Author: Greg Griffin

CNOtes – May 12, 2020 – Avenue of Flags 2020 Season Kickoff

A Replay of the ZOOM Meeting is Here

NOTE: The actual meeting starts at 23:44 – if you enjoy watching the socializing and member banter, I left it in – some of it is pretty fumy!

COVID-19 UPDATE

In keeping with social distancing requirements – our CNO Meetings have transitioned temporarily to a online format using ZOOM.

Club Member Joe Madden was inspire to rewrite The Optimist Creed – so we give you now – The Corona Creed -with apologies to Christian D. Larson, Author of The Optimist Creed.

Welcome Guests!

Guest Guest of
Laura Thimons Debe Dockins

New Member Readings and Inductions

Name Sponsor 1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction
Laura Thimons Debe Dockins Second Reading
Margie Jones Mike Bevis Induction

Zoom Meeting This Week

Yankee Trace is still closed. We had another meeting using Zoom. We will continue our weekly meetings via computer, cell phone or tablet for at least the next several weeks. Please join us and keep inviting guests.

2020-2021 Officers and Board of Directors Elections

The nomination committee of the Centerville Noon Optimist Club, comprised of past presidents, the current president and incoming president have nominated the following people for Optimist Year 2020-2021:

  • President Elect, Gary Hansen
  • Vice Presidents, Beth Duncan and Bill Williams
  • Board of Directors nominated for 2-year terms are Christine Balsan, Pat Behn, Bob Glavin, Jim Long, and Brian Nolan
  • Board Members with a year left to serve are Amy Barker, Denise O’Neil, Vince Reidy, Carolyn Taylor, and Greg Wasmund
  • Debe Dockins is the president for 2020-2021 and she has chosen Nancy Lehren as her past president representative. Greg Griffin will serve as the Immediate Past President.
  • The incoming president chooses the Treasurer and Secretary. Debe Dockins has selected Roland Rapp for Treasurer and Jean Pummill for Secretary. They are both currently serving in those positions.

CNO Secretary Jean Pummill asked everyone to raise their hand if they wanted to accept the nominations as recommended by the nomination board and they did with no one opposing the motion. Congratulations to all the new board members and officers. Their terms begin on 10/1/2020.

Committee Meetings

Mike Bevis, chair of the golf committee, announced that the golf committee will hold a relaunch meeting on Zoom on 5/13/2020 from 6 PM to 7 PM to start working out how the golf outing will work this year. The golf outing is scheduled for 9/28/2020.

Social Events

5/21/2020, 4:30 PM, Thursday, Trivia Contest via Zoom video conferencing.

Avenue of Flags Fundraiser

Greg Griffin introduced the three chairs of the CNO Avenue of Flags (AOF) Committee. They are Tom Novak, Mike Brubaker and Bob Burkman. Each spoke to us about our fundraiser.

You can view the slide deck here. The slide deck has some great charts, graphs, and maps.

Flags normally are delivered for these flag holidays

  • Memorial Day
  • Flag Day
  • Independence Day
  • Labor Day
  • Veterans Day

This year flags will be delivered starting the Wednesday before Memorial Day weekend and will be picked up after Independence Day, which is approximately 6 weeks. This is being done to help with social distancing and at the request of the governor for everyone to display flags in support of our patriotism during the COVID crisis.

The flags will be redeployed for Labor Day and Veterans Day as in normal years.

After the flags go up for Memorial Day, many more subscription requests are expected as neighbors notice the flags. They plan to deliver to new subscribers during the 6 weeks.

Tom thanked the volunteers on the various Avenue of Flag teams

  • Subscriber renewal team; they follow up with subscribers that initially ignore the post cards and emails sent out reminding people to renew.
  • Flag site “check-up” teams; they have already gone out to make sure the inground sleeves can be found and are straight.
  • Flag delivery/retrieval teams.
  • Flag Facility Team at Sinclair College.

Tom gave special thanks to Paulette Novak, Sue Brubaker and Carol Burkman, who are the wives of the committee chairs, for their patience. At this time of year, the chairs spend a lot of time away from home helping with the Avenue of Flags.

Statistics and facts about the program from Mike Brubaker

  • 2019 net profit was $92,874
  • 2019 ended with 2410 flags delivered
  • At least 2286 flags will be delivered for Memorial Day
    • This is a 94.9% renewal rate, typically at this time of year it is only 85%
  • More subscriptions will be added before each flag delivery day
  • AOF volunteers periodically build the flags from purchased parts and kits
    • During the spring of 2020 they assembled 250 flags in just 2 hours
    • High volume purchasing saves us and other local Optimist clubs that we sell our flag supplies to

Delivery Facts

  • There are 64 routes with 128 delivery and pickup volunteers
  • Most routes have 30-35 flags
  • Routes are designed to take 1-2 hours to deliver
  • About 3 routes are added each year
  • The largest route has 181 flags

Groups providing pickup and delivery volunteers include

  • CNO members
  • AOF Subscribers
  • Blue Star Mothers
  • Various VFWs
  • CHS Wrestling Program (7 Parent/Son Teams, new for 2020)

Additional volunteers are always welcome

Let Tom know if you can help with delivery or pickup of flags. Helpers go out as 2 person teams. They are very excited to get volunteers that have flag friendly vehicles like mini-vans, SUV’s and pickup trucks. Don’t worry if you don’t have such a vehicle, you will be paired with someone who does.

COVID Crisis considerations and the AOF delivery process

Delivery volunteers go out in pairs. They should consider taking two vehicles this year to help with social distancing.

Sinclair College is currently closed. Special arrangements must be made each time we need access to our storage facilities at their Centerville campus. Delivery volunteers should be very careful about making sure they have all the equipment and flags they need. You may not be able to get back into the facility if you forget something.

Sending Payments

If you receive a payment of cash or check from a new or current subscriber, send them directly to the home of Bob Burkman. It saves a step instead of people sending to the CNO P.O. box. This increases the chances of late subscribers receiving their flags for Memorial Day or Flag Day.

Note that subscribers can subscribe, renew and pay with a credit card on the CNO website,  https://centervillenoonoptimist.com/avenue-of-flags-sign-up/

Memorial Day and Armed Forces Day History

Bob explained some history about Memorial Day. Originally called Decoration Day, Memorial Day started on May 30, 1865, to honor the 620,000 people who died in the Civil War. May 30th was chosen because there were no battles on that day. Memorial Day got its current official name in 1967. Currently Memorial Day is on the last Monday of May each year because of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. Signed into law on June 28, 1968, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act took effect on January 1, 1971. Bob mentioned that Armed Forces Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in May as a tribute to the men and women currently serving in the Armed Forces.

AOF Flags History

In 2003 to test the fundraiser, CNO put out 30 flags for free in Quail Run. If Chuck Dickerson had not put up the initial $3000 in funding, the program probably would never have started.

Back in 2005, the first year Avenue of Flags was a fundraiser, they did skits at CNO lunch to educate members about the concept. One of the skits was the Tom and Jerry show played by “Tom” Novak and “Jerry” Stahley. Others played American Historical characters. Charlie Tapp dressed up as Paul Revere. Benjamin Franklin was played by Chuck Dickerson. Ken Peacock played Johnny Appleseed which represented the need to “plant” the flags.

Subscribers Help Us Serve the Community

The Avenue of Flags is about the American Flag. The revenue helps support what CNO does for the youth of our community. Neighbors telling their neighbors about the Avenue of Flags is a large source of new subscribers. This was the only way it worked for the first few years. If you have neighbors that have not subscribed, let them know about the program and how it helps the community.

Thank You Notes sent to CNO

No Thank Notes received this week.

CNO Donations 2013 through September 2019

Click this link to see a summary of the donations our club has made.

Over 50 years, we have donated close to $2,000,000 to our youth community. In the past 6 years, we have donated nearly $700,000.

Birthdays

Member Birthday
Tim Bemis May 15
Kristina Rainer May 16
Carolyn Taylor May 17
Jim Long May 17
Jack Anderson May 18

Membership Anniversaries

Member Month Day Joined # Years
Brendan Cunningham May 15 5/15/2018 2
Jay Hoffman May 15 5/15/2017 3
Wendy Hattan May 15 5/15/2018 2

 Sergeants at Arms

No Sergeants this week. 

Happy Bucks

Member Reason
Myron Rheaume Able to drive a car for the first time in 3 months
Tom Novak For the newest Avenue of Flag delivery team of Debe Dockins, Laura Thimons, and Maureen Ruff
Gary Hansen Thanks to CNO for electing him as President for the 2021-2022 OI year

CNOtes – May 5, 2020 – Rose Marie Ward – Miami University

A Replay of the ZOOM Meeting is Here

NOTE: The actual meeting starts at 26:30 – if you enjoy watching the socializing and member banter, I left it in – some of it is pretty fumy!

