Erin Dickerson’s Prayer
Dear God,
We spent the past weekend celebrating our independence. While independence and self-reliance are things to be celebrated, You created us to be in communion with one another. Help us to remember we were each created with strengths and weaknesses, we were made to support and help one another, and there is strength in not only offering assistance, but also in asking for and accepting it.
Amen.
CNO is the Optimist International Club of the Year for 2019-2020
The Centerville Noon Optimist Club is honored to be chosen as the Optimist Club of the Year for 2019-2020 by Optimist International. This is the highest achievement an Optimist Club can reach in the Optimist International organization.
Our club was selected out of over 2200 clubs internationally for our community outreach and impact on children throughout the year.
We are the only club in Optimist International’s 100÷ year history to have received this award twice.
Star of the Month Award
Incarnation Junior Optimist Club was awarded the OI “Star of the Month” award.
Kelly Stone, the club advisor for the Alpha Club (elementary), JOI Club (middle school) and Octagon Club (high school) presented the award to Mary Pierce and Carolyn Shocky from Incarnation, who were guests today at lunch.
Kelly Stones’ Presentation
This past year was particularly difficult due to the pandemic and obviously changed the way most clubs have operated. Our Alpha clubs were forced to take a hiatus due to the students being required to learn from home. The only clubs that were able to participate this past school year were Incarnation, Alter and Centerville High school.
I was made aware of an award that OI was giving out called OI Star of the Month – I knew immediately who we needed to nominate!
Kelly then read the full nomination letter that you can read here.
Kelly Continued…
As you can see, this club deserves to be recognized for their hard work, creative thinking outside the box and reaching beyond the stars! It is my pleasure to present the Incarnation Cub with the International Star of the Month award!
Announcements
- Debe Dockins for Joan Cordonnier announced that the 2021 Americana 5K Race was a great success. Thanks to chair Joan Cordonnier and her team. Joan was very happy with 800 participants. Joan said thanks to all that helped her.
- Debe Dockins announced that the CNO float in the 2021 Americana Parade received the “Presidents Award”. Special thanks to Mike Cordonnier and his team of CHS Theater students for designing and building the float. Thanks to everyone that helped with the float! Thank you to Centerville Landscape & Irrigation for the loan of the trailer, Common Sense Lawn Care with Casey and Matt Dixon for driving the trailer, the TOP Optimist special needs club for riding on the float and Jane Fiehrer with Sign Connection for all of the signs on the float.
- Debe Dockins announced that the CNO tent at the 2021 Americana Festival distributed 1200 customized water bottles at the event.
Community Events
- 8/7/2021 Andy Dickerson announced that they need volunteers to work at the Kid’s Day in the Park event
- 7/31/2021, 11 AM – 2 PM, Andy Dickerson announced that they need volunteers to work at the Big Backyard Party at Oak Grove Park
Committee Meetings
- 7/20/2021, 6 PM, Monthly Board of Directors Meeting
Kathy Corbett, Therapeutic Riding Institute
Carol Smerz introduced Kathy Corbett (Program Director & Instructor) and Jen Dean (Development Director) with the Therapeutic Riding Institute (TRI). They provide equine assisted learning services and wereestablished in 1973. They moved to a farm in Spring Valley, Ohio in 2019. Kids who typically attend programs at TRI are those with physical, cognitive and emotional challenges. Higher functioning siblings are encouraged to join in the activities provided at TRI.
Kathy Corbett was the speaker. She thanked CNO for the recent $5000 donation to TRI. Support from organizations like CNO are very important to TRI. Their services require payment and they have numerous payment assistance programs.
She showed us “Chases’s Story,” one of the videos on the home page of their website. Chase’s mother describes that the activities her son participates in at TRI are the only activities that her kids can both do together. The first time her son said “please” was when he was on a horse. Sometimes TRI put kids on a horse backwards and the kids really love it and start laughing.
Kathy said there are all kinds of reasons this type of therapy works. The experience of engaging the whole body enables higher brain functions to kick in.
Services Provided (see website for more details)
The range of ages of those served is from 4 to 89.
