To
m Mauro reported that as a member of the audit committee, along with
Ron Gustas and
Dick Nickoloff, he’s proud to report that the audit is complete, and our elected officials are not crooks. Tom feels that the audit is an important oversight measure that organizations like ours should prioritize, and said thank you to the committee members and also to our treasurer,
Pat Bush.
Tom is also starting work on the latest and greatest Club directory. If you have updates to any of your directory information, please give those to Tom.
COMARAD, COMRADES!
It’s Camaraderie Day! Lively, animated discussions took place across the room. Then President Casey announced that it was time for Happy Bucks! As a reminder, members put in any amount of cash they choose in order to share whatever is making them happy right now. The proceeds from Happy Bucks go to OI’s Childhood Wellness Program. Also, despite herculean efforts by your editor, it was really hard to keep up, so apologies if I missed anyone or got some facts wrong.
HAPPY BUCKS
Casey Funk is happy for first time father-to-be Jake Baker. And also that his term as president is nearly complete!
Pat Bush is happy that the audit is over.
Karl Geil is happy that his son, daughter-in-law and grandson are coming to visit.
Don Thomson is happy he has family coming into town from Seattle and Wellington CO to stay for a while.
Jake Baker is happy it is no longer 105 degrees! (probably not as happy as his wife)
Dick Nickoloff is happy for many reasons, some untold. Also, his oldest son in Florida is safe from Hurricane Debby, and his oldest granddaughter is excited to be starting middle school in Highlands Ranch.
Michael Chavez is happy to be here among friendly Optimists.
Tom Glazier is happy that Michael Chavez is happy!
Denny Dressman is happy that his daughter has completed her master's in social work. He is also happy that he and his wife recently celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary!
Greg Ostravich is happy that his son is newly married and is now on his honeymoon in the Dominican Republic. Also, Greg recently became a HAM radio volunteer examiner (VE). So he can help you earn your license if interested.
Jim Easton is happy that his son just completed his master's degree and has moved in with his girlfriend.
Mike White is happy that his son Brian has a 1 year old puppy dog.
Ed Collins was thinking of Fred Pasternack, and is happy to report that the Broncos are going to the Super Bowl this year!
Dan Rodriguez is happy that he sold his sign shop, and that means no more employees to manage.
We Had a Drawing!
A relatively modest $30 was in the pot, and the 3 of diamonds was the card needed in order to put it in your pocket.
Cups of cold hard cash went to:Dick Cohen
Ryan Nuss - two cups for Ryan!
Al Gapuzan
Bill Litchfield
Jim Svenson
Larry Pulaski and Tom Glazier boldly went after the big dollars but came up short.
Nametag
Greg Holt not only had on his nametag and not only had his wooden coin pulled by the President, b
ut he also drew the lucky card! Being 30 bucks richer put a big smile on Greg’s face. CONGRATS!
Tom Glazier was honored with the opportunity to start us off on the recitation of our creed: “Promise Yourself…”
Official greeters Mike White and Don Thomson, joined by a host of unofficial wanna-bee and hangers-on greeters, arrived early on this foggy and cool Friday morning, August 9th, 2024. Kudos to Mike and Don for staying focused and professionally executing their duties with broad smiles.
President Casey Funk started the meeting by handling the invocation duties himself. He consulted the book of Optimist creed-based messages and found a list from John Young tucked in the pages. Casey chose to share John’s list of what makes an Optimist and Optimist. Anyone who knows John could hear his voice when Casey read examples of hard work, the sources of true happiness, a desire to serve and to love. He then led us in the Pledge Of Allegiance.
Casey made sure that everyone knew that Jake Baker (and his wife) will be having a baby on August 12th. Jake received hearty congratulations and some unsolicited advice, which he assuredly appreciated. Congratulations Jake and get ready for a wild ride!
Tom Glazier announced that he had passed out order forms for those members who would like to pre-order bread from the Treasure House of Hope prior to their presentation at our Friday meeting on September 6th. Tom is collecting the orders, and also cash or checks (made out to Treasure House of Hope) in advance, or you can pay on the 6th. So get your orders in! The cost is $7 per loaf. Learn more about their organization at 
Tom also gave a Raffle update on behalf of Phil Perington. With one week to go before the big day, there are 50 tickets available for purchase. Phil is at the district conference now, where he hopes to sell 40 like he did last year. Let Tom or Phil know if you want a ticket (or an additional ticket) ASAP!
Robert Wardlaw reminded us that our August 23rd Friday morning meeting will be our Principals to Breakfast meeting. That’s right, the 2024/2025 school year is about to get underway. Please attend so we can hear from the schools and show them the group behind the T-shirts!