COVID-19 UPDATE

In keeping with social distancing requirements – our CNO Meetings have transitioned temporarily to a online format using ZOOM.

Club Member Joe Madden was inspire to rewrite The Optimist Creed – so we give you now – The Corona Creed -with apologies to Christian D. Larson, Author of The Optimist Creed.

Welcome Guests!

Guest Guest of
Laura Thimons Debe Dockins

New Member Readings and Inductions

Name Sponsor 1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction
Laura Thimons Debe Dockins First Reading

Zoom Meeting This Week

Yankee Trace is still closed. We had another meeting using Zoom. We will continue our weekly meetings via computer, cell phone or tablet for at least the next several weeks. Please join us and keep inviting guests.

Social Events

5/21/2020, 4:30 PM, Thursday, Trivia Contest via Zoom video conferencing.

2020-2021 Officers and Board of Directors Nominations

The nomination committee of the Centerville Noon Optimist Club, comprised of past presidents, the current president and incoming president have nominated the following people for Optimist Year 2020-2021:

  • President Elect, Gary Hansen
  • Vice Presidents, Beth Duncan and Bill Williams
  • Board of Directors nominated for 2-year terms are Christine Balsan, Pat Behn, Bob Glavin, Jim Long, and Brian Nolan
  • Board Members with a year left to serve are Amy Barker, Denise O’Neil, Vince Reidy, Carolyn Taylor, and Greg Wasmund
  • Debe Dockins is the president for 2020-2021 and she has chosen Nancy Lehren as her past president representative. Greg Griffin will serve as the Immediate Past President.
  • The incoming president chooses the Treasurer and Secretary. Debe Dockins has selected Roland Rapp for Treasurer and Jean Pummill for Secretary. They are both currently serving in those positions.

The terms begin on 10/1/2020.

If anyone would like to nominate themselves for a position let Jean Pummill know. If there are additional nominations, then CNO will hold an election.

Christine Balsan, nominated to be a board member, spoke to us. She has been a member of CNO since 2013. She thanked Debe Dockins and the nomination board for nominating her. She is looking forward to being on the board and serving CNO and doing everything she can to help the club reach its full potential.

Pat Behn, nominated to be a board member, spoke to us. She has been a member of CNO since 2003. She has served on the board of directors in the past and is honored to have the opportunity to serve on the board again. She is currently a Lt Governor for the Great Ohio District of Optimist International.

Announcements

Tom Novak, Avenue of Flags, announced the flags will be delivered May 20-21, 2020.

Kelly Stone, JOI club advisor, has asked area JOI clubs for reports from the advisors. The UD club president is moving out of UD housing this week and has turned everything over to McKenzie. Officers have been chosen for the next year.

Nancy Lehren, Health and Wellness committee, announced that CNO will be restocking the “shot box” at Dayton Children’s soon. CNO is also taking food to nurses.

Mike Bevis, chair golf committee, had great news. He said that since the golf outing has been delayed to September 28, 2020, the committee called about 10 event sponsors about returning their sponsorship money. All of them believe in what CNO does and said to keep the money. They said they will still donate the money even if the event is cancelled.

Rose Marie Ward, Miami University

Mike Bevis introduced Rose Marie Ward. She is a Professor and Associate Dean of the Graduate School at Miami University. She has a PHD in Kinesiology and Health from the University of Rhode Island.

From her page on miamioh.edu:

Dr. Ward’s research interests are in the area of college student health, with a focus on both addictive/harmful behaviors (alcohol use, disordered eating, unsafe and unwanted sexual behavior) and prosocial activities (women’s leadership, life satisfaction, scholastic achievement, exercise, and athleticism). She is currently serving as the Associate Dean of the Graduate School. She actively supports and engages students in the research process and brings students to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research.

At Miami University she teaches EHS 668 Behavioral Statistics II, KNH 125 Introduction to Public Health, KNH 329 Health Psychology and KNH 621 Research Methods.

Her slide deck was titled, “Drunk, Drunker, and Drunkest: Recent Trends and Insights on College Students and Alcohol.” A copy of the deck is here.

Information about Drinking in the U.S.

Binge Drinking is defined as having 5 or more drinks in 2 hours or less time for men and 4 drinks for women. Heavy drinking is having had 5 or more binge days in the past 30 days.

In the U.S, $223.5 billion ($1.90/drink) is spent annually on drinks, which are empty calories.

In the slide deck is a slide listing numerous effects that alcohol abuse may have on the human body’s systems. The list includes addiction, anxiety and Cirrhosis.

Motives for people to drink (Cooper, 1994) include Social, Coping (stress), Enhancement (celebrating an event) and Conformity (Peer Pressure).

There is a new trendy category of “Hard Seltzers”, with their colorful containers, people are drinking to conform because of the popularity. They are called beer, but they really are just fermented sugar drinks.

With the stay at home orders many more people are drinking every day. Some people have panicked that they might run out of alcohol and are purchasing more than usual. This hoarding behavior is something not normally seen.

Recently, the percentage of those 55 and up drinking regularly has been increasing faster than other age groups.

Miami University is Known to be a Party School

Some of the off-campus houses rented to Miami University students are named based on alcohol. Example house names include “Absolut Angels”, “Cosmopolitan”, “Wine Down” and “Rendebooze”. These names are even in the contracts the students sign.

Rose Marie offers, and many students accept, breathalyzer tests while they are drinking in the Oxford bar district. Numerous students’ tests show extreme levels of alcohol and yet they can sound normal. They have built up a tolerance which can lead to higher levels of drinking. Our society has us think it is good to be able to hold our liquor. Parents will also ask for these tests.

Which days do students most commonly consume alcohol? Some students drink every day. Most are drinking on Friday and Saturday. Another group drink on Thursday as well as Friday and Saturday. The Thursday drinkers often choose classes on Fridays that are easier or taken pass/fail.

Miami University Annual Student Health Survey

  • 87% have had alcohol in their life
  • 30% of college students do not drink at all during their 4 years
  • On average students drink 1.5 to 2 days per week
  • In Season athletes drink almost nothing, but they drink more than the average in the off season
  • Students in Sororities and Fraternities drink 2-3 days per week
  • Freshman students are drinking less
  • Miami University students drink 5-6 drinks on an occasion which is higher than the national average of 3-4 drinks for college age people

There are two types of being blackout drunk

Alcohol-Induced blackouts or episodes of amnesia are periods when a person can participate in salient, emotionally charged events (as well as more mundane events) that they can no longer remember. (Goodwin, 1995). Statistics show that 50% of students have experienced blackouts in the past year.

With an “En Bloc” blackout, the subject is unable to recall any details from an event that occurred while they were intoxicated.

With a “Fragmentary Blackout”, subjects have a partial blocking of the formation of memories.

Instead of orally consuming alcohol some people have started getting their alcohol through more dangerous methods with less automatic body control. Some consume alcohol through inhalation which some refer to as a vaportini. A vaportini involves heating alcohol and inhaling the vapors. Talk shows have had demonstrations of inhaling a vaportini. Some are snorting dried alcohol. These alternative methods of putting alcohol in a body are hard on your lungs. The body with alcohol ingested orally has a natural ability to reverse the process if a person consumes too much too quickly, but this is not the case with alcohol in the lungs. People are at a much higher risk of an alcohol overdose when inhaling and snorting alcohol as the body cannot get rid of the excess before it is dangerous.

Questions and Answers

Q: When is someone addicted to alcohol?

A: An addict is a person that needs more and more alcohol to get the same effects. People that are addicted will suffer withdrawal symptoms when they do not consume alcohol.

Q: Are there differences in the effects of alcohol from wine, beer, or liquor?

A: Most agree that there really is no difference. There are different amounts of alcohol in all the types which can make you think the effects are different. Many believe that fermented sugar drinks with their artificial sweeteners probably cause some additional effect.

Q: What about students mixing energy drinks and alcohol?

A:  This is happening. People are wide awake while drunk. There are even products that have alcohol and caffeine premixed. This is not good, but it is not completely new. This behavior has been popular in the past when people would mix alcohol with caffeinated soda.

Q: What about Marijuana use at Miami University?

A: About 35% of students use Marijuana and some are using alcohol and marijuana at the same time.

Thank you, Rose Marie Ward, for speaking to us today!

Thank You Notes sent to CNO

You can read recent thank you notes here.

CNO Donations 2013 through September 2019

Click this link to see a summary of the donations our club has made.

Over 50 years, we have donated close to $2,000,000 to our youth community. In the past 6 years, we have donated nearly $700,000.

