The Weekly Bulletin

Sept 11, 2017

 

Call to order:  at 12:05 by Ed Musterman, President

Invocation: Larry Fick presented a meditation reflecting on a timeline of events, bravery, and loss of life and consequences of the 9/11/01 attack on our country on this sixteenth anniversary.

 

Pledge:          Steve Winters

 

Introduction of Guests   

Rick Kitchen, Kids First Club President, came to announce the “Magic and Heroes Trivia Night”  fund raiser for Kids First Optimist. The event will be held at American Legion, 3669 Legion Ln in Columbia.  Prizes for the best “Magic” or “Heroes” costume and table decorations will be awarded. Doors open at 6:00 pm, Choir sings at 6:30 and Trivia (by Smarty Pants Trivia by Davis Entertainment) starts at 7:00. Tickets are $15.00 for adults, students for $12.00. Bring your own food/snacks. Drinks are available for purchase

 

Birthdays and Anniversaries

 

None

Mystery Person  – Phil Rodriguez wrote down a number and asked members to take a turn at guessing the number. The lucky number was 11. Ed Musterman chose that number and got a free lunch.

 

Greeter   – Steve Winters reported the members from all 28 Task Force 1 teams were represented in Texas. They are all just returning to Columbia. Currently Task Force 1 has ten members working in Puerto Rico and one member in the Virgin Island. Steve got very emotional recounting all the places around the country where Task Force 1 has been dispatched talking of the hardships disaster victims have had to face.

 

Announcements

• Sign In or Pay the Pig: Carl Scott paid a quarter for Mike Russell who was recently recognized in the paper for his antique truck.
• New air conditioner at the club house installed today.
• E MO 1^st Qtr Convention – Moberly, Oct 27 – 28^th – Need attendance.
• Club Social and Installation of Officers. – October

Dave Murphy volunteered to head up the social with the help of Steve Winters. Max suggested he may return for the socials.

• Special thanks to Steve for the extraordinary effort in preparing the Club for the Koeze sales effort if he is absent at some points to serve with Task Force One.
• Lessons from the 4^th qtr E MO Dist convention Aug 18-19^th.

Optimism is known as a “Hands On” club.  Some other civic clubs give more money but Optimists are known to be heavily involved with activities that benefit youth. It is surprising number of recent retirees who became Optimists at some of the clubs in the last 1 to 3 years and are assuming leadership roles in their clubs.

• Activity Report from Carl Scott

Carl has remained the most active volunteer of the Downtown Optimist and will soon be leaving us for family matters. He joined the Optimist to make a difference and challenges others to do the same. He paid the $0.25 for the publicity Mike Russell got for his antique truck. He recently attended the open house at Douglas H.S. and Coyote Hills. He recommends the following books as “good reads:” 102 Minutes and Red Bananas. He also provided a list of volunteer work done by our club:

1. Club members volunteered 3000 hours for our club this past year (Oct 1, 2016 – Sept 30, 2017).
2. Club members attended 70 community events (DOC, other local Optimist clubs, and other youth organizations).  This entailed either hosting, sponsoring, volunteering, or participating at these events.
3. Club members volunteered at 35 ‘DOC Food Bank Volunteer Day’.  Club has been doing this every Monday afternoon after our weekly meeting since Jan 1, 2017.
4. Club funded 25 separate youth organizations.
5. Club submitted 190 A&A forms to the EMO District.

• President Musterman singled out Rick McKernan for the tidiness of the upper floor of the clubhouse: derby cars are stored in an orderly manner, tools are in their place, club records are properly stored and the floor was cleanly swept.
• Condolences were express to Mary Dewey on the recent death of her mother, Freda Martz.

 

 

Today’s Speaker

Steve Winters  – Koeze Nuts and Restaurant Gift certificates sales effort. 

Steve presented a well-organized sales packet for each member. Koeze Nut brochures were stuffed with the letter from the president and for former Red Leighton customers, a letter from Red. Each packet came with an order book and purchase history from prior customers. BE SURE TO PUT CARDBOARD UNDER EACH ORDER when writing up a new sale. (White copy goes to customer, Yellow copy to Ed Harre, Pick copy retained by sales person. Deadlines for Koeze Nut orders are as

follows:

ORDER         Due Date       Delivery Date

1^st                    Oct 24            Nov 6

2^nd                  Nov 7              Nov 20

3^rd                   Nov 28           Dec 11

 

Any sales person who wants customized contact information to peel off and stick to customer copy (needed for call back to order or where to send payment) should contact Steve for a customized sheet of peel-off labels. (winters@missouri.edu)

 

SELL, SELL SELL. It’s important to hit our sales goals to have $50 to $60,000 to distribute for kids activities. Start each sale with Koeze Nuts before offering the restaurant certificates

 

There is a new Restaurant Certificate brochure in each packet with a picture of each restaurant: Murray’s (certificate for food only – no tax or tip, no change), Shakespeare and Sophia and Addison’s are gift cards, D. Rowe’s and Chris McD’s are certificates (no change). Members patronizing any of these restaurants are encouraged to thank them for their participation in our fundraiser. The DOC earns 30% of each $25.00 card/certificate. (BTW, our swimmer who designed the brochure took a gold medal in a recent European swim meet.)

 

Last year the gross profits from each of our fund raising items were as follows:

Peanut Brittle                          $1,260.00

Koeze Nuts                           $27,027.17

Christmas Trees                   $23,014.51

Restaurant Certificates        $7,110.00

 

It’s going to be tough without Red Leighton and Jim Beckett but we need to hit these numbers. Steve is encouraging all sales people to add fie (5) new customers. Jake Jolley tells us we have increased the certificates 10% each year. It’s been good for us and it’s been good for the restaurants.

 

 

UPCOMING SPEAKERS

Sept 18 – Mike Mathis, Columbia City Manager

Sept 25 – Great Circle

Oct 2 – TBD

Oct 9 – TBD

Oct 16- Jane Whitesides, MO Symphony.