Mission Statement. By providing hope and positive vision, Optimists bring out the best in youth, our communities and ourselves.
Vision Statement. Optimist International will be recognized worldwide as the premier volunteer organization that values all children and helps them develop to their full potential
OPTIMIST FOREVER
From Mark Metevia: Ilene and I have been trying to put a lunch together for some time with Jeannie and her companion Bob Strunk, a retired dentist from the United States Air Force, at Saint Andrews Village. She is an avid follower of GUMS so I thought you might like to include this in a future newsletter. Editor's note: Jean is the widow of MSOC founder, Dr. Ed Fankhauser and still has an active interest in the club.
On the day before the night before the eve of Halloween, the men of Monaco South arrived for our morning meeting and were officially greeted by Paul Stratton and Tom (I am the Batman) Mauro. The Legion abounded with Halloween decorations, and Tom fit in perfectly.
Chris Dunphy was working hard, providing assistance to the team from New York Deli setting up for today’s breakfast. All was set up neatly and timely for our club members to enjoy.
Kent Gloor ran the show today pinch-hitting for President Larry Pulaski. Kent reported that it had been 29 years since he ran a club meeting. No signs of rust, however, as he smoothly handled his duties with aplomb.
He promptly began the meeting by calling upon Past President and Current Good Guy Phil Perington to deliver our invocation. Phil’s message was on being so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. He then led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
GUESTS
We were joined today by Kent Gloor’s better half (or 3/4’s?), Abigail Nicholas. Abigail, our Lt. Governor, reported on the district conference, and clearly took some pride in noting that the Tamarac club had more attendees (10) than any other club, including Monaco South. She wants us to know that her goal is to represent us to President Tony Carpenter and the district, so reach out with news, ideas or questions.
John Young had a guest! Rick Lopez introduced himself. Rick works for the state Department of Labor in data collection. He has been in Colorado 20 years and is originally from San Diego. Welcome Rick! We hope you see you back again!
Ed Collins had a guest, but he wasn’t physically present (in the spirit of many of Fred Pasternak’s guests). But Ed did have the application and check from Carl Oss, son of Past President John Oss. Well done, Ed, and a hearty welcome to Carl, who is a guest no more!
Announcements:
HOLIDAY PARTY
Dan Rodriguez says that our club will have a Holiday Party on the evening of Saturday, December 3rd. The venue will be the Assistance League at 6265 E Evans (next to McDonalds). It will be a potluck event - mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details.
TREE LOT COMMITTEE (TLC)
Phil Perington let it be known that the TLC is going to meet today, and all are welcome to attend. What is the TLC you say? Why, it is the Tree Lot Committee. This will be the third get-together for this hard-working bunch, and minutes are available from the first two meetings. Joe Marci said that while Tom Kramis is handling ordering trees for the lot, Joe is doing the ordering for Christmas wreaths and garlands, and that will be completed soon. Reach out to Joe if you have a need for increasing the order. Christmas is coming!
THANKSGIVING EVENTS
Michael Chavez took to the microphone to report on the Boys and Girls Club and Girls Inc. Bill Walters Thanksgiving Dinner events coming up on November 17th. The turkeys are in, so that’s good! Michael passed around two sign-up sheets, so plan on helping out please!
Tom Mauro followed up on his request last week for help for students at Hamilton Middle School who do not have the means for a Thanksgiving turkey. Tom reports:
The Monaco South Optimist Club donated $850 to Hamilton Middle School for their 100 families that are in need this year. This money came from donations from members - not from the club treasury. The generosity of members that gave is an outstanding tribute to the giving and caring of our club. Thanks to the following people. Kenneth Jeung, Joe Marci, Wyatt McCallie, Greg Young, Jim Svenson, Jake Baker, Greg Holt, Roy Olsen, Dave Peck, Phil Perington, Bob Avery, Mike White, Paul Stratton, Ron Gustas, Chris Dunphy, Jon Wachter, Gary Strowbridge, Ed Collins, and Tom Mauro.
DUES DUE!
Pat Bush, our hard-working and multi-talented treasurer, made a reminder announcement that club dues are due! Pat would prefer that dues checks be hand delivered to him, owing to his ongoing struggles with U.S. Mail. This wouldn’t be a problem if Ron Cisco came out of retirement! Editor’s note: I mailed my dues check to Pat’s home on 10/17 (really, I did!). It has not arrived or been returned as of this writing.
