Phather Phil’s Prayer
Heavenly Father we are on the cusp of Your Son’s Birthday. We thank you for our greatest blessing. You taught us that we were put here to love others and do it with compassion and meaning. We find it easy to love those who are close to us, but Your Son told us to show love to all, especially those less fortunately than us. We will be celebrating Christmas with those we love and remembering those You have called home. Though we can no longer hold them, we can still hug them with our prayers and fill the void they have left in our hearts. Be with us this coming year and guide us in making this an Optimistic and loving world for everyone. Amen!
Today’s Guests
| Guest | Guest Of |
| Dawn Arrowood | Mike Bevis |
| Terry Bevis | Mike Bevis |
| Judge Fred Dressel | Jim Long |
| Dave Fairs | Mike Brubaker |
| Taryn Filer | Speaker |
| Rob Fortman | Pat Behn |
| Rodrigo Garnica | Bob Collins |
| Beth Harper | Mike Bevis |
| Kim Lopez | Mike Bevis |
| Judy McFadden | Mike Bevis |
| Janet Peasant | Donna Huss |
| Morgan Schiffhauer | Diane Arehart |
| Kelly Smith | Mike Bevis |
| Erin Warfield | Casey Wyckoff |
All Photos from the Meeting are Here
Committee Announcements
Donn Huss announced there will be a “NOW” Event on January 17, 2019 from 5-8 PM at Yankee Trace. She would like to hear back from all committee chairs with an RSVP to share with potential members how you help the club. NOW is an acronym for “New Optimists Welcome”. Read more about it here. It is a program designed to capture the interests of prospective new Optimist Club members. Please tell your family and friends to come check it out.
Donna Huss announced that the Optimist Holiday dinner was a success. The venue, food, silent auction, raffle and entertainment provided by South Dayton School of Dance was excellent. Thank you to all the social committee members.
Casey Wyckoff, chair of Communication Contest for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing (CCDHH), announced that she is looking for participants so please let her know of anyone who is eligible for this opportunity. You can give them her contact information as well. Let teachers, friends and family know about this contest. There were only 8 in the state last year but her goal is to have 8 in our region. The Optimist Ohio District awards a $3500 scholarship to the winner. Additionally, Casey said she can use more volunteers who can communicate with American Sign Language to judge the contest.
Greg Griffin reported on the tree lot. Thank you to everyone that worked on the Christmas tree lot; because of you we had another successful year. We completely sold out of trees last Saturday after 22 days. There was $89,000 in sales with a net profit of $48,000. A special thank you note was sent to the manager of Kroger’s in Centerville since this Kroger location is the only one that does not sell Christmas trees. Other thank you notes were sent to Alan Poole (BMV Manager) and Wayne Davis (Centerville City Manager) for allowing us to use the BMV parking lot again this year.
Jack Anderson announced there is a CNO 2.0 social event on 12/31/2018 at noon at the Heavier than Air Brewing Company. Food will be provided. Come watch some football as University of Cincinnati plays Virginia Tech and maybe bring a friend to watch and to learn about our Optimist club.
Donna Huss announced that Brent Richburg has agreed to be the chair of the Americana Festival booth again next year. He has already contacted the Americana Festival representative and they are accommodating our request to have a space near Benham’s Grove. Thank you, Brent!
Beth Duncan has requested that if you find out you signed up and can’t attend the Murder Mystery Dinner, let her know as soon as possible. There is a waiting list.
Happy Birthday to Liz Fultz
Guess what? The lunch today was on December 18, 2018 and that is the same exact day of the year that is Liz Fultz’s birthday. Lucky (Unlucky?) for us Liz Fultz was at today’s lunch, so Charlie Tapp graciously led us in singing Happy Birthday to her. I tried to record the “musical” evidence of our singing. On my iPhone, Siri stopped the recording stating “Your microphone has been hacked, rebooting now for your own protection.” President Donna Huss could be heard saying afterwards, “My hearing will never be the same!”
Today’s Presentation
Debe Dockins introduced Taryn Filer who is an Adult Services Specialist with the Washington-Centerville Public Library. She has worked for the library since December, 2017 and was quickly scooped up into the Speaker’s Bureau. Taryn researched and put together information about the various winter holidays after getting requests for a seasonal presentation.