Birthdays

Member Birthday
Lou Brinkman May 6
Pam Miller May 6
Mary Madden May 6
Tom Henderson May 6
Beth Duncan May 9
Jon Fox May 10
Marge Back May 11
Jessica King May 11
Abby Davis May 11

Membership Anniversaries

Member Month Day Joined # Years
Craig Dring May 7 5/7/1997 23
Dave Kay May 8 5/8/1992 28
Paul Bowell May 8 5/8/2000 20

 Sergeants at Arms

No Sergeants this week. 

Happy Bucks

Member Reason
Nancy Lehren New grandson was just born, this is her 9th grandchild.
Tom Novak Bob Bargmeyer has reported 100% of the flag subscribers on his route have renewed their subscriptions.
Debe Dockins District Oratorical was last Saturday, there were several really good speakers. The winner from the Van Wert club will do really well representing the Great Ohio District nationally.

CNOtes – April 28, 2020 – Dave Ball – TJ’s Place of Hope

A Replay of the ZOOM Meeting is Here

NOTE: The actual meeting starts at 16:22 – if you enjoy watching the socializing and member banter, I left it in – some of it is pretty fumy!

COVID-19 UPDATE

In keeping with social distancing requirements – our CNO Meetings have transitioned temporarily to a online format using ZOOM.

Club Member Joe Madden was inspire to rewrite The Optimist Creed – so we give you now – The Corona Creed -with apologies to Christian D. Larson, Author of The Optimist Creed.

Zoom Meeting This Week

Yankee Trace is still closed. We had another meeting using Zoom. We will continue our weekly meetings via computer, cell phone or tablet for at least the next several weeks. Please join us and keep inviting guests.

Welcome Guests!

Guest Guest of
Laura Thimons Debe Dockins

New Member Readings and Inductions

Name Sponsor 1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction
Maureen Ruff Debe Dockins Induction

2020-2021 Officers and Board of Directors Nominations

The nomination committee of the Centerville Noon Optimist Club, comprised of past presidents, the current president and incoming president have nominated the following people for Optimist Year 2020-2021:

  • President Elect, Gary Hansen
  • Vice Presidents, Beth Duncan and Bill Williams
  • Board of Directors for 2-year terms: Christine Balsan, Pat Behn, Bob Glavin, Jim Long, and Brian Nolan
  • Board Members with a year left to serve: Amy Barker, Denise O’Neil, Vince Reidy, Carolyn Taylor, and Greg Wasmund
  • Debe Dockins is the president for 2020-2021 and she has chosen Nancy Lehren as her past president representative. Greg Griffin will serve as the Immediate Past President.
  • The incoming president chooses the Treasurer and Secretary. Debe Dockins has selected Roland Rapp for Treasurer and Jean Pummill for Secretary. They are both currently serving in those positions.

We will hear from each of the nominated board members and officers over the next 2 or 3 weeks. The terms begin on 10/1/2020.

If anyone would like to nominate themselves for a position let Jean Pummill know. If there are additional nominations, then CNO will hold an election.

Bill Williams, nominated for vice-president, spoke to us today. He has been a member of CNO since 1993. He has chaired several committees and been a member of the board. He retired last year and he looks forward to recommitting himself to CNO.

Bob Glavin, nominated to be a board member, spoke to us. He has been a member of CNO since 1993. He and his wife created Tops Soccer for special needs children. He participates in various activities and has served on the board previously. He has recently retired. He and Greg Wasmund are working on the Partners Special Needs Optimist Club. He is proud to be a member and is happy to serve on the board.

Brian Nolan, nominated to be a board member, spoke to us. Brian has a lifelong history with Optimist Clubs. He has been a member of CNO since 2018. As a child, he attended his first national convention with his grandfather in 1964. He later became a member of the Indianapolis, Indiana Optimist Club, which was the first charted Optimist Club in the world.

Announcements

Andy Dickerson announced that our annual Fishing Derby has been rescheduled to 8/15/2020.

David Ball, TJ’s Place of Hope

Mike Bevis introduced David Ball, the President and board member of T.J.’s Place of Hope, “Hope Beyond Addiction”, in Centerville. They are a 501(c)(3) organization and 100% funded through donations. Unlike similar organizations, they do not charge those they serve or their insurance companies.

You can view David’s slide deck here

On November 17th, 2005, at the age of 18, CHS 2005 graduate T.J. Whitehead took his own life after battling drug and alcohol addiction for most of his adolescent life. Cheryl Crabtree, his mother, and Greg Crabtree, his stepfather, started T.J.’s Place of Hope in 2006. After struggling to get the help their family needed with T.J., they started this foundation. They serve teens and young adults ages 12-25 (plus their families). Most kids they help are middle school and high school students.

T.J.’s Place of Hope is an organization of compassionate people to help those with addictions in a safe, confidential, peer-reinforced environment Besides addictions like drug and alcohol, they are one of the few places helping with self-injury (such as cutting), eating disorders, social anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and other destructive disorders.

David said that they do not treat for heroine. Addiction to heroine is beyond their scope, so they refer youths to other rehab centers and may help pay for the treatment.

If you or someone you know needs help with addictions or is struggling with other issues and is not between the ages of 12 and 25, they will take your phone call and will have suggestions of where you can find help.

T.J.’s Place of Hope website FAQ list has very useful information about who and how they can help.

Before the Covid-19 crisis, T.J.’s Place of Hope was normally open Tuesdays and Thursdays for kids to get together and talk. Meetings are at 85 East Franklin Street Centerville, OH 45459. Please call them for other options during the crisis at 937.436.HOPE. Their Facebook page is a resource as well to find scheduled meetings and activities.

How They Help

  • Gathering place to meet with others dealing with similar issues – it is a safe, confidential and nurturing environment where recovery is encouraged
  • Weekly meetings to facilitate recovery
  • Peer Encouragement and re-enforcement
  • Financial Assistance
  • Resource Center of youth and their families to educate themselves and seek treatment
  • Make donations to other groups in need of funding, such as Brigid’s Path

Funding Comes From

  • Donations
  • Golf Outing
  • Dinner Outings
  • Christmas Fundraiser

What They Need

  • Referrals of youths with issues they can help with
  • Facilitators
  • Board Members – they are wanting to add several board members; They prefer board members that have directly had family experiences with issues they help with.
  • Donations of time, materials, supplies and cash are accepted with enormous gratitude

Contact Information

Thank You Notes sent to CNO

No Thank You Notes were received this week.

CNO Donations 2013 through September 2019

Click this link to see a summary of the donations our club has made.

Over 50 years, we have donated close to $2,000,000 to our youth community. In the past 6 years, we have donated nearly $700,000.

Birthdays

Member Birthday
Jeff Busch April 29
Ray Huss April 29
Brandon Barrett April 30
Lynne Reilly May 1
Dawayne Kirkman May 2
Chris Abratowski May 4
Chris Wysong May 4
Melissa DeShurko May 4

Membership Anniversaries

Member Month Day Joined # Years
Charlie Tapp May 1 5/1/1978 42
Joe Madden May 1 5/1/1982 38
Tim Stull May 1 5/1/1987 33

 Sergeants at Arms

No Sergeants this week. 

Happy Bucks

Member Reason
Debe Dockins Laura Thimons being her guest today
Debe Dockins Maureen Ruff was inducted today – Debe is Maureen’s sponsor
Debe Dockins Ohio District Oratorical contest is being held on Saturday 5/2/2020
Debe Dockins Very excited about the make up of the board of directors – Debe will be president on 10/1/2020
Debe Dockins Parents 65th wedding anniversary was yesterday
Debe Dockins Greg Griffin for doing a great job during the crisis and being a Zoom host master
Stan Fronzaglia Grandson is graduating from high school as the Salutatorian
Beth Duncan Her business received crisis PPP funding
Sue Jessee Her daughter, a single mom and a hair stylist, finally is finally receiving her unemployment money
Tom Novak Thankful for guest Darrel Basford from the Monroe Optimist Club for their help with our Avenue of Flags

CNOtes – April 21, 2020 – Heather Dorsten -The Learning Tree Farm

A Replay of the ZOOM Meeting is Here

NOTE: The actual meeting starts at 19:35 – if you enjoy watching the socializing and member banter, I left it in – some of it is pretty fumy!

COVID-19 UPDATE

In keeping with social distancing requirements – our CNO Meetings have transitioned temporarily to a online format using ZOOM.

Club Member Joe Madden was inspire to rewrite The Optimist Creed – so we give you now – The Corona Creed -with apologies to Christian D. Larson, Author of The Optimist Creed.

Zoom Meeting This Week

Yankee Trace is still closed. We had another meeting using Zoom. We will continue our weekly meetings via computer, cell phone or tablet for at least the next several weeks. Please join us and keep inviting guests.

