The Weekly Bulletin

Jan 8, 2018

 

Call to order: Mary Dewey, Vice President

Invocation: Red Leighton

 

Pledge: Steve Winters

Introduction of Guests   

New Members, Adam Bakos and John Westbrook both from Snyder Engineering introduced themselves.

New Member applicant, Bonnie Yantzi, from Fun City introduced herself.

 

Birthdays and Anniversaries

Jack Cruise had a birthday on January 7.

 

Mystery Person –

Rick McKernan made today’s award of a choice of Koeze Nut candies to Ed Harre for all the work he does tracking the financials and organizing the orders for the club’s Koeze Nut fundraiser.

Greeter   –

Jim Murphy told of his holiday trip to see his daughter in San Diego. He noted upon returning the San Diego temperature was 76 but the temperature on arrival at Columbia was 12.

 

Announcements

• Sign In or Pay the Pig Carl Scott again contributed to his favorite cause, Children’s Cancer Fund.
• We have 6 new members since Oct 1^st. President Musterman thinks 2 or 3 more could be coming after working the tree lot.
• Food Bank –After a short Christmas holiday break, our volunteer crew returns today to work at the Food Bank.

• Board – Meeting Jan 18^th, 6:00 pm at the clubhouse.
• Feb 9-10, E.MO District Meeting in Rolla – Let Ed or C.O.know if you are attending so C.O. can send a check.  The Club should get recognition as an honor club status.
• Rootin Tootin Chili Cookoff – Scott Stager. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED. This is the annual Fund Raiser for Boys and Girls Club which the Downtown Optimists support along with twenty or so other groups in town. The event will take place this year on Saturday, February 17.  Booth set-up and ingredients shopping takes place on the Friday before the event. Competition rules require all the chili preparation be performed onsite the day of the event. Volunteers are needed to help prepare the chili and/or later to help distribute to the public. This could be an opportunity to recruit new club members. In the past, one of our Derby cars has been on display to help identify our club. To volunteer contact Scott Stager at (573) 424-4764 or stagers@missouri.edu
• Soap Box Derby – Rick McKernan, Chuck Boots.  Rick mentioned this year’s event will take place on Sunday, June 10. The first organizing meeting will be Wednesday, January 17, at the clubhouse to determine which of the past year’s drivers will retain their same derby car. The following meeting on Wednesday, January 24 will focus on taking on new drivers and car assignments. Any kid age 7 to 20 is eligible to race. More information is available at www.midmosbd.org/  Members who know a kid who may be interested can contact Rick at (573)443-6900 or mckernan@mchsi.com
• DO Club Chili Cook-off is set for THURSDAY, JANUARY 25 AT 6:00 PM– Steve Winters is looking for members to compete for their name to be immortalized on the club’s Chili Cook-Off wall plaque. The Cook-Off is set for Thursday evening, January 25 at 6:00 pm at the Clubhouse.  There will be a short business meeting and speaker to kickoff this year’s new monthly evening meeting schedule. The Board wants to accommodate members who can’t always attend our Monday noon meetings. So, for those reading this newsletter who aren’t at our Monday meetings, please join us.
• Columbia Youth Basketball – Mary Dewey mentioned one of our club sponsored teams lost its first game this past week. There is an upcoming game this Saturday, January 13.
• Midway Optimist Pancake Breakfast. – Jan 20^th, 7:00 to 10:30AM. Midway Schools. Ed will email the flyer out this week with the club newsletter.

 

Today’s Speaker

Rachel Finch & ShaVon Walls with the Family Access Center for Excellence (FACE).

Rachael Finch grew up in Sedalia before moving to Columbia in “04 to attend school where she completed her Masters in Social Work (MSW). She is one of the clinical case managers and supervisor of the FACE Outreach Program. Formerly she taught in special education in both elementary and high school. She enjoys bike riding in Columbia.

 

ShaVon Walls left Chicago in 2014 seeking better schooling for her kids. She is the mother of four with an added five step children and has taken on the raising of two of her brother’s kids. She is one of the Community Outreach workers at FACE.

 

FACE is a not-for-profit program connected with the University of Missouri and funded through the Boone County Children’s quarter cent mental health tax. The tax raises $6.5 million annually to support children and family mental health programs in service to Boone County residence. The FACE program provides an initial three hour assessment identifying both client needs and available resources. They impose no obligation on the part of their clients and perform a prolonged follow up to break down anxiety and check on client follow through and progress. The agency has offices at 105 East Ash St. in Columbia and 1023 Missouri Hwy 22 in Centralia. Staff includes a Social Worker Executive Director, six clinical case managers and four Community Outreach workers.

 

Referrals for their needs assessment come from parents, school counselors, clergy, law enforcement and friends. With the stigma some people attached to mental health the outreach coordinators are tasks with breaking down these fears of stigma. With a single visit to Ashland by ShaVon Walls, the agency had a spike in referrals causing it to suspend her visits until it better organized its services to flawlessly accommodate these new clients.

 

FACE instituted the new “Look Around Program” for students. This encourages students to look around and identify kids who may be at risk of hurting themselves or others. The Columbia office with hours Monday through Friday of 10:00 am to 7:00 pm will be expanding its hours on weekends (initially Friday night) from 7:00 pm to 1:00 am to accommodate police referrals. The Columbia has a back door for these referrals to avoid the stigma of the police cruiser on premise. As this program grows, there are still problems to be solved. Columbia is resource rich with both programs and adequate transportation. However in Hallsville and Ashland, the lack of transportation connecting clients to services is the next nut to crack.

 

UPCOMING SPEAKERS

Jan 15 – Kelly Meyers, Coyote Hill

Jan 22 – Jenifer Clark, Community Programs, MU School of Law

Jan 29 – Peter Stiepleman, Supt. Columbia Public Schools

Feb 5 – Terri Leifeste, Publisher & Charles Westmoreland, Mg Editor, Columbia Tribune

 

 

 

 

Adjourn with the Creed: 12:53

 

Optimistically Yours,

 

Sid Sullivan

Secretary