The Weekly Bulletin

November 5, 2018

Call to order: Mary Dewey, President at 12:11 p.m.

Invocation:  Rick McKernan

Pledge:  Sid Sullivan

 

Introduction of Guests and New and Old Members (who have been gone):

• Rebecca Winters, Steve Winters’ daughter, attended the meeting.

 

Birthdays and Anniversaries

Happy Birthday to Jim Murphy.

 

Greeter

No greeter today.

 

Mystery Person

Steve Klein recognized Carl Scott as the Mystery Person today.

 

Announcements

• President Dewey stated a sheet is being passed around the room for members to enter their name, address and current email address. The purpose is to ensure the Optimist Organization has current email addresses.
• Sign In or Pay the Pig.
  • Carl Scott paid the pig three quarters. His first quarter deposited was for President Dewey and himself attending the Eastern Missouri District Optimist Meeting in Festus, MO (St. Louis area) this past weekend.  Carl stated one of the members talked about ways to thank members of Optimist Clubs for all the things they do. Also, Carl wanted to thank Mike Hatchett for getting DO in contact with Martin Metal to repair the roof on the shed in the DO clubhouse yard.  They were able to save us a lot of money.  He deposited a second quarter to thank Rick McKernan and his efforts with the Soap Box Derby program.  In the course of this work, a person had noticed how bad the shed roof was and in need of repair-we appreciated this input.  Carl deposited a third quarter to thank all of the DO members who have helped out with events recently, such as Steve Winters and other volunteers who helped unload and fill orders for Koeze Nuts.
  • President Dewey deposited three quarters as well related to her and Carl going to the Eastern District Optimist meeting this past weekend and for both of them pictured on the district website page.
• President Dewey stated Carl and her had attended the Eastern Missouri District Optimist meeting this past weekend. DO received a $20 check for coming in second place in the Optimist points (with 51,171 points), about 7,400 points behind the first place group from Festus Crystal City organization.  President Dewey also stated on 2/15 and 2/16/19 there will be a combined East and West District Meeting in Kansas City, with socials being held Friday and Saturday evenings.  She encourages members to attend.
• Food Bank – Larry Fick stated they had worked with chicken products.
• President Dewey provided an update on the shed roof repair. We spent $3,764 for the repair.  There is a ten-year warranty.  We were given $253 on the recycling of the metal from the roof.  She stated the shed roof looks great.  President Dewey would like to thank Mike Hatchett for locating Martin Metal, LLC for this shed roof repair.
• Christmas Trees:
  • Jim Murphy stated all of the Christmas trees DO ordered for the Holiday season (1,125 trees) will be delivered this Saturday, 11/10/18, to the DO clubhouse. Two semi-tractor trailers will be making the tree deliveries.  First delivery is slated for 10:00 a.m.; and the second delivery at 1:30 p.m.  The baseball team is scheduled to assist with removing trees from the trucks and placing them in designated areas in the clubhouse yard.  We will need to then begin drilling the trees once unloaded this day and the next.  Tree tags are completed and ready to go.  Jim stated the first day of tree sales will be the day after Thanksgiving as per tradition.
  • Steve Winters stated they will be grilling burgers and Bratwursts for the baseball team.
• President Dewey stated children from Fun City program had made some Christmas Ornaments for DO to sell to help DO fund-raising efforts.
• Koeze Nuts/Restaurant Gift Certificates:
  • Steve Winters wants to thank DO members including Larry Fick, Carl Scott, C.O. Scheffer, Sid Sullivan, Chuck Boots, Scott Stager, Dave Murphy, Jake Jolley, Ed Harre, and Rick McKernan – all who helped unload Koeze Nut packages and prepared orders for distribution. The orders are now packed and ready to go.  Steve described where the Koeze Nuts orders are located in the DO clubhouse.  The second Koeze Nut and Restaurant Gift Certificate orders are going in this week.  The third order will go in on or about 11/28/18.
• Shrimp Dinner:
  • President Dewey thanked Steve Winters, Scott Stager, Larry Fick, Dave Murphy and others who helped with the Shrimp Dinner on 10/20/18 at the DO clubhouse. The food was great and everyone had a great time.  It was great to see everyone.  The dinner’s success was mentioned at the Easter District meeting this past weekend.
• President Dewey offered special recognition to Jim Murphy for stepping up and taking over the Christmas Tree Lot this year. She provided him with an Optimist T-Shirt.
• President Dewey stated the 2018 DO Christmas Party will be on 12/17/18 at noon. It will occur at the DO clubhouse.  Hy-Vee will do the catering.
• President Dewey stated Steve Klein will be a new DO Board Member.
• Announcements from the floor.
  • Carl Scott reminded members that Thanksgiving is early this year, and with the tree lot opening for tree sales the day after Thanksgiving, that is only 19 days away. Any assistance with tree preparation and sales would be greatly appreciated.