2020-2021 Officers and Board of Directors Nominations for CNO

The nomination committee of the Centerville Noon Optimist Club, comprised of past presidents, the current president and incoming president have nominated the following people for Optimist Year 2020-2021:

  • President Elect, Gary Hansen
  • Vice Presidents, Beth Duncan and Bill Williams
  • Board of Directors for 2-year terms: Christine Balsan, Pat Behn, Bob Glavin, Jim Long, and Brian Nolan
  • Board Members with a year left to serve: Amy Barker, Denise O’Neil, Vince Reidy, Carolyn Taylor, and Greg Wasmund
  • Debe Dockins is the president for 2020-2021 and she has chosen Nancy Lehren as her past president representative. Greg Griffin will serve as the Immediate Past President.
  • The incoming president chooses the Treasurer and Secretary. Debe Dockins has selected Roland Rapp for Treasurer and Jean Pummill for Secretary. They are both currently serving in those positions.

We will hear from each of the nominated board members and officers over the next 3 or 4 weeks.

Announcements

Evelyn Griffin, Skilled Trade Scholarships, announced the committee has received student applications and they will meet soon via Zoom.

Mike Bevis, golf committee, announced the committee had a good meeting last week deciding how to handle the golf outing this year with social distancing. Options discussed included staged flights of golfers and not hosting a dinner. They are trying to be prepared in case social distancing is still in effect when the tournament is held this fall.

Tom Novak, Avenue of Flags, announced he needs volunteers for the annual flag checkups before the first flag deliveries. The checkups are scheduled for May 1st from 10am – 5pm and May 2nd from 10am – 12pm. We will also build 200 new flags that day. Every subscriber’s in ground flag sleeve needs to be checked that it is exposed and is still straight. This saves a lot of time during flag delivery.

Mike Brubaker, Avenue of Flags, announced that close to 90% of last year subscribers have renewed so far.

Heather Dorsten, the Learning Tree Farm

Mike Bevis introduced today’s speaker, Heather Dorsten, the executive director of the Learning Tree Farm. Heather is originally from Vandalia, Ohio and was raised with a love of the outdoors and the heart of a volunteer through her parents who worked and volunteered at Aullwood Nature Center and took the family camping on a regular basis. She is the former director of the Troy Strawberry Festival. She became the executive director of the Learning Tree Farm during the spring of 2019.

They have a Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/learningtreefarm/.

You can view the slide deck Heather presented here.

Their mission statement is to engage people in hands-on, nature-based learning in a timeless farm setting. More details are available at https://www.learningtreefarm.org/who-we-are/

Learning Tree Farm was founded by teachers Sally Keyes and Jean Ryan in 1973. In the 1970’s the ladies noticed that not all kids learn the same way and many had not been exposed to nature. In 1973 they began hosting small student groups at the farm. The first kids were from Dayton’s inner city and they were excited to be there. It amazed them to see so many trees in one place. Since its small beginning it has grown to host 14,000 people per year.

They are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, located in West Dayton on 85 acres of protected farmyard, field and forest. Most visitors come from the numerous school field trips they host. In 2015, the farm began expanding its programming to include families and preschoolers. Drop in visitors are welcome and have a suggested donation of $3/person or $12/family. Their actual cost to host each visitor is $13/person/visit.

Spring and Fall are the busiest times of the year. Summer is typically field trips from child daycare centers.

Learning Tree Farm Facilities

  • 2 Barns
  • Shelter House
  • Fire Ring
  • Playground (currently being expanded)
  • Living tasting gardens with several raised beds of various vegetables
  • Woods for exploring, complete with a tire swing

Kids can pull vegetables directly from the tasting gardens and try the vegetables. Heather said she likes to see the look on kid’s faces when they taste radishes for the first time. Kid’s learn about planting, weeding and experience new flavors.

There is a nature preschool. The kids go outside everyday regardless of the weather. Getting kids away from screens and back to nature is a very popular idea right now.

Fitness is built into their programs with hiking, a tire swing, an obstacle course, goat yoga and plenty of space to run around.

They have several animal pens. Unlike most facilities with animals they let kids in the pens and they are free to pet and hold them. Spring is popular because of the new baby animals.

Additional Activities and Programs

  • Centerville Washington Foundation is sponsoring Saturday Fun Days
  • Various summer camps
  • Autumn Fest is held each fall; it is currently scheduled for 9/26/2020 from 10 AM to 4 PM
  • Scholarships are given to low income families to make it affordable for all children
  • Businesses have team building activities at the farm; often it is volunteering to help with chores and projects the farm needs

Current Projects:

  • Increasing security on the property
  • Adding city water access
  • Adding hand-wash stations and water fountains
  • Adding a Garden Washing Station

Current Needs:

  • Funding for education signage to be placed on various pens and areas
  • Funding to fix the tasting garden boxes
  • Funding to expand the playground
  • Funding to increase accessibility for the disabled
  • Donations to their capital campaign

Response to Covid-19 Restrictions

In response to current Covid-19 restrictions, they are offering virtual learning and engagement. For example, they have pictures and videos of the latest baby animals on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/learningtreefarm/

 

Thank You Notes sent to CNO

You can read recent thank you notes here.

CNO Donations 2013 through June 2019

Click this link to see a summary of the donations our club has made.

Over 50 years, we have donated close to $2,000,000 to our youth community. In the past 6 years, we have donated nearly $700,000.

Thank You Notes

No thank you notes received this week.

CNO Donations 2013 through September 2019

Click this link to see a summary of the donations our club has made.

Over 50 years, we have donated close to $2,000,000 to our youth community. In the past 6 years, we have donated nearly $700,000.

Birthdays

Member Birthday
Sue Zammit April 21
Mike Brem April 22
Dave Klein April 22
Keith Meyer April 23

Membership Anniversaries

Member Month Day Joined # Years
Mark Petre April 22 4/22/1996 24
Donna Huss April 24 4/24/2012 8
Dr. Dan Passidomo April 25 4/25/2007 13
Mike Witt April 26 4/26/1994 26

New Member Readings and Inductions

Name Sponsor 1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction
Maureen Ruff Debe Dockins 3rd Reading
Anne Miller Evelyn Griffin Induction

Sergeants at Arms

No Sergeants this week. 

Happy Bucks

No Happy Bucks this week.

CNOtes – April 14, 2020 – Our First ZOOM Meeting

Phather Phil’s Prayer Thought

Excellence is caring more than others think is wise.  Risking more than others think is safe.  Dream more than others think is practical, and expect more than others think is possible.

A Replay of the ZOOM Meeting is Here

NOTE: The actual meeting starts at 24:00 – if you enjoy watching the socializing and member banter, I left it in – some of it is pretty fumy!

COVID-19 UPDATE

In keeping with social distancing requirements – our CNO Meetings have transitioned temporarily to a online format using ZOOM.

Club Member Joe Madden was inspire to rewrite The Optimist Creed – so we give you now – The Corona Creed -with apologies to Christian D. Larson, Author of The Optimist Creed.

Meeting Summary

The last CNO lunch meeting was on 3/10/2020. Today, 4/14/2020, was the first online Zoom-based meeting. Greg Griffin announced we will have online meetings each Tuesday at noon. Next week there will also be a guest speaker at the Zoom meeting. The first Zoom speaker will be the executive director, Heather Dorsten, from the Learning Tree Farm.

President Greg Griffin went through a backlog of birthdays and membership anniversaries.

Greg mentioned that CNO gave a major donation to the local Food to Go program. We gave $5200 as our annual major donation and $4800 from CNO’s rainy day fund.

Greg said we are turning “obstacles into opportunities”. Greg has been working updating the club directory. If your information has changed, please send your updates to Greg Griffin.

Breaking News

Carolyn Taylor is believed to be the first CNO member to bring a dog to a CNO lunch meeting. At the very least she is one of the few to bring a dog to the meeting. I was not at all 51 previous years of meetings, so who knows if my claim is correct. She definitely was the first to bring a dog to a CNO Zoom meeting! Very cool, Carolyn, and keep bringing your buddy to the Zoom meetings.

Committee Announcements

Mike Brubaker, Avenue of Flags, said thanks to all 70 of our members who made contact with our subscribers. This year we achieved a record percentage of renewing subscribers for this time of year in our program’s history. We have over 2200 renewals so far and we ended 2019 with 2400 subscriptions. Greg Griffin announced that the Flags this year will be displayed for a 6 week extended period from prior to Memorial Day thru Flag Day until after Independence Day; we feel our subscribers and our community will see this as a symbol of unity.

