The Weekly Bulletin

August 6, 2018

Call to order: Mary Dewey, Vice President

Invocation:    Red Leighton

Pledge:          Ken Oster

Introduction of Guests  

Charlie Langreder introduced his wife, Bonnie who returned after a long and serious bout with illness.

Birthdays and Anniversaries

Shirley Beckett brought homemade cookies to celebrate her birthday with Optimist friends. She turned 82 this past Sunday.

Mystery Person  –

Charlie Langreder

Greeter   –

            C.O. Scheffer told of the cruise he treated his family to. He didn’t appear to have gained any post cruise weight but added he has a new member in his family, Charlotte.

Announcements

• Sign In or Pay the Pig
• Welcome any new or returning members.

Greg Grimes, one of our newer member attended lunch today.

• Food Bank – Jim Murphy/Larry Fick

• Koeze- Steve Winters
• Tree lot – Jim Murphy/Rick McKernan

Jim, Rick and Ed Musterman met Saturday to take inventory of supplies (netting, tree stands, drills and drill bits) on hand for our tree sales fundraiser. There is a concern with the working condition of our drills. Jim thinks he may be able to get a tree drill used by the defunct Centralia Optimists club.

• Club Social – Steve Winters: August 29^th, 6:00 at the Club House, Pork Steak and Baked Beans, Family Games, Guest Speaker is Adam Saunders with Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture. Program includes an update on the new Ag Center and partnership with Columbia Public Schools.  Cost is $10 per person.  See Steve Winters, Larry Fick or Ed to register.
• Club Social – Steve Winters: Oct 30^th, Shrimp Fest.
• Announcements from the floor.

Cyrilla Galbreath’s long absence from our luncheon meeting has not gone unnoticed. She injured her hip in a fall and is experiencing a difficult recovery.

Today’s Speaker

Ron Rowe Youth Community Coalition

Ron Rowe is a self-described father, community organizer, attorney, professor, investor and over explainer. He is the lone paid staff person for the Youth Community Coalition funded by the ¼ cent mental health sales tax in Boone County. He graduated with a degree in humanities before continuing his education with a law degree. He has served in his current position as Program Coordinator for the past four years.

 The mission of YC2 is to help youth develop into productive and self-sufficient citizens by working together to decrease substance abuse and promote healthy behaviors. YC2 promotes community collaboration around issues concerning healthy choices, positive activities, education, employment, service and the prevention of substance abuse. Ron works with youth serving agencies to make Columbia the best it can be for kids to thrive. His focus is on mental health and drug prevention among teens. A self-survey is used to establish self-awareness and assist service providers with stress reduction programing. He also has identified resource needs of adult mentors and both after school and out of school activities for teens. (Big Brothers/Big Sisters needs more adult male mentors for young boys.)

His latest work has been coordinating efforts in Boone County outside the Columbia city limits. In Hallsville he has worked with the food bank to help six families with 10 or more kids meet their nutrition needs. This is especially important for families with one or more parents in jail or prison. In Centralia he works with 50 -70 kids per week coordinating town volunteers, obtaining buddy-packs and connecting them to a Unilever partnership out of Jefferson City for back to schools hygiene packs.

 

Ron’s latest initiative is the “You Card, We Care” program. This is a program designed to stem youth access to alcohol and tobacco. Every time he sees a clerk ask a customer for ID he hands them a card thanking them for their action. The card contains links to the www.YC2.org website, explains the importance of denying access to alcohol and tobacco to under aged kids and offer an opportunity to enter a prize drawing at the YC2 website.

 

The Youth Community Coalition meets very month at the ARC on west Ash Street.  Meetings are held on the 3^rd Thursday of each month from 3:00 – 4:30 pm. Meetings are usually attended by representatives from youth service organizations including Columbia Police Department, Phoenix House, City/County Health Dept. as well as any of 40 other youth agencies. The public is welcome to attend these meeting to find ways in which to volunteer and engage the youth of our community. Unfortunately, we discovered under careful questioning by Ken Oster, they no longer serve cookies at these meetings.

 

UPCOMING SPEAKERS  

August 13 – Bill Cantin, Neighborhood Services, City of Columbia

August 20 – Randy Kiser, Counselor w/ CLAIM, – Medicare 101

August 27 – TBD

Sept 3 – Labor Day, No Meeting

Sept 10 – TBD

Sept 17 – John Baker,  Community Foundation