Phather Phil’s Prayer
Heavenly Father success is when we can look back on our life and
smile. As Optimist how can we not smile. We are surrounded by
friends and in an activity that makes us proud. With Your help we
have attracted more people to join us and have grown to the largest club Optimist Club in the world. It is said that the best things in life are “postage paid”, “batteries included”, “tax-free”, and “guaranteed forever”. We can add one more – “being an Optimist.” Lord, let us never tire of being Your hands and Your heart in dealing with the young people in our care. Amen
Today’s Guests – WELCOME!
| Guest | Guest Of |
| Denise Carter | Speaker |
| Tiffany Kellner | Bob Glavin |
| Mike Kistler | Dave Kay |
| Kristen Marks | Gary DeMarco |
| Rocky Matthews | Brandon Barrett |
| Cheryl Meyer | Debe Dockins |
| Nick Miller | Mike Bevis |
| Matt Spitz | Kelly George |
| Kate Trangenstein | Jesse Lightle |
| Lee Roy Young | Art Hung |
All Photos from the Meeting are Here
Special Announcement
Liz Fultz announced that we will hear participants from the annual Oratorical contest on 2/4/2020 and 2/11/2020. On both of those dates lunch will be served late. Please be on time as the doors will be closed sharply at noon so the participants are not disturbed by latecomers. In between the participant’s speeches, you may be admitted.
Committee Meetings
2/12/2020, 6 PM, Golf Committee at Buckeye Home Health Care on Paragon Rd. Future 2020 meetings will be 3/18, 4/15, 5/13, 6/17, and 7/8.
Announcements
Beth Duncan, social committee chair, said there will be a Social Committee meeting on Monday, February 3rd at her office on Congress Park.
Mike Bevis announced that the golf committee has started working on donations. If you or someone you know would like to donate money, time or gift cards contact the golf committee.
Happy Birthday Gary Hansen
Today was Gary Hansen’s birthday. Bob Duffy and Charlie Tapp led us in celebrating his birthday today with song. We “sang” Happy Birthday to him. We hope he doesn’t have nightmares. It was the best performance of Happy Birthday we have ever had. Have a great year Gary!
Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra Youth Strings
Jean Pummill introduced Denise Carter, the Youth Strings Director for Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra (MVSO) Youth Strings program. MVSO is a non-profit organization Three years ago the MVSO launched a youth strings program. Denise is a resident of Washington Township and the principle Violinist of MVSO. She also provides private lessons at her studio.
You can view the slide deck here.
Participating musicians represent 17 schools from across the Miami Valley. There is great camaraderie at their rehearsals. High school students sit next to middle schoolers and everyone does their best and helps other, regardless of age.
The orchestra has weekly rehearsals at St Leonard Living Community. They give a monetary donation and perform two goodwill concerts at St. Leonard’s center in exchange for using the rehearsal space. The students interact with the residents after their concerts.
All students with a minimum skill set are welcome to join with no audition. So many kids want to play with an orchestra, but auditions can shut them down. The stress level is very low in this group.
They have very low participation fees to keep this opportunity within reach for all families. Students need only commit to one semester at a time so they can do other activities. They will waive fees with no questions asked if a student says they have a financial hardship.
History
- 2016; MVSO asked Denise if she could find a song for the Youth Strings to play with MVSO. She found “The Waltzing Cat”. It was the first side-by-side performance with the MVSO.
- 2017; The program grew, and they performed their first standalone concert and workshop with Filip Pogody. They performed 3 songs.
- 2018-2019; The first school-year length program began. They performed “Super Soundtracks” with the MVSO.
- 2018-2019; They performed the Pre-Show for the MVSO Holiday concert at the Dayton Masonic Center. There were two free shows for audiences of 1600.
- 2019; They auditioned for the Dayton Dragons to play the National Anthem; they did not get picked. The audition was held at the Dayton Mall. It was an exciting and good experience and the orchestra will try again this year.
- 2019-2020; They were able to use the Spring Valley Academy’s new performance center. The show was called “Let it B”. All the songs performed were associated with the letter B, such as the name of the song writer or the title of a song.
2020 Concerts Festivals and Community Activities
- February 2020 – Dayton Dragon National Anthem tryouts
- May 2020 – Goodwill concert for St Leonard Living Community
- May 2020 – “Feed Me Music” Concert and Fundraiser
- May 2020 – Music in the Parks Festival at Kings Island
- July 2020 – Centerville American Festival Parade
They were honored to be a finalist of the 2019 Best of Dayton.
In 2019, the orchestra received a $2000 Iddings Foundation Grant. She used the money to purchase nice quality music stands with carrying cases. She teaches the students to take pride in music. They purchase original music books instead of photocopies like some orchestras use.
Participant Quotes
- “MVSO Youth strings helps you improve your musical skills and pushes you to do your best. Plus, it’s really fun!”
- “It’s a fun experience to get to meet people and play amazing pieces of music and make new friends. It’s an amazing experience. You should join!”
- “Being in MVSO Youth Strings is fun and helps me grow so much as a musician.”
- “It has been very enjoyable playing. Playing in a string orchestra is an amazing experience.”
At the end of her slide show, Denise showed us a video of “Blue Tango” by Leroy Anderson performed by the orchestra at the Spring Valley Academy Performing Arts Center during November, 2019.
To put in perspective how difficult it is to make a violin sound good, she brought a few violins to the meeting and invited us to come up and play with them.
Thank you, Denise Carter, for presenting 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 |
| Gary Hansen | January 28 |
| Scott Langer | January 29 |
| Clint Freese | January 29 |
| Karen Sirmans | January 31 |
| Donna Huss | February 1 |
| David Ladd | February 1 |
| Mike Schwartz | February 3 |
Membership Anniversaries
| Member | Month | Day | Joined | # Years |
| Todd Kelchner | January | 30 | 1/30/1992 | 28 |
| Mike Bevis | January | 31 | 1/31/2002 | 18 |
| Rachel Goetz | January | 31 | 1/31/2013 | 7 |
New Member Readings and Inductions
| Name | Sponsor | 1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction |
| Bill Shisler | Bill Stone | 2nd Reading |
| Julie Shisler | Joan Cordonnier | 2nd Reading |
| Michael Kistler | Dave Kay | 3rd Reading |
| Kristen Marks | Gary De Marco | 3rd Reading |
| Kate Trangenstein | Jesse Lightle | 2nd Reading |
Sergeants at Arms
| Member | Infraction |
| Jean Pummill | Misspelled Larry Lynde’s name in the board minutes from last week |
| Everyone with a pin stuck on their name badge | For having pins on their name badges |
Happy Bucks!
| Member | Reason |
| Bob Lawson | Grandson received an Evans Scholarship for college for golf caddies |
| Donna Huss | Judy McFadden is recovering well from recent surgery |
| Myron Rheaume | Grandson Liam Hatton is a sophomore defense-man for Springboro HS Hockey; at a 5 state invitational tournament in Columbus, they were second of 16, winning 5 games in 3 days |
| Blanca Ortiz | $10 for getting engaged on 12/7/2019, and married on 12/26/2019 |
| Brian Nolan | In his neighborhood they placed American flags at every home in the cul-de-sac and three in front of the home of a member of the Air Force who was able to return home to visit his family; His father is a Greene County Sheriff and an Air Force vet |