Paul Boeckman, Safety on Wheels, announced that the bike rodeo has been cancelled for 2020. It has been scheduled next year for 5/3/2021 from noon to 3 PM.

Andy Dickerson, Fishing Derby, announced that the Fishing Derby is still scheduled for 6/6/2020. If that date is cancelled, they are working on a backup date during August, 2020 with the Washington Township Rec Center.

Kelly George, Essay Contest, announced that the essay contest continued as scheduled and the Ohio winner has been chosen. The winner is not from CNO.

Greg Griffin said there will be two Regional Oratorical online competitions happening on 4/18/2020.

Beth Duncan, Social “Distancing” Committee, announced that on 4/10/2020 approximately 40 members participated in an online Zoom scavenger hunt. Thanks to Beth Duncan and Brian Nolan for putting this event on. Participants in their homes on the Zoom meeting were shown an item to go and find, like a thimble, a dictionary, or an Easter egg coloring kit. The hunt was won by Debe Dockins. Brandon Barrett was second and the team of Greg and Evelyn Griffin won third. Everyone who participates was sent a participation puzzle book award from Beth. Beth is planning another online social distancing event soon. She also said there will be a big, in-person party once the lock down ends.

Thank You Notes

No thank you notes received this week.

CNO Donations 2013 through September 2019

Click this link to see a summary of the donations our club has made.

Over 50 years, we have donated close to $2,000,000 to our youth community. In the past 6 years, we have donated nearly $700,000.

Birthdays

Member Birthday
Steve Blake March 25
John Kalaman March 25
Kate Trangenstein March 26
Jane Fiehrer March 27
Bob Crawford March 28
Andy Higgins March 30
Maha Kashani March 31
Jim Rumford April 5
Roland Rapp April 5
Ira Thomsen April 5
Jeff Rolf April 6
Andy Harmon April 6
Bob Clements April 7
Kelly Davis April 9
Erin Belangia-Sanchez April 9
Cheryl Probst April 9
Pam Truitt April 11
Steve Kohls April 12
Rick Talda April 13
Emily Duke April 14
Anne Kessler April 15
Carol Burkman April 16
Ellie Parker April 16
Denise O’Neil April 18

Membership Anniversaries

Member Month Day Joined # Years
Jeff Brown March 25 3/25/2015 5
Charla Rheaume March 26 3/26/2014 6
Scott Rheaume March 26 3/26/2014 6
Dav Bremer March 31 3/31/2001 19
Rob Jones March 31 3/31/2001 19
Don Kelley April 1 4/1/1983 37
“Phater” Phil Robinson April 1 4/1/1982 38
Cindy Harris April 2 4/2/2018 2
Nick Tarkany April 2 4/2/2018 2
Greg Fay April 3 4/3/2014 6
Greg Griffin April 3 4/3/2014 6
Ira Thomsen April 5 4/5/1991 29
Vince Reidy April 5 4/5/2016 4
Dan Samiec April 6 4/6/2010 10
Molly Petsch April 6 4/6/2004 16
Ron Tinnerman April 11 4/11/2005 15
Blanca Crider April 16 4/16/2014 6
Andrew Cain April 19 4/19/2018 2
Cheryl Probst April 19 4/19/2018 2
Stan Fronzaglia April 19 4/19/1999 21
Vida McDowell April 19 4/19/1999 21

New Member Readings and Inductions

Name Sponsor 1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction
Anne Miller Evelyn Griffin 3rd Reading

Sergeants at Arms

No Sergeants this week. 

Happy Bucks

Member Reason
Myron Rheaume Grandson, a Sophomore at Springboro High School, received the Ohio Scholar Athlete for Hockey
Mike and Sue Brubaker Celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on 4/17/2020
Debe Dockins Beth Duncan holding the scavenger hunt
Debe Dockins Jerry Stahley and Greg Griffin for helping with the Kettering Oratorical contest via Zoom
Carolyn Taylor She knows now with the lockdown and her husband home everyday that she she will be OK when he retires
Vida McDowell Being a member of the Great Centerville Noon Optimist Club
Charla Rheaume Myron Rheaume back surgery went well
Jesse Lightle CNO for the donation to Food2Go program
Tom Novak Special thanks to Mike Brubaker, Bob & Carol Burkman, Ken Irwin, Karen Sirmans, Evelyn Griffin, Diane Arehart, and Dick Lee, who have been very generous with their time since February following up on renewals for 2020 Avenue of Flags subscriptions
Beth Duncan Happy that she and Brian Nolan are getting along during the lockdown
Greg Griffin Joe Madden, for writing the “Corona Creed”
Joan Cordonnier President Greg Griffin doing such a great job being creative in continuing club business and meetings

CNOtes – March 17, 2020 – NO MEETING

Phather Phil’s Prayer Thought

Phather Phil came up with a wonderful idea to have a Prayer Thought each week and we will include it in CNOtes – here is the first one:

What you are is Gods gift to you.  What you become is your gift to God.

COVID-19 is affecting CNO meetings and events

The lunch meetings for 3/17/2020, 3/24/2020, and 3/31/2020 have been cancelled. Below are dates for meetings and events that may not happen. Please check the website and with committee chairs to be sure meetings are being held before you head for the meeting.

The Build-A-Bear event for Childhood Health and Wellness on 4/2/2020 has been cancelled.

The CNO 2.0 event on 3/19/2020 has been cancelled.

The NOW (New Optimist Welcome) Event on 3/26/2020 has been postponed to a later date.

CNO Donations 2013 through September 2019

Click this link to see a summary of the donations our club has made.

Over 50 years, we have donated close to $2,000,000 to our youth community. In the past 6 years, we have donated nearly $700,000.

Birthdays

Member Birthday
David Brookman March 18
Dana Dring March 20
Larry England March 20
Shane Wilken March 20
Sara Hemmeter March 21
Kathy Linder March 21
Andy Dickerson March 21
Bryan Miller March 21
Tom Novak March 23

Membership Anniversaries

Member Month Day Joined # Years
Joan Cordonnier March 22 3/22/2008 12

CNOtes – March 10, 2020 – Libby Nicholson – Care House

Phather Phil’s Prayer

Heavenly Father it seems at times that life can’t get any better and conversely at other times life can’t get worse. Regardless of where we are at, it is a time to pray. More often than not when things are going well we forget to give thanks, but are Jonnie on the spot to cry out to You for relief. Example: the season of cold is on the way out and we are looking forward to the sunshine, but it won’t take us long before we’re complaining about the heat. Help us to at least slow down about our complaining and put all that saved effort on our giving thanks. Amen!

Today’s Guests – WELCOME!

Guest Guest Of
Sue Armstrong Ohio District
Allayna Backowski Amy Barker
Tom Kendo Ohio District
Libby Nicholson Speaker
Linda Russell Donna Huss
Abby Tullis Amy Barker
David Young D Ralp Young
Tom Young Mike Bevis

All Photos from the Meeting are Here

COVID-19 is affecting CNO meetings and events

The lunch meetings for 3/17/2020 and 3/24/2020 have been cancelled. Below are dates for meetings and events that may not happen. Please check the website and with committee chairs to be sure meetings are being held before you head for the meeting.

The Build-A-Bear event for Childhood Health and Wellness on 4/2/2020 has been cancelled.

The CNO 2.0 event on 3/19/2020 has been cancelled.

The NOW (New Optimist Welcome) Event on 3/26/2020 has been cancelled.

Committee Meetings

3/18/2020, 6 PM, Golf Committee at Buckeye Home Health Care on Paragon Rd. Future 2020 meetings will be 4/15, 5/13, 6/17, and 7/8.

4/9/2020, 6:30 PM Childhood Health and Wellness at Panera – downtown Centerville. Future 2020 meetings will be 5/14, 6/11, 7/9, 8/13, 9/10. All are welcome to attend.

Community Events

3/26/2020, 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM, “New Optimist Wanted” (NOW) event will be held at Yankee Trace. Committee chairs will present what they do for new and prospective new members. If you are a committee chair, please let Donna Huss know if you can work a station for your committee. Please invite people you meet to come and find out more about our wonderful club.

4/4/2020, 9 AM, Egg Stuffing for the Easter Egg hunt at St. Leonard. Several volunteers are needed to help with this. It takes about an hour.

4/11/2020, 10 AM Easter Egg Hunt at St. Leonard. Volunteers are needed to spread the eggs out before the children aged 2-9 go and find the 7000 eggs.

Social Events

4/24/2020, Hunchback of Notre Dame play at CHS followed by dinner at Old Scratch pizza. Times will be provided later.

5/2/2020, Kentucky Derby Party at Remodeling Designs.

