Erin Dickerson’s Prayer
Gracious Lord,
This new year brings with it 365 new possibilities, a hope for the future, inspiration for what may be, and anticipation for what You have in store for us. As we look forward to this year ahead of us, we give thanks for what we have learned and for how we have grown over the past year. Help us to move forward into 2026 with a sense of joy and optimism for this life and these opportunities you have granted us.
Amen.
Get to Know a Member – Julie Walling Noeth
President Sarah Umbreit interviewed Julie Walling Noeth this week. Julie shared that one of her goals for the new year is living healthy. She noted her New Year’s tradition of eating sauerkraut and shared that her favorite color is blue.
Julie Walling Noeth joined CNO on August 20, 2008, and was sponsored by Mike Bevis.
Announcements
Will Cale Memorial Scholarship Mentors
Joan Cordonnier announced that Will Cale Memorial Scholarship applications have been distributed to high school counselors. She is looking for Centerville Noon Optimist members willing to serve as mentors for selected students. Interested members should contact Joan.
Winterfest Volunteers Needed
Andy Higgins announced that volunteers are needed for Winterfest at Primary Village South on Saturday, January 31, 2026, from 9:00 AM to noon. Please sign up using the Member Calendar.
Plan for the 2026 Tom Frazier Tee Off for Youth Golf Classic
Don Stafford shared that planning is underway for the annual golf outing on Monday, July 13, 2026. He asked for members to assist with sponsorship outreach and committee involvement. To help, please get in touch with Don Stafford, Steve Rau or Mike Bevis.
Childhood Health and Wellness Committee
Carol Smerz announced that the Childhood Health and Wellness Committee will resume meeting on the third Wednesday of each month. She also shared a recap of the recent USO Build-A-Bear event at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which served dozens of families despite winter weather conditions on December 13, 2025.
Upcoming Optimist 2.0 Club Day
Sarah Umbreit announced the next Optimist 2.0 meeting will be on Thursday, January 15, 2026, at 5:30 PM, at Chappy’s. This is a Club Day meeting, and committee chairs are encouraged to attend and share information about their committees’ activities and functions.
Club Day at St Leonard
President Sarah Umbreit opened the Club Day meeting at St. Leonard by welcoming members and guests and thanking the St. Leonard Optimist Club and staff for hosting the meeting at The Station House. She introduced several guests, including Joyce Swidedt, a St. Leonard resident who previously attended the club’s Holiday dinner, along with members of the St. Leonard staff: Sarah MacAllister, Director of Sales and Marketing; Lori Horstman, Director of Life Enrichment; Amelia Rone, Enrichment Supervisor; and Alice Daniels, Manager of the Franciscan Center, who assisted with meeting logistics. The Club Day program then focused on updates to the club’s youth contests and an overview of CNO 2.0.
Oratorical Contest
Jessica Wagner, the Chair of the Oratorical Contest, outlined plans for the 2026 Margaret Barclay Memorial Oratorical Contest, which the Centerville Noon Optimist Club conducts in support of Optimist International. The contest gives students an opportunity to develop public speaking skills by preparing and delivering a speech on a topic selected at the international level.
The 2026 topic is, “The Moment I Realized I Belonged—My Definition of Community.” Contestants prepare and deliver a speech between four and five minutes in length. Jessica noted that many students are nervous at the start, but nearly all leave the experience feeling proud of what they accomplished.
The contest is open to students under the age of 19 as of October 1, 2025, who live in Centerville or Washington Township and or attend Centerville City Schools, Incarnation Catholic School, Alter High School, Miami Valley School, Spring Valley Academy, or Dayton Christian School.
Due to the dissolution of the South Metro Club, the contest format has changed this year. Two evening contests will be held on February 9 and February 12, 2026, beginning at 6:00 PM, with contestants asked to arrive by 5:45 PM. Both contests will be held at the Woodbourne Library, located at 600 Far Hills Avenue in Centerville. Each contest will award a $500 cash prize to the winner.
