Optipinion Template 09-10 - Evening Optimist Club of Gardena

GEO
OPTIPINION
THE
Volume 47 Issue 2
www.garde naoptimist.org
Nove mbe r 2010
A MONTHLY BULLETIN OF THE GARDENA EVENING OPTIMIST CLUB
ZONE 2 – PACIFIC SOUTHWEST DISTRICT OF OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL
President’s Message —
I am still amazed with how
our club comes together as a
cohesive group, and it was
definitely shown at our annual
Clambake in Carpinteria.
Once again our Clambake
Chair, Stacy Zimmer, did a
fantastic job organizing and
running the show. For those of
you who missed out this year,
we had our traditional perch derby, wine tasting
derby,
horseshoe
horseshoe
contest,contest,
bingo games with prizes, salsa
bingo games
with prizes,
dancing,
and country
line salsa
dancing by Ron Hom, Kaye
dancing,
and
country
linejust to name a few. I heard
Joson,
and
Emily
Lopez,
dancing
Ronon
Hom,
Kaye (Just kidding!)
there’s aby
video
Youtube.
Joson,
and Emily
Lopez, just
Our monthly
Members
Meeting for October was
to
name
a
few.
organized by Ron Shintani. Ron found and put
together an awesome dinner for us at a nice restaurant
in Torrance called Café Luna. We had an excellent
dinner with great people. In addition, Optimist
International’s Zone 2 Lieutenant Governor, Carolyn
Wallrich, visited to share with us all the new things
happening with Optimist International and fill us in on
some of the upcoming events.
At the October 19th meeting at Happa Restaurant,
we brought back See’s Candies Representative, PoYon Palmer, to kick off our 2nd Annual See’s Candies
Fundraiser. All of our fundraisers help the club with
our youth programs. This year the Board voted to
have 50% of the See’s Candies Fundraiser put
towards our Youth Basketball Program for new
equipment. Please download the fundraiser form from
our website www.gardenaoptimist.org. The deadline
to have all orders and payments in is December 1 st .
All completed orders will be ready for pickup at our
GEO Christmas party/Food and Toy Drive on Dec.
12th at JCI.
12th at JCI.
It’s almost time to start shopping for the little ones
and other loved ones. For this holiday season,
consider using GEO’s Skyhouse Mall for your online
purchases. A portion of your online purchases is
donated back to GEO. The link can be found on the
bottom of our homepage.
The Club- in-Action Meeting is slated for November
nd
2 at Sushi Sei Restaurant in Hermosa Beach at 7pm.
Mike Tsuge stepped up and found an amazing
restaurant for our meeting. Please bring a guest to the
meeting, enjoy good food and good friends. Nov. 2nd
is also Election Day, so don’t forget to vote!
Every year we honor a few outstanding youths in
our community for going beyond the expectations of
their duties. Our Youth Appreciation Chair, Mike
Tsuge, has prepared a great program to recognize and
honor these individuals. Please show your support by
attending our meeting on November 16 th at 7pm at PV
Palace Seafood Restaurant.
Be sure to check out the calendar on our website for
upcoming meeting times and locations.
Yours In Optimism,
Eric
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THE OPTIPINION
Save these Dates:
November 2, 7:00 p.m.-Club In Action meeting at
Sushi Sei. Election Day-Make Your Vote Count!
November 7-Daylight Savings Time Ends. . .Turn
Your Clocks Back One Hour!
November 9, 7:00 p.m.-Board Meeting at JCI
November 11-Veterans Day. . .Thank a Vet for
Their Service, Sacrifice and a Job Well Done!
November 15, 7:00 p.m.-Youth Appreciation
Banquet at PV Palace Seafood Restaurant
November 25-Happy Thanksgiving!
December 7, 7:00 p.m.-Dinner Meeting at Happa’s
December 12, 5:00 p.m.- Christmas Party, Toy and
Food Drive at JCI, Nisei Veteran’s Hall
CHECK CLUB CALENDAR AT
http://www.gardenaoptimist.org/calendar.htm
FOR MORE INFORMATION & MAPS
PSWD 1ST Quarterly
The Pacific Southwest District’s 1st Quarterly
Meeting of the new Optimist year 2010-2011 was
held in Agoura Hills on Oct. 15-17. Outgoing
Governor Jim Morack happily greeted members at
Registration and District Secretary Lydia Espinoza
quickly and efficiently checked members in and
directed them to the various training sessions.
Optimists around the district came together to learn
about membership growth and retention, leadership
and navigating the PSWD website
(www.pswdoptimist.org). Those in attendance
also heard from various committee chairs on the
many OI projects and from Sil Orlando on the
Optimist Youth Home calendar events. GEO
displayed the traveling Picture Board that is seen at
our club meetings and projects that captures the
hard work and good times in photos.
Lt. Governor Visit
PSWD’s Zone 2 Lt. Governor, Carolyn Wallrich
paid us a visit at our October 5th meeting at the
fabulous Café Luna in Torrance, making President
Eric’s inaugural meeting a very informative one. Lt.
Gov. Carolyn was impressed by our member’s
friendliness and camaraderie. She hails from the
Miracle Mile Optimist Club, where the women are a
majority in that club. She noticed that GEO had so
many male members who have “manned” so many
of the committees. She promised us an open
invitation to all her club’s events and hopes to see
GEO members and friends at their events. She will
be traveling many miles this year visiting all Zone 2
clubs, their activities and is looking forward to
GEO’s Casino Night.