Mike Bevis is now a member of the Great Ohio District Hall of Fame

Two previous Governors from the Great Ohio District, Tom Kendo and Sue Armstrong, were at today’s lunch meeting to announce that Mike Bevis has been selected to be a member of the Great Ohio District Hall of Fame. Some criteria for being selected for the hall of fame include: contribute at least 10 years of service to the Ohio District, must have held the office of Lt Governor, will have attained Distinguished status as either President, Lt. Governor or Governor. This person shall have demonstrated the personal demeanor that is in keeping with the philosophy and goals of Optimist International and the Great Ohio District.

Thank you, Mike, for all you do and have done!

Mike’s service and achievements include

  • Chaired the CNO Tom Frazier Tee Off for Youth Golf Outing for the last 15 years, growing it to one of the most prestigious golf outings in the Dayton area.
  • CNO President 2009-2010
  • CNO member since 1/31/2002
  • Builder of Excellence Award for assistance in forming multiple clubs
  • Achieved Level 10 for PGA
  • Has brought in over 70 new club members; he usually has at least one guest each week
  • CNO Optimist of the Year for 2006-2007
  • CNO Christian D. Larson award for 2013
  • Co-captain of a Christmas tree lot team for 18 years
  • His flag team delivers over 150 flags in Yankee Trace
  • His flag team delivers 75 flags for the Greene Optimist Club
  • Co-Chairs the Marketing/Publicity committee
  • Co-Chairs the Americana Festival Booth
  • Lt Governor for Ohio 3 years from 2011-2014

WOW Award for Patrick Arehart

CNO President Greg Griffin presented a “Why Optimism Works” WOW award to Patrick Arehart. The certificate said, “Presented in recognition of your efforts in Bringing Out the Best in Kids, Yourself, and the Community and for iMagining the Power of YOU – Thank you!” Patrick has been writing the CNOtes since January 2018. He built the https://oflags.org  app that helps with flag deliveries. He is a member of the technology committee and participates in many community events.

St Leonard Center Blanket Project

Donna Huss stated that the St Leonard Optimists had a winter project to make blankets for the children at CARE House. They made 24 fleece blankets and presented them to today’s speaker, Libby Nicholson, from CARE House. CARE House offers a blanket as a comfort item for each child as they leave.

CARE House – Libby Nicholson

Donna Huss introduced Libby Nicholson, MSSW, LISW-S, the director of CARE House located next to Dayton Children’s hospital at 410 Valley St, Dayton OH 45404.

From the CARE House website:

A children’s advocacy center (CAC) is a child-centered, facility-based program in which representatives from many disciplines — law enforcement, child protection, prosecution, mental health, medical and victim advocacy — work together, conducting forensic interviews and making team decisions about the investigation, treatment, management and prosecution of child abuse cases. A core belief in children’s advocacy centers is that the combined wisdom and professional knowledge of professionals of different disciplines will result in a more complete understanding of case issues and the most effective, child- and family-focused system response.

This is a copy of the slide deck Libby presented to us.

CARE House and other like it exists because the standard system is not user-friendly to clients. Before CARE House, children would be subjected to duplicate efforts by service providers and they are further traumatized by fragmented responses which increases the likelihood of cases falling through the cracks. Investigations before this program involved as many as 22 people asking the kids similar questions. By bringing all the services and providers under one roof, they are able to reduce the number of contacts down to three people.

This program was first established in Huntsville, Alabama by District Attorney Bud Cramer. He wanted to keep children from experiencing further trauma and to strengthen cases through improved coordination and communication. The goal is to improve the chances of holding offenders accountable.

CARE House began serving children in 1999. They have served over 10,000 children and they are accredited by the National Children’s Alliance. Founding partners include the Dayton Police Department, Montgomery County JFS-CSD, Dayton Children’s Hospital, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, and the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

The CARE House building is very pleasant, well lit, and has toys for kids.

The team consists of Caseworkers, Law Enforcement, Prosecutors, Victim Advocates, Mental Health Therapists, Medical Providers, Social Workers and Advocacy Center Staff. The interviewers are trained for forensic interviews. They are neutral and fact-finding. All interviews are recorded to capture the verbal and non-verbal cues.

After the interviews, a meeting is held with the caregiver to inform them of the investigative steps planned and establishes an appropriate safety plan for the child. As many as 40% of the children that come to CARE House are at risk of harming themselves. The mental health screening is a very important part of the process.

The team has weekly case reviews where they review and develop action plans and exchange information. They also educate each other with what they have learned.

Reports of suspected abuse cannot be made directly to CARE House. The appropriate entities to contact are Child Protective Services or Law Enforcement. Those entities will contact CARE House which will coordinate services and they are also available for consultation. CARE House sees about 1000 children per year.

Types of cases seen at CARE House include: Sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, minor victims of human trafficking, witnesses to violence.

Enough time has passed that there is now empirical research that shows that Child Advocacy Centers (CAC) provide significantly better results. Victims are twice as likely to receive medical exams. They are three times more likely to be referred for mental health services. Caregivers are more satisfied with the investigations. CAC saves 36% on investigations.

Benefits of a CAC include

  • Reduced child trauma
  • Significantly more coordinated investigations
  • More informed decisions
  • Support for non-offending caregivers
  • Reduced risk of re-victimization
  • Increased accountability for offenders
  • Finds gaps in the system

Links

Thank You Notes sent to CNO

You can read recent thank you notes here.

CNO Donations 2013 through September 2019

Click this link to see a summary of the donations our club has made.

Over 50 years, we have donated close to $2,000,000 to our youth community. In the past 6 years, we have donated nearly $700,000.

Birthdays

Member Birthday
JC Jones March 10
Morgan Schiffhauer March 12
Gareth Dickey March 14
Vida McDowell March 15
Brian Nolan March 16
Bob Foster March 16

Membership Anniversaries

Member Month Day Joined # Years
Bob Glavin March 12 3/12/1993 27
Shane Wilken March 14 3/14/2003 17
Steve Kohls March 14 3/14/2003 17

New Member Readings and Inductions

Name Sponsor 1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction
Margie Jones Mike Bevis 3rd Reading
Anne Miller Evelyn Griffin 2nd Reading
Maureen Ruff Debe Dockins 2nd Reading

Sergeants at Arms

Member Infraction
Greg Griffin Flawed painting job in the foyer at Yankee Trace
Chris McAlpine Jay McAlpine forgot where he saved his seat at lunch today and blamed his kid for messing with his mind as he grew up
Patrick Arehart Almost forgetting the photo opportunity after receiving his WOW award today

 Happy Bucks!

Member Reason
Tom Kendo Congratulations Mike Bevis for being added to the Ohio District Hall of Fame
Sue Armstrong Congratulations Mike Bevis for being added to the Ohio District Hall of Fame

CNOtes – March 3, 2020 – Bill Tschirhart – Five Rivers Metro Parks

Phather Phil’s Prayer

Today’s Guests – WELCOME!

Guest Guest Of
Brooke Amos Greg Fay
Patty Anderson Blanca Criner
Maureen Ruff Debe Dockins
Bill Tschirhart Speaker

All Photos from the Meeting are Here

Committee Meetings

3/18/2020, 6 PM, Golf Committee at Buckeye Home Health Care on Paragon Rd. Future 2020 meetings will be 4/15, 5/13, 6/17, and 7/8.

3/12/2020, 6:30 PM Childhood Health and Wellness at Panera – downtown Centerville. Future 2020 meetings will be 4/9, 5/14, 6/11, 7/9, 8/13, 9/10. All are welcome to attend.

Community Events

3/14/2020, 9 AM to Noon, Tri-Star Basketball competition will be held. They still need volunteers. Volunteers will be needed in 2 shifts. Contact Scott Langer or Craig Dring. They need 16 volunteers for each shift.

3/26/2020, 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM, “New Optimist Wanted” (NOW) event will be held at Yankee Trace. Committee chairs will present what they do to new and prospective new members. If you are a committee chair, please let Donna Huss know if you can work a station for your committee.

Social Events

3/14/2020 at 6 PM – 10 PM, Wine and Beer Tasting at the home of Patrick and Diane Arehart. Contact Beth Duncan or Diane Arehart to sign up.

4/24/2020, Hunchback of Notre Dame play at CHS followed by dinner at Old Scratch pizza. Times will be provided later.

5/2/2020, Kentucky Derby Party at Remodeling Designs.

Announcements

Greg Wasmund, chair of “Dime-a-Day” (365 times 10 cents is $36.50) announced that for our lunch on 3/24/2020, the executive director from the Optimist Foundation, Craig Boring, will be speaking. You can get the form from here. Please return the form to Greg Wasmund instead of sending direct to the foundation in St. Louis. Our club will get credit if Greg sends the form in for you. You can pay with a check or credit card.

