It was hard to see through the smoky skies, but in fact Ed Collins and Pat Bush were visibly excited to be serving as greeters this morning. Each and every happy Optimist received warm well wishes and handshakes on this Friday morning, July 26th, 2024.
Eldon Strong delivered today’s invocation. He shared a message regarding our call to be too happy to permit the presence of trouble. Well being and contentment are keys to happiness, rather than accumulation of material possessions. He then led us in the Pledge Of Allegiance.
Karl Geil was behind the podium, filling in for out-of-town-traveling President CaseyFunk and looking sharp! It must be his day in court. Karl acknowledged our Zoom attendees and guests. Since there were none to be found, this took very little time.
President’s announcements: He’s not here!
CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS
Michael Phil Greg
ROCKIES FUND RAISER
Michael Chavez waved a check in the air from the podium. It was legal tender from the Rockies (to the tune of $500) as a thank you for our club’s help with handouts at the Coors Field entry gates. Well done Michael - thanks for organizing! But maybe the Rockies should be spending that money on pitching help?
Phil Perington says that the South by Southeast festival is right around the corner. We will have a space with a canopy at the event that we will be sharing with the Tamarac Club. The festival will be 8:30 am - 7:00 pm on Saturday, August 17th at Bible Park. Several members have already signed up to help staff the space and spread the message of Optimism. Sign up or let Phil know you are interested.
Phil also gave a Raffle Report - there are just a few weeks left to get your tickets! Maybe for yourself, a co-worker or neighbor. Remember that the Raffle Committee has determined beneficiaries of the Raffle profits shall receive contributions up to $500, excluding the J.O.I. District who will receive $1,000. Beneficiaries include new money for The Anchor Center for Blind Children and TJ Latin Club-$500 each. As an important note, O.I. will match $500 for any new Club programs. Our own Bradley J.O.I. Club will also receive a $500 contribution. The drawing is August 16th and this year we are offering 3 tickets for $50. Individual tickets are $20. The 1st place winner receives $2,000, 2nd place $1,000 and 20- 3rd place winners are each awarded $100.
Greg Hurd told us that the Rocky Mountain Train Show is coming up August 3rd and 4th at the Forney Museum. The tickets are $14, which includes seeing the whole museum, plus tours of the Big Boy. 9:00 - 5:00 Saturday and 9:00 - 4:00 on Sunday. For all details, see this link (hover over it first to make sure it’s a legitimate website):
Kevin Dempsey let us know that Augustana Lutheran Church is building a Habitat for Humanity home. The date will be Saturday, October 5th from 9:00 - 4:30. Kevin will get us details on signing up to help for those who are interested in helping. No experience required! Which is good, for a group like ours.
Frank Middleton reports that King Soopers has rebated the club $50 just based on his own card usage over the last year. And we just received a $445 quarterly payment, which is a lot of money! If you don’t have your King Soopers loyalty card linked with Monaco South, please do! It is easy to set up, and if you have any trouble, let Frank know and he’ll walk you through the steps.
MEMBER NEWS
Tom Overton recently talked to Claire Young, wife of our own founding member John Young. Claire reports that John has moved in at Highline Place Memory Care as of 7/24/24. After a few weeks of adjustment, she would like to arrange some coffee or lunch visits with anyone wanting to visit John. You can reach Claire by phone or text at 720-425-7205 or email johnandclaire@comcast.net. His room is decorated with some of his Optimist award plaques and a copy of the creed. Tom also spoke with Keith Gallaway’s wife. Keith has lost sight in one eye and his vision is very poor in the other eye. He is only able to recognize people by the sound of their voice.
Pat Bush says that charter member Bill Litchfield brought in a program from the original charter meeting in 1976. Pat is going to hang on it and add it to the museum.
Pat also says that budget requests for next year are closing! If you didn’t give him and requests, you’ll need to be happy with anything you get, so last call!
TREE LOT COMMITTEE
Tom Kramis reports that the TLC (Tree Lot Committee) had their Christmas in July meeting last week and it was very productive. Believe it or not, you will soon see sign up sheets and have the opportunity to help with the preparations. Christmas is coming, and the goose is getting fat!
Dr. Bob Finkelmeier says “The peaches are coming; the peaches are coming!” Sign up for some fantastic peaches at a great price - $45/box for the real deal Western Slope peaches. They will be delivered in August and Bob will keep us posted on the exact date.
Joe Marci reported that he had just returned after a week's stay in Florida, chaperoning the Colorado/Wyoming contingent of golfers at "The Optimist" golf tournament.
Bob Meyer decided to work on his tan and will be staying for a couple of more weeks.
SPEAKER
Mark Metevia introduced today’s speaker, Scott Henke with Onsite Consulting. Some people recognized Scott, since he was formerly a club member and also has done work for a lot of Optimists in attendance. Onsite Consulting is one of the largest and most experienced business consulting and repair companies in Denver. They have a large, 4,000-square-foot repair shop and half-priced computer showroom at Hampden and I-25. They are “Non-Geeky Guys Who Can Communicate”. Scott was here today to talk about avoiding scams. He says scams are so prevalent that even if you have heard the information before, you need to hear it again. He’s shared this topic many times, and this fall he will teach a class with OLLI.