 

Today’s Speaker

Janet Godon, Planner, City of Columbia Parks and Recreation

Topic:  Columbia Bicycle Coop and Youth Bicycle Program

Janet provided an overview of her prior experience in working with the City of Columbia, her work in Colorado, and then returning to Columbia to work in such programs as PedNet Coalition and helping with the GetAbout Columbia grant implementation.

Janet explained the mission of the City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Department.  She added the Parks and Recreation program has about 82 full-time employees.  Parks and Recreation manages 3,397 acres, 72 parks, 11 individual recreation facilities, and 58 miles of trails, four outdoor pools, and two golf courses.

 

Janet’s topic for the DO members today if the Columbia MO Bicycle Program.  This was funded through the GetAbout Columbia grant.  The CoMo Bike Co-op, in partnership with GetAbout Columbia, is a program and classroom facility located at the Armory Sports Center on 701 East Ash here in Columbia. The program includes free bicycle repair assistance, learn and earn bicycle program for youth, community bicycle education classes, and repurposing and recycling donated bicycles.  This program began preparation in June, 2017, and by December, 2017 it was ready to go.  The program opened in January, 2018.  There are 2 part-time employees who work a few days a week.  Staff are housed in the Armory Sports Center in a room formerly used as the joint communication center room.  The room is now equipped with bicycle repair equipment and tools.  It is set up just like a bicycle repair shop.

 

They accept donated full-size bicycles.  Bicycle parts can be repurposed, such as reusing seat posts and pedals.

 

Free walk-in bicycle-repair.  Bicycle mechanics are available to assist with bicycle repairs.  This is not a program where the person drops off their bicycle for repairs.  The program is about hands-on learning and teaching bicyclists how to repair and maintain their bicycles.

 

Bicycle education classes. The CoMo Bike Co-op serves as a classroom facility for free, community bicycle education and maintenance programs.

 

Earn-A-Bike Program.  This is a program for individuals ages 13-18.  It is a free learning and earning bicycle program with intent to educate persons who participate on the benefits of riding bicycles, how it is good for the environment, learn safe, responsible bicycling skills (e.g., how to use signals when riding a bicycle).  Participants are required to attend a series of hands-on sessions (6-8 weeks) to work on bicycles.  Here individuals will learn bicycle maintenance skills.  Also included are community service projects where participants are expected to commit to 20 hours in assistance with bicycle maintenance and trail maintenance (e.g., pick up trash or cut branches for better trail access).  Once participants have completed the aforementioned activities, they can earn a bicycle they actually worked on, including receiving a helmet, light, lock, and small tool bag. This includes a graduation ceremony and bicycle presentation for graduates.  Bicycles in this program are of good quality and are donated by the community.  To date there have been four full Earn-A-Bike sessions completed, with about 6-8 participants per session.

 

Janet also spoke of other activities including:  “pop-up” bicycle shops at various locations in Columbia throughout the year; a bicycle bell give away; 6-hour classes on Saturdays covering bicycle safety; Community Bike Buddy that teaches participants how to be a safe, responsible bicyclist in traffic; and there have been about 6-7 bicycle maintenance and fix-a-flat classes offered free for the community.

 

For further information please go to www.como.gov.

 

Also, if you have additional questions about the bicycle programs please contact Janet Godon at Janet.Godon@CoMo.gov.  Her telephone is (573) 441-5495.

 

 

 

UPCOMING SPEAKERS

Monday, November 12 – Mike Flanagan – Columbia Youth Wrestling

Monday, November 19 – John Korte – Medal 4 Mettle

Monday, November 26 –

Monday, December 3 – Dan Nunez-Requeiro – FACE of Boone County

 

 

 

 

 

Adjourn with the Creed: 1:05 p.m.

Optimistically Yours,

 

Ron Berg,

Secretary