Diane Arehart Won the Scrapbook Contest for Year 2018-2019

At the Great Ohio District conference in February, 2020, Diane won first place for the scrapbook she created chronicling CNO’s speakers and events for Donna Huss’s year as president. She received a nice plaque recognizing her efforts. Congratulations Diane Arehart!

Happy Birthday D Ralph Young

Today we celebrated D Ralph Young’s 95th birthday as well as Greg Fay’s birthday. CNO member Tom Berry sang Ralph a special song. He sang “95 Candles” based on the song “16 Candles”. Lines from the song included, “To blow out the candles, might take all night.”, and “One thing we agree upon is you are over the hill”.  It was funny and beautiful. Great job Tom! Happy Birthday Ralph and have a great year!

Five Rivers MetroParks – Bill Tschirhart

Donna Huss introduced Bill Tschirhart (last name pronounced CHEERHART”), CPRP, the Chief of Administratio for Five Rivers MetroParks, a system of parks throughout Montgomery county. www.metroparks.org

Bill Tschirhart is an Experienced Administrator with a demonstrated history of working in the recreational facilities and services industry. He has a master’s degree from the University of Dayton that   focused on Public Administration.

Bill was here today to speak about the many opportunities to get out and explore the Five River MetroPark system.

Bill’s slide show is here.

A copy of the English version of the “Get Out & Explore” brochure he put on the lunch tables is here.  The Spanish version is here.

Many of the parks and facilities are recognizable to most of those living in the Dayton community. For example: Cox Arboretum, Huffman, Possum Creek and Sugarcreek are popular parks in the Dayton area. Many don’t know that the 2nd Street Market in downtown Dayton is part of Five Rivers MetroParks. They also manage Riverscape, which is a great hub for all the bike trails in the area. Riverscape hosts popular festivals each year such as the Celtic Festival and Germanfest. Riverscape is truly Dayton’s front porch.

There are over 300,000 participants each year in the Five Rivers MetroParks various programs and educational opportunities. They teach the community to appreciate nature and they teach people how to interact with the environment through things like gardening. They also teach useful skills like canning or how to maintain your bicycle. A large part of our population has never been exposed to these skills.

Five Rivers MetroParks make various recreation activities available that make it fun and easy to live an active and healthy outdoor lifestyle. They will show you how to do these activities and you may borrow their equipment to see if you enjoy an activity before purchasing expensive equipment yourself. Activities include white water boating, fishing, horseback riding, disc golf and mountain biking.  Carriage Hill has an equestrian center where they have horses and ponies available.

Bill gave us additional information about Five Rivers MetroParks. They manage 16,000 acres of ground and 90% of the land is managed as natural areas. They have their own rangers that patrol the parks 24 x 7. They have a dedicated team that builds, enhances and maintains the parks. Also, 80% of their funding comes from a county tax levy.

Thanks Bill, for speaking to us today and letting us know about some of what Five Rivers MetroParks has to offer.

Thank You Notes sent to CNO

You can read recent thank you notes here.

CNO Donations 2013 through September 2019

Click this link to see a summary of the donations our club has made.

Over 50 years, we have donated close to $2,000,000 to our youth community. In the past 6 years, we have donated nearly $700,000.

Birthdays

Member Birthday
Greg Fay March 3
Ryan Fay March 4
Ralph Young March 4

Membership Anniversaries

Member Month Day Joined # Years
Barbara Santo March 9 3/9/1999 21

New Member Readings and Inductions

Name Sponsor 1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction
Anne Miller Evelyn Griffin 1st Reading
Maureen Ruff Debe Dockins 1st Reading
Margie Jones Mike Bevis 2nd Reading

Sergeants at Arms

Member Infraction
Greg Griffin Lost the bell.
Greg Griffin There was a smell of fresh paint in the dining room at today’s lunch.
Bob Burkman Snitching to the sergeants about a fellow CNO member.
Tom Beery Not sitting next to Larry Lynde at lunch.
Joe Madden Told an unrepeatable joke. Sergeant Lynde said for a buck, he wouldn’t repeat it to the group.
Debe Dockins Delayed payment for 50/50 tickets.

 Happy Bucks!

Member Reason
Tom Beery Just had a cancer screening and he is now 3.5 years cancer free.
Tom Beery Thanks to everyone who in November, 2019 donated to the esophageal cancer fund. He had $1,035 donated through Facebook. Tom noted that Facebook does not take a percentage of donations to charities.
John Kalaman Paula Kalaman has appreciated the flowers the club sent and all the cards and notes for her recent successful surgery.
John Kalaman $5 for the good results from Paula’s successful surgery to repair a brain aneurysm and thank you all for your concern and support.
Tim Clemmer Happy he has a new job . He now works out of his home, so he can come to CNO lunch every week.

CNOtes – Optimist 2.0 February 20, 2020 – Rob Lupidi – Danis Group of Companies

Guests and Members in Attendance

Rob Lupidi
Rocky Matthews
Brian Nicholas
Patrick Arehart
Marge Back
Brandon Barrett
Wayne Christie
Joan Cordonnier
Mike Cordonnier
Brendon Cunningham
Abby Davis
Gary DeMarco
Judy DeMarco
Andy Dickerson
Cheryl Dowd
Emily Duke
Beth Duncan
Greg Fay
Stan Fronzaglia
Cindy Gaboury
Jesse Gaither
Kelly George
Evelyn Griffin
Greg Griffin
Greg Huff
Val Huff
John Kalaman
Paula Kalaman
Mark Karns
Bryan Miller
Carrie Million
Brian Nolan
Tom Novak
Lacey Owens
Debbie Parks
Fred Polizzi
Jean Pummill
Jack Quinlan
Ruthy Quinlan
Vince Reidy
James Reinhard
Bill Shisler
Ashley Simeone
Michelle Tagliamonte
Nick Tarkany
Ron Thompson
Ron Tinnerman

All Photos are Here

CNO 2.0 Venue and Details

The venue for tonight’s CNO 2.0 meeting was Zinks Meats and Fine Wines at 409 Miamisburg-Centerville Rd, Centerville, Ohio. Thank you to the team at Zinks for the great food and the space.

There was a 50/50 drawing won by James Reinhard.

There were 44 people at the meeting (41 members and 3 guests).

Upcoming CNO 2.0 Meetings

3/19/2020, 12 PM and 5:30 PM, March Madness at Heavier Than Air Brewing Company. Starting at noon you can enjoy free food and watch basketball games. The regular CNO 2.0 Meeting starts at 5:30 PM. The speaker will be Eric Horstman, the founder and president of Flyin’ to the Hoop. The Flyin’ to the Hoop Invitational is an annual tournament of 38 high school teams played at the James S. Trent Arena in Kettering Ohio. Outstanding teams are invited from all over the U.S. The tournament runs for 4 days each year. It was last played 1/17/2020 to 1/20/2020.

Happy Birthday to Stan Fronzaglia

Today was Stan Fronzaglia‘s birthday. All members and guests sang Happy Birthday. It was even in tune! Have a great year Stan!

New member inductions

Greg Griffin inducted two new members to CNO 2.0. Debbie Parks (sponsor Beth Duncan) and Bill Shisler (sponsor Bill Stone). Note that CNO 2.0 members are eligible to participate in anything that a CNO member can, including socials and community events.

Rob Lupidi of Danis

Greg Fay introduced tonight’s speaker, Rob Lupidi. Rob has worked 12 years for The Danis Group of Companies. He has a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He first worked for Danis as a co-op student. After graduation he worked full time for Danis as a Project Engineer for 3 years. He was promoted to Project Manager and performed that duty for 2 years. For the last 3 years he has been the Director of Business Development. For the past 9 years, he has also been involved in recruiting new employees for Danis.

Founded in 1916 by B.G. Danis, the Danis Group of Companies (Danis) is a third generation, privately owned company based in Dayton, Ohio. The company does a lot of high-profile building around Dayton and the U.S. Danis is one of the top 20 builders in the health care industry. They originally built the UD Arena and just finished the renovation of the arena 2 months ago.

Management and Rob knew he was a people person. Without him asking, they appointed him as the Director of Business Development. He is passionate about people and this position was a way for him to shine. He truly enjoys building relationships.

He loves interviewing potential employees. He loves the ones that have a passion for their work, community or hobby. He wants employees that will be happy. Passion drives everything that good employees do. It helps if you care about your workmanship and being on time. Passion gives purpose and a way to find success.

He has always had a passion for finance. With his new position his boss said you will need to be more involved in the community. Giving back to the community and his passion for finance is what led him to be a Board Member of Junior Achievement USA.

