Casey Schlinker, in her current role as Program Manager at Whaley Children’s Center, updated us regarding the Optimist House that we and other area clubs acquired, refurbished, and support for Whaley’s kids. An “Independent Living Pilot Project” is now housed in the Optimist House, with a “Junior Entrepreneur” aspect in which the 13-17-year-olds will be given $40 each to invest in or springboard a small business venture, a “nutritionist” assisting them in learning to shop, store, and prepare meals for the House, and developing job skills in a structured 10-week program. (Next year, the program will expand for the full year if all goes well.) These life skills are hoped to prepare the youngsters for post-Whaley living and expose them to a broader range of future options than they would normally consider.

President Crys Reed called on Dan Crannie to lead the Pledge of Allegiance and Greg Hilliker to say grace, after which Prez Crys fined Ken Cullen for being overeager to engage in fines, Mic Goulet paid a fee for being professionally attired, John Losinski paid for “showing up early for the luncheon”, and “King” Phil Holmblade fined the entire Club for not generating enough fines.

The Club committed $1500 to go to Ele’s Place (youth grief support), the “$5K Raffle” will be on October 25 (John Losinski is working lead on this), Bill Hentgen has tickets available for a Big Brothers/Big Sisters event for anyone interested, hole sponsors and teams are being recruited for the “Walt Widder Memorial Golf Outing” on September 15, and there is a possibility of a Saturday breakfast trip for the Club to visit “our” (sponsored) dinosaur at Sloan Museum’s Courtland Center exhibit.

Until next time, “Promise Yourself…