Here is a list of the Winter Holiday celebrations Taryn discussed with links to Wikipedia
Pancha Ganapati (The holiday page redirects to the page of Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, the creator of the holiday.)
You can view the slide presentation here.
The following is information from Taryn’s presentation:
Today 9 out of 10 Americans celebrate Christmas, but there are several other Winter Holidays that are also very important to those who celebrate.
Christmas was banned in the 17th century and became legal again in 1660. St Nicklaus was introduced in the third century.
Hanukkah is 8 days long because there was only enough untainted olive oil to keep the candle lit for 1 day, but by a miracle the candle burned for 8 days, which was enough time to get a new supply of oil.
Kwanza is one of the newest celebrations. Created during 1966 by Maulana Karenga, Kwanza starts on December 26 and goes for 7 days. The number 7 is a recurring theme in this celebration.
St Stephen’s Day is celebrated because he was the first Christian martyr.
Boxing Day is celebrated on December 26. The name comes from the gratuity of a box of money or presents to those who perform services for their employers or receivers of services.
St Lucia Day, celebrated on December 13 in Scandinavian countries, this holiday is celebrated with a buffet feast. Also called St. Lucy, St. Lucia secretly delivered food to prisoners.
Las Posadas is on December 16 and is celebrated by Hispanics and others. It is based on the number 9. It is celebrated for nine days ending on Christmas Eve by celebrators asking for lodging for 9 days in reference to the story of the Virgin Mary and Joseph looking for lodging before the birth of Christ. Each of the 9 days represents one month of the Virgin Mary’s pregnancy with Jesus Christ.
Pancha Ganapati started in 1985 and is celebrated by Hindu families. They celebrate for 5 days, each dedicated to a specific spiritual idea with a distinct color.
New Year’s Day celebrations have not always been on January 1st. In 1582, January 1st became the official beginning of the new year with the widespread adoption of the Gregorian calendar. In New York City, the ball has dropped for over 100 years. Not all countries or cultures celebrate the new year on January 1st. An interesting tradition for some cultures for good luck is to eat 12 grapes at midnight. You eat one grape for each stroke of midnight. If you successfully eat them all by the end of the clock strikes, you will have good luck for the next year. Good luck with this one!
Birthdays
| Member | Birthday |
| Liz Fultz | December 18 |
| Cindy Gaboury | December 19 |
| Jeff Brown | December 19 |
| Debe Dockins | December 22 |
| Paul Boeckman | December 22 |
| Stephen Mock | December 25 |
| Jeff Papanek | December 26 |
| Dave Gaines | December 27 |
| Dave Kay | December 27 |
| Christine Balsan | December 28 |
| Molly Petsch | December 28 |
| Kelly Stone | December 29 |
| Mandy Ransdell | December 31 |
Membership Anniversaries
| Member | Month | Day | Joined | # Years |
| Scott Langer | December | 30 | 12/30/1997 | 21 |
New Member Readings and Inductions
| Name | Sponsor | 1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction |
| Gareth Dickey | Roland Rapp | Induction |
Sergeants at Arms
| Member | Infraction |
| Anyone who has not been fined this year | Not being fined this year |
| Anyone who cheered the retirement of the current sergeants | Cheering the retirement of the current sergeants |
| Anyone who did not believe “we fine because we love” | Not believing, “we fine because we love” |
Happy Bucks!
| Member | Reason |
| Donna Huss | Grandson got engaged |
| Ken Irwin | Last week as sergeant |
| Beth Duncan | Grandson was just born |
| Bob Burkman | Carol Burkman and his 56th wedding anniversary is on December 29, 2018 |
| Myron Rheaume | Happy that the obituary he read in the newspaper was not our Bob Lawson |
| Gary Aiken | Thanks to Kroger’s for being the only one in the area that doesn’t sell Christmas trees |
| Carolyn Taylor | Army beat Navy |
| Greg Wasmund | Donated the last Christmas Tree to a needy family |
| Jane Fiehrer | Her Will Cale scholarship mentee just got a 4.0 GPA |
| Greg Griffin | Christmas Tree Lot had $89,000 sales with $48,000 in profit in 22 Days. Thanks for helping! |