Winners from the club contests advance to Zone competition and may continue on to the Great Ohio District Regional competition and District Finals. At the District level, scholarships of $3,500 for first place, $2,000 for second place, and $1,500 for third place are awarded. The District winner advances to the World Championships in St. Louis in July 2026, where scholarships of $15,000, $10,000, and $5,000 are awarded.
Applications are due no later than January 9, 2026. Contest slots are limited and will be filled in the order applications are received.
Jessica also shared that students frequently ask whether they may use AI tools when preparing their speeches. She emphasized that writing and delivering their own work is what builds the confidence needed to succeed in the contest.
Volunteers are needed to serve as judges and timekeepers. Jessica noted that these roles are well defined and easy to manage, and she encouraged members to consider helping with the contest. Contact Jessica to help.
Got Talent Contest
Erin Laurito, chair of the Got Talent Competition, shared details about the sixth annual Centerville Noon Optimist Got Talent event, which continues to grow as a popular way to give young people a stage and an audience. Erin emphasized that the contest is about more than performance, providing students with confidence, visibility, and encouragement as they share their talents.
The 2026 Got Talent Competition will be held on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Centerville High School theater. The event is open to a wide variety of talents, including music, dance, comedy, karate, breakdancing, and other creative performances.
Participants begin by submitting a video of their performance. The Got Talent committee reviews the submissions and selects ten individuals or groups to perform live at the final event. Erin noted that the committee typically receives around thirty submissions each year and hopes to continue expanding participation.
Cash prizes will be awarded to the top performers, with $500 for first place, $250 for second place, and $100 for third place. The contest is open to students ranging in age from elementary through high school, including participants as young as six and up to eighteen, provided they are still enrolled in school. While there are currently no age divisions, the committee continues to explore whether age categories may be added in the future.
Erin also highlighted that serving on the Got Talent committee is flexible and does not require regular in-person meetings. Volunteers are needed for a variety of roles, including judges, backstage support, check-in, and event coordination. She encouraged members to consider getting involved or simply attending the event to support the performers.
Essay Contest
Kristen Marks and Byron Wade are serving as co-chairs for the 2025–2026 Optimist International Essay Contest. The contest gives young people the opportunity to develop and express their own views through writing while competing for college scholarship funding.
The Official 2025–2026 Optimist International Essay Contest topic is, “How My Acts of Service Help Me Understand What My Community Means to Me.” Students are asked to compose an original essay based on this theme, using limited guidance from others and no AI assistance. The contest is open to children under the age of 19, with submissions accepted from October through February 1, 2026.
At the club level, Centerville Noon Optimists will award cash prizes of $500 for first place, $250 for second place, and $100 for third place. The first-place winner advances to the Great Ohio District competition, where the district champion will receive a $3,500 scholarship, including $2,500 from Optimist International and $1,000 from The Great Ohio District.
Kristen noted that the essay contest emphasizes critical thinking and effective communication. Participants are encouraged to present well-reasoned ideas tied to the theme while developing skills in clarity, structure, and written expression. These skills carry value well beyond the contest itself and into academic and real-world settings.
Byron Wade has visited several Junior Optimist meetings and shared contest information with area schools. Additional outreach to school principals is planned to further increase participation. Kristen encouraged members to help spread the word by sharing the Essay Contest event on the Centerville Noon Optimist Facebook page or directing students to https://centervillenoonoptimist.com/essay-contest/
Judging will begin after the February 1 submission deadline. The top three essay writers will be invited to read their essays and accept their awards during the Centerville Noon Optimist lunch meeting on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, at Yankee Trace Golf Club.
Members interested in serving as judges are encouraged to contact Kristen.
