Downtown Optimist Club of Columbia

Zoom/In Person Meeting Newsletter

Monday, August 8, 2022 at Downtown Optimist Clubhouse

Meeting began at 12:01 pm

Members attend in person President Tony Pariso, Jerry Sullivan, Red Leighton, Pat Brown, Rick McKernan, Carl Scott, Larry Fick, George Rains, Mike Hackett, Kelly Schilling, Evan Schilling, Jack Curtis, C.O. Scheffer, and Mary Dewey. Special Guest were Owen and Drew Schilling and Megan Plum Soap Derby Car. Tony’s kids Dominick and Carmelina

Prayer: Larry Fick

Pledge of Allegiance: Owen Schilling

Birthday/Anniversary: Pat Brown 70^th Birthday on August 9^th, George Rains and his wife 12^th Wedding Anniversary on August 23th.

Paying the Pig: Carl Scott said “There was $22.00 in the pig and Tony has $30.00 at home.” Which gave the pig $52.00

Larry Fick said “He was bagging Cinnamon Toast Crunch today at the Food Bank.”

Please sign up for the next Family Fun Fest at Albert-Oakland Park on Wednesday, August 17, 2022 from 5 to 8 pm.

Hallsville Optimist Club is having a fish fry on Saturday, August 20^th at 5:00 pm to 7:00

Bike Safety Rodeo will be at the Northeast Regional Park (old fairground) inside on Saturday, September 24 from 9:30 to 11:30 am.

Reminder the 4^th qtr. East Missouri Optimist District meeting will on Friday, August 26 through Sunday, August 28 in St. Louis. Please let Tony know if you want to go to the conference.

Jerry Sullivan talked about the Wednesday, August 31 Koeze Nut Kick off dinner at the Clubhouse at 6:00 pm. Make sure everyone comes to hear Red Leighton speak about selling Koeze Nuts and gift cards.

We will be hosting a School Supplies Drive this month until August 19, 2022. Kelly Schilling will be the chair person for this event. Please bring the school supplies to the clubhouse on Monday when you come to the club meetings.

Rick McKernan talked about the Soap Derby this past weekend in Arkon, OH. They didn’t do to well this year but, they had a great time making new friends.

There will be a Derby Demonstration on Saturday, August 27 in Washington, MO. This demonstration will take 45 minutes. They will go down in the adult cars to see what it will look like for the kids going down the hill.

JIO Deb Swanegan and Mary Dewey will be getting together with the West Middle School principal about starting a chapter there at West.

Guest Speaker:  Evan, Owen and Drew Schilling and Megan Plum

Evan Schilling: The first derby started in 1938. He talked about the local and national derby. At the local derby there was 53 racers on this very hot day on Sunday, June 12. This was the biggest race. They built in sponsorship for the local derby which helps with the cost of the derby that the club will have to help pay for. We give the sponsorship advertisement on the cars and in the Soap Box Derby magazine.  This year derby was In Memorial of Chuck Boots who did a lot for the Soap Box Derby local level.

Megan Plum: Is out Master winner from Kansas City. Kansas City Derby Race didn’t have enough to have a master group that is why she came to the Columbia Derby Race.  She is 19 years old and has 1 more year to race in the master level in the Rally races. They can race until they are 20 years old and can still fits in their car. She has been at Arkon, OH for 6 x since she has been racing in the Soap Box Derby. She won the National Derby Best Painting job on her Derby car. She is the 2 person from the Mid-American Soap Derby from Columbia, MO. She has friends from the derby that she keeps in touch with from Omaha, Nebraska on Facebook.

Owen Schilling: He is from Rally. Owen talked about how his mom Kelly got him and his dad into the local derby at age 9. He started out racing in Super Stock where he won.  He has been to Arkon, OH for the past 5 years. He has a great time, meeting up with his friends that he has met over the years being there, walking a lot and buying a lot of lemonade to drink. Owen was a great help at the local level helping his brother Drew with his car and getting him ready to go down the hill to race.  Owen has friends in Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, and Colorado.

Drew Schilling: He is the winner from the Stock division. He had to wait for 7 hours before he went down for the 1^st time down the hill at Arkon, Ohio. He like meeting with new people and going down the hill and going fast. He is following his brother foot steps in racing in Derby.

Overall this year neither of the drivers made it through the 1^st round. There was a lot of problems with the race this year so it took longer to get the practices in during the week.

Optimist Creed was recited at 12:45 pm

Meeting adjourned at 12:48 pm

Tony Pariso: President