- Horseback Riding Programs – Adaptive Riding and Therapeutic Riding
- Equine Learning Programs – Wranglers, Barn Buddies and Deputies
- Summer Camp – Weeklong camps
- Horses Assisting Heroes-Veterans Programs
- Equine-Facilitated Mental Health – Offered by Professional Mental Health Providers that utilize their horses
- Caregiver programs – Offered to those who take care of those with special needs
TRI Website
Their website is a wealth of information. From their site:
Equine Assisted Learning Programs
TRI’s Equine Assisted learning is conducted by PATH International Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructors who are also Certified Equine Specialists in Mental Health and Learning. These programs are both unmounted (on the ground) or mounted (on the horse).
Studies show that Equine Assisted Learning has been helpful for people in the following areas: anxiety, assertiveness, confidence, emotional awareness, empathy, stress tolerance, flexibility, impulse control, problem-solving skills, self-actualization, independence, self-regard, social responsibility, interpersonal relationships, and emotional satisfaction.
Volunteer Opportunities
- Class Volunteer
- Barn Volunteer
- Office Volunteer
- Group Volunteer Opportunities
- Learn more details on their website
Donation Opportunities
- General Gifting
- Gift Monthly
- Gift a Horse
- Scholarship Fund
- Wish List
- Shop for a Cause
- Sponsorships
- Planned Giving
- Sponsor a Horse
- Round-Up App
- Learn more details on their website
Thank You
Thank you, Kathy Corbett and Jen Dean, for joining us to educate CNO on the Therapeutic Riding Institute.
New Member Readings and Inductions
| Name | Sponsor | 1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction |
| Sam Holmes | Mike Bevis | 2nd Reading |
Welcome Guests!
| Guest | Guest Of |
| Carolyn Shockey | Incarination |
| Darrick Weeks | Mike Bevis |
| David Geers | Tom Novak |
| Deanna Nesbit | Mike Bevis |
| Jen Dean | Speaker |
| Joe Crachiolo | |
| Kathy Corbett | Speaker |
| Kendal Cooke | Barbara Santo |
| Lauren Aiken | Incarnation |
| Mary Pierce | Incarnation |
| Patti Boone | Kristy |
| Peter Adams | Debe Dockins |
| Samantha Touhey | Incarnation |
| Stephanie McKenzie | Christy Gariety |
| Tyler Benedict | Mike Bevis |
| Wendy Roop |
Happy Bucks
| Member | Reason |
| Dick Stevens | Kids and grandchildren just visited. |
| Dick Stevens | $5, Celebrated 50th wedding anniversary with Sandy Stevens. |
| Debe Dockins | CNO is OI Optimist Club of the Year for 2019-2020. |
| Myron Rheaume | Thanks to every CNO member for helping CNO achieve OI Optimist Club of the Year for 2019-2020. |
| Bill Stone | Incarnation received Star Club of the month. |
| Gary Aiken | Celebrated 53rd wedding anniversary to Gail Aiken. |
| Gary Smiga | Next week will be visiting family in Philly and then a week long reunion in Cape May, NJ with sister and brothers. |
| Gary Smiga | Memorial Scholarships will be presented on July 20, 2021. Recipients are 7 students from CHS (5 first year awards and 2 renewals). Each student will receive $2000 to be used toward tuition, fees, room, board and related expenses. |
| Mike Yoder | His wife just got her law degree and has passed the bar. |
Sergeants at Arms
| Member | Infraction |
| Val Huff | Selling tickets for baskets. |
| Sue Brubaker | Selling tickets for baskets. |
| Debe Dockins | Brian Nolan almost didn’t get his lunch today. |
Membership Anniversaries
| Member | Month | Day | Joined | # Years |
| CeAnn Chalker | July | 10 | 7/10/2000 | 21 |
Birthdays
| Member | Birthday |
| Mark Scarpino | July 6 |
| Bob Lawson | July 6 |
| Bob Glavin | July 9 |
| Joe Kronenberger | July 9 |
| Greg McAfee | July 12 |
CNO Donations – 2013 through June 2021
Click here to see a summary of donations the club has made since 2013
Thank You Notes Received
Click Here to Read the Thank You Notes we received this week