Optimist 2.0
Greg Fay, chair of Optimist 2.0, shared an update on the evening meeting format that was introduced several years ago as an additional way to participate in the Centerville Noon Optimist Club. Optimist 2.0 is not a separate organization, but simply another door into the same club, designed to accommodate members whose schedules make daytime meetings difficult.
The original target audience for Optimist 2.0 was young professionals and young entrepreneurs, with the goal of offering a meeting time that better fits evening schedules. Meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month, with the exception of December.
Greg noted an unexpected but positive outcome of Optimist 2.0: several longtime CNO members who could no longer attend Tuesday lunch meetings have become regular participants at the evening gatherings due to changes in work schedules or availability.
The next Optimist 2.0 meeting will be held on Thursday, January 15, 2026, at 5:30 PM at Chappy’s. This meeting will be a Club Day, and committee chairs have been invited to attend and share information about their committees so that evening attendees can better understand the full scope of CNO programs and service opportunities.
Members interested in helping grow the club are encouraged to consider joining the Optimist 2.0 committee. The committee meets on the first Thursday of each month to discuss upcoming meetings and venue selection.
Getting to Know CNO – St. Leonard Optimist Club
Each week, President Sarah Umbreit highlights a different part of the Centerville Noon Optimist Club. This week, she focused on the St. Leonard Optimist Club, which hosted today’s meeting at The Station House.
The Station House, located on the St. Leonard campus, is open to the public and available for community events. The St. Leonard Optimist Club meets on the third Thursday of each month from 2:00 to 3:00 PM, and members are welcome to visit a meeting.
The St. Leonard Optimist Club was chartered in 2019 and operates as a “club within a club,” remaining connected to the Centerville Noon Optimist Club while focusing its service efforts within the St. Leonard community. The club currently has about ten members, including original members Judy McFadden and Dawn Arrowood.
Despite its smaller size, the St. Leonard Optimist Club is active in several service projects, including making blankets for children in need, assembling toiletry kits for families, providing Christmas gifts for underprivileged children, collecting hats, mittens, and gloves, and supporting local food banks through canned goods drives.
Sarah thanked CNO members Mike Bevis, Carol Smerz, Julie Rado, and Mary Ann McKenzie for mentoring and supporting the St. Leonard Optimist Club, and she thanked the St. Leonard Optimists for hosting the meeting.
New Member Readings and Inductions
There were no Readings or Inductions this week.
Happy Bucks
- Bob Burkman and his wife, Carol, are celebrating their 63rd wedding anniversary.
- Julie Walling Noeth thanked Mike Bevis and the Centerville Noon Optimist Club for lifting her up after she was widowed in 2008. She added that the club continues that same spirit today by lifting others in 2026.
- Mike Bevis shared information about the Centerville-Washington Foundation “Pickleball for Good” fundraiser on January 31, 2026, 3-6 PM at Pickleball Kingdom. The event costs $15 to participate, includes coaching, and supports local causes.
- Bob Myers shared that his longtime friend and member, Mike Creech, had a successful recent surgery.
- Gary Anderson joked with Bob Burkman about reaching 63 years of marriage and being an “old guy.”
- Debe Dockins shared that her son is now engaged to be married.
- Sarah Umbreit is glad to be back at the meeting and noted that the club bell made it safely through the location change.
- Kathy Rearick announced that she and Ron have been happily married for 42 years. She made sure we knew that they have been married for 45 years.
Sergeants-at-Arms Fines – Bob Myers and Mike Creech
Everyone today was fined. Sergeants Bob Myers and Mike Creech had planned to distribute name badges, but they forgot to pick them up from Yankee Trace. To make up for it, they fined everyone for not wearing their name badge.
Club Membership Anniversaries
See December 16, 2025 Edition of CNOtes
Birthdays
See December 16, 2025 Edition of CNOtes.
Thank You Notes Received this Week
No Thank You Notes were received this week
Links to PowerPoint and Pictures
CLICK HERE to see the PowerPoint Slide Deck from this week’s meeting