$5,000 is the average cost of falling victim to a scam. Anti-virus software is not enough. The reason is that the computer is not the problem - IT’S YOU! Human error is at the root of nearly all scams. Onsite has 16,000 clients and they get three people per day who report a scam.
Scott says many phone calls, texts and emails from scammers are designed to get access to your computer. Once they are in your computer, they can get password and credit card information, and even if you hang up the phone on them, you won’t know that they are still on your computer. Don’t let anyone remote into your computer other than IT people you trust or people you know. Apple, Microsoft, the IRS, UPS, etc., will not ask to remote onto your computer.
Change passwords regularly - at least once a year. If you do get hacked, you must change the following passwords:
* Credit card, bank accounts and all financial companies
* Email account(s) password
* Social media: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.
* Online shopping: Amazon, Ebay, Walmart, anything with a stored credit card.
* Cloud Storage: online backup, OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive
Scott says that when you google something, the first four or five results are ads. That doesn’t mean they are fraudulent but be aware before you click to make sure you are going where you want to go. Look for the small green box that says “Ad”, which identifies companies that have paid to have their ad appear at the top of search results.
You can learn more about Scott, his company and the services they offer at www.onsitedenver.com
Just to mix things up, this week we had a drawing! The 10 of diamonds was the magic card that unlocked $30 (post-tax) idling in the pot.
Sure money cups of cash went to:
Don Roth
Jim Svenson
Today’s speaker Scott Henke
Eldon Strong
Bob Avery
Mike White
George Buzick tried his luck in search of the big money, but no luck. Ron Gustas, however, followed George, drew the 10 of diamonds and was the big money winner! Congrats Ron - well done!
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
PLEASE NOTE: Some 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 2023-2024 47th Year — Chartered in 1976
2022-2023 Officers
Officers:
Casey Funk, President
Matt Nelson, Vice President
Tom Glazier, Vice President
Jake Baker, Secretary
Pat Bush, Treasurer
Larry Pulaski, Immediate Past President
Directors:
Second Year: Vaughan Kendall, George Buzick, Tom Hoch, Ken Jeung,
First Year: Carl Brown, Al Gapuzan, Greg Holt, Mario Sani
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
Larry Pulaski 2022-2023
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.
Phil Perington says that the South by Southeast festival is right around the corner. We will have a space with a canopy at the event that we will be sharing with the Tamarac Club. The festival will be 8:30 am - 7:00 pm on Saturday, August 17th at Bible Park. Several members have already signed up to help staff the space and spread the message of Optimism. Sign up or let Phil know you are interested.
Phil also gave a Raffle Report - there are just a few weeks left to get your tickets! Maybe for yourself, a co-worker or neighbor. Remember that the Raffle Committee has determined beneficiaries of the Raffle profits shall receive contributions up to $500, excluding the J.O.I. District who will receive $1,000. Beneficiaries include new money for The Anchor Center for Blind Children and TJ Latin Club-$500 each. As an important note, O.I. will match $500 for any new Club programs. Our own Bradley J.O.I. Club will also receive a $500 contribution. The drawing is August 16th and this year we are offering 3 tickets for $50. Individual tickets are $20. The 1st place winner receives $2,000, 2nd place $1,000 and 20- 3rd place winners are each awarded $100.
Greg Hurd told us that the Rocky Mountain Train Show is coming up August 3rd and 4th at the Forney Museum. The tickets are $14, which includes seeing the whole museum, plus tours of the Big Boy. 9:00 - 5:00 Saturday and 9:00 - 4:00 on Sunday. For all details, see this link (hover over it first to make sure it’s a legitimate website):
Frank Middleton reports that King Soopers has rebated the club $50 just based on his own card usage over the last year. And we just received a $445 quarterly payment, which is a lot of money! If you don’t have your King Soopers loyalty card linked with Monaco South, please do! It is easy to set up, and if you have any trouble, let Frank know and he’ll walk you through the steps.
Tom Overton recently talked to Claire Young, wife of our own founding member John Young. Claire reports that John has moved in at Highline Place Memory Care as of 7/24/24. After a few weeks of adjustment, she would like to arrange some coffee or lunch visits with anyone wanting to visit John. You can reach Claire by phone or text at 720-425-7205 or email 
Pat Bush says that charter member Bill Litchfield brought in a program from the original charter meeting in 1976. Pat is going to hang on it and add it to the museum.
Tom Kramis reports that the TLC (Tree Lot Committee) had their Christmas in July meeting last week and it was very productive. Believe it or not, you will soon see sign up sheets and have the opportunity to help with the preparations. Christmas is coming, and the goose is getting fat!
Dr. Bob Finkelmeier says “The peaches are coming; the peaches are coming!” Sign up for some fantastic peaches at a great price - $45/box for the real deal Western Slope peaches. They will be delivered in August and Bob will keep us posted on the exact date.
Joe Marci reported that he had just returned after a week's stay in Florida, chaperoning the Colorado/Wyoming contingent of golfers at "The Optimist" golf tournament.
Mark Metevia 
card that unlocked $30 (post-tax) idling in the pot.