be full of Optimist business, training and interesting speakers. We are also planning a pool party/Barbeque for Friday
night as long as we can get a minimum of 50 people to attend. Both business days will have important issues to discuss so we are asking members to be there both Saturday and Sunday. Rooms are available if members wish to make a
Stay-Cation out of the weekend.
Basic registration will be higher but will include lunch on both Saturday and Sunday. Because of the shorter time and
location, total costs will be less than other conventions. The following table represents typical costs for the last three
convention and the estimated cost of this year.
Costs for ConvenƟons
Single member, all events,
2012
2013
2014
2015
2 nights (1 night 2015)
$
438.90
$ 478.00
$ 456.13
$ 374.74
2 members together, all events, 2 nights (1 night 2015)
$
638.90
$ 678.00
$ 656.13
$ 599.74
Single member, all events,
3 nights (2 night 2015)
$
564.90
$ 622.00
$ 586.13
$ 519.98
2 members together, all events, 3 nights (2 night 2015)
$
764.90
$ 822.00
$ 786.13
$ 744.98
Southernor
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SOUTHERNOR EDITOR - 6560 CASSELBERRY WAY, SAN DIEGO, CA 92119
Mike Poirier- [email protected]
619-461-1946
POSTAGE
The Optimist Creed
Promise Yourself —
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best and expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your
own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements
of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature
you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time
to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too
happy to permit the presence of trouble.
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