MISCELLANEOUS
Greg Young encouraged everyone to turn in your ballots! Voting matters!
Commander Tom Yaggley of American Legion (and a new member of Monaco South!) has Legion and Sons of American Legion membership applications for all those who are interested, so please see Tom.
It's a couple of months away, but get it on your calendar:
3 TOURNAMENTS
Central/South Tournament North Tournament Championship Tournament
Saturday January 21 Saturday January28 Saturday February 11 Heritage High School Standley Lake High School Hamilton Middle School
1401 W Geddes Ave 6300 West 104th Ave 8600 E Dartmouth Ave
Littleton CO 80120 Westminster CO80021 Denver CO 80231
ALL READERS (NO MATTER HOW EXPERIENCED) MUST ATTEND 1 TRAINING!!
READER TRAINING
Saturday Jan 7 9am-Noon Wednesday Jan 11 6pm-9pm Saturday Jan 14 9am-Noon
Heritage High School Heritage High School Osgood % Osgood LLC
1401 W Geddes Ave 1401 W Geddes Ave 258e6 Trailridge Dr E
Littleton CO 80120 Littleton CO 80210 Laffayette CO 80026
BRADLEY ELEMENTARY SUPER CITIZEN
The first Bradley Elementary Super Citizen Recognition of the 2022-2023 school year was held last Friday. The exciting news is that the program has migrated back to its pre pandemic format where the parents remain behind a curtain, while the teacher reads why the student was selected, and then come out to join the excitement as the student gets his or her T Shirt and citation. Jon Wachter was master of ceremonies, starting things by informing the parents of the 35 year history of the Super Citizen Award, and the significance of their son or daughter's achievement. Jon was assisted by Vaughan Kendall and Andy Towt. Attached is a picture of Jon, Vaughn and Stephen Wera, the Principal, and a MSOC member.(Reported by Andy Towt)
SLAVENS ELEMENTARY SUPER CITIZEN
Tom Hoch reported that Slavens Elementary had a Super Citizen assembly this past week. Tom and Noel Hasselgren were on hand representing the club as 18 kids from K-5 were honored by their teachers for their exceptional citizenship.
MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD SUPER CITIZEN
Joe Marci shared with us that he, Greg Young and George Buzick conducted a successful Super Citizen assembly at Most Precious Blood this past week.
SAMUELS ELEMENTARY SUPER CITIZEN
Kent Gloor said that he, along with Nick Picucci, Dick Nickoloff, and Noel Hasselgren, helped honor 32 students as Super Citizens at Samuels Elementary the week before last. Super Citizen season is clearly in full swing!
NEW DIRECTORY
The latest Directory of Members for October 2022 has been published. You can pick one up at a meeting or if you prefer you can download a copy for your desktop at the Monaco South website. Go to the link on right side of the home page called (appropriately): Directory-PDF Download You will have to Logon to be able to download the directory for security purposes.
SPEAKER
Mark Metevia introduced today’s speaker, our own Vaughn Kendall. Vaughn is a retired surgeon who joined our club in September of 2021. He was introduced to the club when his kids were Super Citizens at University Hills Elementary. He and his family bought trees at our tree lot, and when he was considering retirement, he found an old card with an invite to breakfast and George Busick’s name on it. Working at the tree lot last season was great for Vaughn in his early days of retirement, since he likes to stay busy. His topic today is travels in his first year of retirement.
Vaughn took three big trips this past year and brought along pictures and shared primarily about his trip to Ecuador. His neighbor organized a 14 day adventure trip, with biking, climbing, zip lining and a visit to the “swing at the end of the world” (click on the link - it looks terrifying). Ecuador has mountains, coastlines, islands, rivers, and rain forests. After seven days on strenuous activity in the mountains they took a plane to the Galapagos Islands. Vaughn was impressed with the people of Ecuador and their “Nature’s Bill of Rights”. The guides they travelled with were highly educated and very skilled. Vaughn showed pictures of roasted guinea pig, which is a standard meal in Ecuador. He decided against trying any himself. However, Vaughn did try the local beer, and decided he didn’t care for it very much. It sounds like, at least on one night, he kept trying and trying, thinking it might get better. But it didn’t.
Thanks to Vaughn for sharing his adventure, and for making our club a big part of his early retirement days!