Rob hopes to spend his career at Danis. He likes the company and its attitude. John Danis is the grandson of the founder and has the same great attitude. They want employees to be able to go home each night instead of leaving their families to work jobs far away. They hire good people then get out of their way. The company thinks long term. They provide opportunities for employees to excel.

Rob has noticed recently that a lot of new employees in their industry want to give back to the community. Danis helps employees have time to give back. Every employee is allocated 16 hours a year to volunteer. During their 100-year celebration in 2016, the company started the “Construction Hope Program”.  Through this program the company is currently involved with 40 volunteer organizations and are looking for more ways to be involved in the community.

Rob’s family is large. He is the 8th of 8 children.

Thank Rob Lupidi for sharing your story and passion with us this evening.

About CNO 2.0

CNO 2.0 is a club within a club of the Centerville Noon Optimist club. CNO (and CNO 2.0) is a world class service organization. Our CNO 2.0 club within a club has become the model for Optimist clubs around the world. At regional, national and international meetings we are asked all the time about how our CNO 2.0 club and its meetings work.

Being a member of either club allows their members all the same opportunities to participate in fundraising and club activities. CNO 2.0 started in 2016 and is very much a part of the 51-year-old Centerville Noon Optimist Club. CNO has given away over $2 million during its history. CNO is a group of like-minded members that are passionate about helping youth and having fun in the process.

The speaker at each 2.0 meeting is someone with a local business success story.

The Centerville Noon Optimist and its clubs within a club have annual fundraisers and community activities.

Annual Fundraisers

  • Christmas Tree Lot, located behind the Centerville BMV
  • Avenue of Flags
  • Golf Outing

 

Major Activities for the youth in our community

  • Build-a-Bear at Children’s Hospital, 3 times a year
  • Fishing Derby in June
  • Kid’s day in the park in August
  • Easter Egg hunt
CNO Donations 2013 through September 2019

Click this link to see a summary of the donations our club has made.

Over 50 years, we have donated close to $2,000,000 to our youth community. In the past 6 years, we have donated nearly $700,000.

CNOtes – February 25, 2020 – Shannon Clarke – Brigid’s Path

Phather Phil’s Prayer

Heavenly Father developing good routines and habits allows us to feel free to let our minds soar. The problem is we are the pilot and when the world does it’s tempting we have the propensity to listen. Then we find ourselves in a war without our armor of God. We’ll lose our sense of direction. Fortunately our mind jerks us back by the seat of our pants – to reality. The book we need to read wasn’t written by Hugh Hefner, but by You, Lord. Help us stay in reality for our directions. Amen!

Today’s Guests – WELCOME!

Guest Guest Of
Shannon Clarke Speaker
Jeff Louderback Mike Bevis
Anne Miller Guest
Maureen Ruff Debe Dockins
Laura Thimons Debe Dockins

All Photos from the Meeting are Here

Committee Meetings

3/18/2020, 6 PM, Golf Committee at Buckeye Home Health Care on Paragon Rd. Future 2020 meetings will be 4/15, 5/13, 6/17, and 7/8.

3/12/2020, 6:30 PM Childhood Health and Wellness at Panera – downtown Centerville. Future 2020 meetings will be 3/12, 4/9, 5/14, 6/11, 7/9, 8/13, 9/10. All are welcome to attend.

Community Events

3/14/2020, 9:00 – 12:00 at Watts Middle School Gym, Tri Star Basketball.

3/26/2020, 5:30 to 7:30 PM, NOW Event at Yankee Trace Golf Club

Social Events

3/14/2020 at 6 PM, Wine and Beer Tasting at the home of Patrick and Diane Arehart.

4/24/2020, Hunchback of Notre Dame play at CHS followed by dinner at Old Scratch pizza. Times will be provided later.

5/2/2020, Kentucky Derby Party at Remodeling Designs.

Announcements

Beth Duncan along with her sock models Jerry Stahley and Brian Nolan, announced that Optimist Socks are now available for $15 at www.optimistclubstore.com.

Cherie Gentry Inducted into Ohio Hall of Fame

Pat Behn announced that at the recent district meeting, The Great Ohio District has added Cherie Gentry to its hall of fame. Cherie has devoted several years to multiple Optimist Clubs and is a previous Governor of The Great Ohio District.

Thank you, Cherie, for all that you have done and will do as a Friend of Youth.

Brigid’s Path – Shannon Clarke

Jean Pummill introduced Shannon Clarke, the volunteer coordinator for Brigid’s Path, a newborn recovery center offering grace, support and hope. Since they welcomed their first baby in December 2017, they have cared for 73 babies and families in the crisis of addiction. They are the first facility in Ohio to offer in-patient, home-like treatment. They have kept 61 of the 73 kids helped from having to enter the foster care system.

Their mission: “Brigid’s Path improves the health of newborn babies and mothers impacted by addiction. We offer grace for the past, support for the present, and hope for the future.”

They believe one person can make a difference if there is an army behind them.

They employ the latest therapeutic techniques – both medicinal and nonpharmacological – to help babies be as comfortable as possible while they experience withdrawal.

These babies have Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). NAS is a group of behavioral and physical conditions a baby experiences when withdrawing from exposure to drugs in the womb. Shannon described it as being 100 times worse than the flu.

They ween the babies off the morphine for 15 days. The symptoms can linger for another 2 years after being weened.

They use a wholistic approach to mom and baby in a non-confrontational way.

They accept donations of money and time. You can get details at their website. Information is available on what it takes to become a cuddler. They are able to give babies comfort 24 x 7, something that a NICU cannot provide. They have a large need for cuddlers between 12 am and 6 am.

Thank You Notes sent to CNO

You can read recent thank you notes here.

CNO Donations 2013 through September 2019

Click this link to see a summary of the donations our club has made.

Over 50 years, we have donated close to $2,000,000 to our youth community. In the past 6 years, we have donated nearly $700,000.

Birthdays

Member Birthday
Pat Behn February 26
John Sherman February 26
Ashley Simeone February 26
Blanca Criner February 26
Joan Cordonnier February 28
Aaron Campbell February 28
Rachel Goetz March 2
Tim Clemmer March 2
Tim Stull March 2

Membership Anniversaries

Member Month Day Joined # Years
Chris Ziehler February 26 2/26/2017 3
Jane Fiehrer February 27 2/27/1998 22
Judy DeMarco February 27 2/27/1998 22
Dick Stevens February 28 2/28/2001 19
Kelly Stone February 28 2/28/2001 19

New Member Readings and Inductions

Name Sponsor 1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction
Kate Trangenstein Jesse Lightle Induction
D. Ralph Young Charlie Tapp Induction

Sergeants at Arms

Member Infraction
Greg Griffin Yankee Trace was short on lunch servers today.
Donna Huss Fined in order to retrieve the tip she received for helping serve lunch today.
Scott Langer Was late and stole someone else’s lunch.
Paul Stull Committed an offense against the sergeants.
Sue Jesse Winning the pot of money for the last “going alone” hand at the recent Euchre party in just the last couple of minutes from Mike Brubaker.
Mike Brubaker Letting Sue Jesse win the pot of money for the last “going alone” hand at the recent Euchre party.
Vida McDowell Larry Lynde went alone twice in Euchre while being Vida’s partner, which made her the winner of Euchre.
Bob Duffy For wearing UD hat instead of Ohio State.
Jerry Stahley Modeling the Optimist socks Beth brought much longer than he had to.
Mike Brem Couldn’t find his name badge last week in a timely manner.

 Happy Bucks!

Member Reason
Donna Huss Happy she got a tip for helping to serve our lunches today.
Brian Nolan Paula Kalaman, who is one of the strongest people he knows, has done well with her recent medical procedure. She told him she wants to cuddle babies.
Beth Duncan Today is Kelly and Bill Stone’s 6th wedding anniversary.
Craig Dring Thanked everyone for their donations to Daybreak in memory of his father Jay Dring, who recently passed away.
Beth Duncan Her uncle, a WWII veteran who helped liberate prisoners of the Dauchau concentration camp and spoke to CNO, led a great life and has passed away at age 94.
Beth Duncan Happy she could attend the Euchre tournament last week.
Charlie Tapp Thanks to Beth, Brian and the rest of the social committee for all their hard work.
Myron Rheaume $5, thanks to everyone at CNO for the cards and support.
Myron Rheaume Granddaughter, a sophomore film student at UC will be filming a project in Cincinnati over spring break for a Christian based streaming service. This summer she will intern in Munich Germany on a movie with a major German movie production company.
Cherie Gentry Happy about being added to the Ohio Optimist Hall of Fame. Joining Optimist clubs is one of the best things she has ever done. She is a member of 3 clubs. She really enjoys and appreciates CNO.
Vida McDowell Thanks to all the partners she had at last week’s Euchre tournament that led her to the big win for the night.