Festival of Trees
Mark your calendar for December 5th for the
“Festival of Trees”, which benefits the Optimist
Youth Homes. Cast members from “Glee” and
Disney characters will be on hand taking part in
this great fundraiser for the Youth Homes. You are
invited to view an array of beautifully decorated
holiday trees complete with gifts under them and to
have an opportunity to take home one of these
awesome trees. Contact Pam Duben (661 2576867) for tickets.
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THE OPTIPINION
Clambake
We had a great weekend up in Carpinteria.
The weather was really nice and we had a good
turnout. We missed the Boy Scouts this year,
but still had a turnout of about 50 people.
There were a lot of new faces this year and
they jumped right in there to help with all the
work that goes into this trip. We kicked off the
weekend with a wine tasting that Jim Carroll
held for everyone who wanted to participate.
The horseshoe tournament had some new
winners Michelle and Jun Goeku came in first
place and Emily Lopez and Javier came in
second. The kids’ games were so much fun
and there was some great food all weekend. I
would like to thank everyone that came out for
the weekend and helped with all the many
things that need to be done to make this
camping trip be so fun.
Youth Appreciation
Dinner
Join us as we recognize and honor
young adults that give their
time and services
volunteering in our community
Stacy
Horseshoe Awards: Emily and Javier (2 nd Place)
and Michelle and Jun (1st Place Champions)
Tuesday,
November 16, 2010
7:00 PM
PV Palace Seafood Restaurant
2166 Pacific Coast Highway
Lomita, CA
For more information,
contact Mike Tsuge
Friday Night Wine Tasting
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The GEO Essay Contest Committee is now seeking
entries for the Optimist International 2010-2011
Essay Contest. The contest affords young people the
opportunity to write about their own opinions
regarding the world in which they live. The approach
can encompass a young person's personal experience,
the experience of their country or a more historical
perspective. In addition to developing skills for
written expression, participants also have the
opportunity win a college scholarship of $2500.
Topic: “How My Education is the Key to a
Successful Future”
When: Club Deadline Jan. 31, 2011
Who: Youth under age 19 as of 12/31/10
The Optimist International Essay Contest was first
sponsored in 1983. Club winners advance to the
District contest to compete for a $2,500 college
scholarship. Each District winner is automatically
entered into the International Essay contest where a
panel of judges selects the first-place winner. The
international winner will receive an engraved plaque
and recognition in The Optimist magazine.
Students interested in entering our club’s Essay
Contest may go to www.gardenaoptimist.org for the
official rules and entry form, or they may contact Jim
Carroll, Essay Chair, at (310) 415-0196 for more
information.
Entry forms are to be mailed to:
Gardena Evening Optimist Club
P.O. Box 2132
Gardena, CA 90247
Attn: Essay Chair
Or emailed to: info@gardenaoptimist.org
THE OPTIPINION
The GEO Oratorical Contest Committee is now
seeking entries for the Optimist International 20102011 Oratorical Contest. Every year since our
foundation, we’ve actively recruited contestants
from local schools, churches, other organizations,
and our own members for our club’s Oratorical
Contest. This speech contest is designed to inspire
today’s youth to motivate and inform others through
the art of public speaking. It provides young people
with the opportunity to compete for a college
scholarship and express their views on a preassigned topic. The official Optimist International
topic for this year is:
“If I Were Leader of the Free World, the First
Issue I Would Address Would be ...”
The contest is open to contestants who have not
attained the age of nineteen as of December 31, 2010
(same as Essay Contest) and there is no minimum
age requirement. Each contestant must prepare a
speech that is five minutes in duration, and given in
front of an audience and three judges. Optimist
members and qualified members of the community
are selected as judges. There’s a girl's category and a
boy's category. Our two club winners (one girl, one
boy) will then compete at the Zone level. The
winners of that contest will next move to an Area
contest, which is comprised of Zones in the same
geographical area, and those winners will then go on
to the District finals to be held at the 3rd Quarterly
Meeting in May 2011. District winners will each
receive a $2500 scholarship.
If you know of any youth who may be interested in
entering our club’s Oratorical Contest, contact Jim
Carroll at (310) 415-0196. The official entry form is
at www.gardenaoptimist.org and the deadline for
entries is March 5, 2011.
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THE OPTIPINION
GEO 2010 CLAMBAKE at CARPINTERIA STATE BEACH
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THE OPTIPINION
OFFICERS
THE OPTIMIST CREED
President ................................................. Eric Takaki
President Elect ........................................... Ron Hom
Vice President .................................... Robin Arakaki
Vice President .................................... Terry Terauchi
Secretary ............................................. Stacy Zimmer
Treasurer .............................................. Sid Halushka
IPP ....................................................... Jeanette Mena
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
First Year Members
Dave Allen
Deryck Koga
Ron Shintani
Mike Tsuge
Second Year Members
Ricky Arakaki
Bill Coonce
Glenn Shimizu
Scott Tojo
Ryan Yahata
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Jim Carroll-Chairman
Ed Kambe-Assistant
Robin Arakaki
Sid Halushka
Jeanette Mena
THE OPTIPINION
P.O. BOX 2132
GARDENA, CA 90247
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 co me true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to
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
liv ing creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that
you have no time to crit icize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for
fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
—Christian D. Larson