DRAWING
We had a drawing! The King of Clubs held the key to $50 lurking in the pot.
Cups o’ cash went to:
Bill Litchfield (x 2!) Dick Nickoloff Michael Chavez Russ Paul Robert Wardlaw
Draw - Dick Nickoloff and Roy Olsen had an opportunity to score big, but alas, in was not in the cards.
Nametag - Your GUMS editor for this edition, Paul Stratton, had his name tag on at the right time as his wooden nickel was selected. In an effort to curry favor with the other club members, he deliberately selected the 6 of diamonds, thus leaving the money in the pot. Until next week…
CREED- Andy Towt was asked to lead us in the creed. Andy began by asking us to pay special attention to a certain line - “give every living creature you meet a smile”. Thanks Andy - that was a great idea which helped everyone concentrate on our words. Maybe an idea for each week’s recitation? The person asked to lead the creed gives us a phrase or line to focus on. What do you think? All letters to the editor are given serious consideration here at GUMS,
Meetings will be held at the American Legion Hall 5400 E Yale Ave. While there be no two way communication, you may observe (and listen to) the meeting on Zoom
OCMS President Tom Kramis is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting
PLEASE NOTE: All Friday meetings will be simulcast on Zoom in “listen and watch only” mode. All members are encouraged to attend the live meeting when possible.
Optimist Club of Monaco South 2020-2021 45th Year — Chartered in 1976
2022-2023 Officers
President Larry Pulaski 303-956-1202
Vice President Matt Nelson 720-774-0758
Vice President Steve Kady 303-931-1470
Secretary Jake Baker 412-680-0765
Treasurer Pat Bush 303-750-9409
2022- 2023 Board of Directors
Joe Marci 303-847-7844 Tom Glazier 303-522-5214
George Buzick 303-803-2268 Casey Funk 720-656-2255
Vaughn Kendall 303-910-6590 Ken Jeung 720-849-6241
Kent Gloor 303-880- 5444 Tom Kramis 303-917-5299
Past Presidents
Bob Rhue 1976-77
Jerry Whitlow 1977-78
Bill Kosena 1978-79
Duane Wehrer 1979-80
Curt Jefferies 1980-81
Frank Middleton 1981-82
John Young 1982-83
Pat Bush 1983-84
Bob Hugo 1984-85
Tom Mauro 1985-86
Curt Lorenzen 1986-87
Oscar Sorensen 1987-88
Lupe Salinas 1988-89
Bob Avery 1989-90
Bill Litchfield 1990-91
Bill Walters 1991-92
Kent Gloor 1992-93
Gary Strowbridge 1993-94
Mark Metevia 1994-95
Bob Safe 1995-96
Tom Overton 1996-97
Peter Dimond 1997-98
Ralph Symalla 1998-99
Cy Regan 1999-00
Stan Cohen 2000-01
Don St. John 2001-02
Jack Rife 2002-03
Karl Geil 2003-04
Bryce Slaby 2004-05
Donlie Smith 2005-06
Paul Bernard 2006-07
Greg Young 2007-08
Phil Perington 2008-09
Ron Cisco 2009-10
Ed Collins 2010-11
Randy Marcove 2011-12
Paul Simon 2012-13
Jon Wachter 2013-14
John Oss 2014-15
Michael Chavez 2015-16
Craig Eley 2016-17
Jim Easton 2017-18
Everett Gardner 2018-19
Bob Meyer 2019-20
Dan Rodriguez 2020-2021
Tom Kramis 2021-2022
T H E O P T I M I S T C R E E D — Promise Yourself . . . To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel that there is something in them. To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best. To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile. To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others. To be too large for worry, too noble for
anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
is Dunphy was working hard, providing assistance to the team from New York Deli setting up for today’s breakfast. All was set up neatly and timely for our club members to enjoy.
TREE LOT COMMITTEE (TLC)
Metevia introduced today’s speaker, our own Vaughn Kendall. Vaughn is a retired surgeon who joined our club in September of 2021. He was introduced to the club when his kids were Super Citizens at University Hills Elementary. He and his family bought trees at our tree lot, and when he was considering retirement, he found an old card with an invite to breakfast and George Busick’s name on it. Working at the tree lot last season was great for Vaughn in his early days of retirement, since he likes to stay busy. His topic today is travels in his first year of retirement.
