Bob Burkman’s Prayer
Dear Lord,
We thank You for the spirit of Optimism. Our joy comes from doing Your will and serving others with cheerful hearts.
Thank You for blessing last week’s kids’ activities with laughter, energy and enough beautiful weather to keep everyone smiling.
Thank You for the Optimist volunteers who gave their time, strength and patience to our Haunted Trail. Especially bless the trail guides who maintained genuine positive attitudes and smiles. They found joy, even while guiding sugar-charged children in the dark. Bless those who then refueled those kids with donut holes and apple cider. Reward all those involved with the quiet satisfaction of knowing they made a difference.
Now, as we plan our Christmas Tree sale, keep our Optimism strong and our sense of humor even stronger. We know You love a cheerful volunteer!
Help us Lord, to find joy and delight every day. Help us see the good in every person, the promise in every child and hope in every challenge. Let our actions reflect Your love, our words bring encouragement and our service bring light to our community.
Amen
Get to Know a Member – Ashley Holmes
President Sarah Umbreit interviewed Ashley Holmes.
Ashley Holmes shared that when she was growing up, she wanted to be a truck driver. She explained that her family often traveled from Dayton to Georgia, and she thought it would be wonderful to do that for a living. She also mentioned that her dream of driving a semi came after she had planned to become a doctor.
Her favorite meal is any seafood, including sushi, crab, or lobster.
When asked about her favorite CNO activity, she said she has only been a member for less than a year, but she really enjoyed participating in Build-a-Bear.
Announcements
Practical AI Presentation by Patrick Arehart for November CNO 2.0 Meeting
Sarah Umbreit announced that the next CNO 2.0 meeting will be held on November 20 at 5:30 PM at Heavier Than Air Brewing Company. Patrick Arehart will present Practical AI, an overview of how artificial intelligence can be used in everyday work and personal projects.
Haunted Trail 2025 Thank-Yous and Recap
Debe Dockins thanked everyone who volunteered for this year’s Haunted Trail. Special recognition went to Val Huff for coordinating food, Larry England for serving as gatekeeper, Larry Lynde for his work on the committee, and Denise O’Neill for coordinating the middle school volunteers. She also thanked Mike Cordonnier and his Centerville High School students, as well as the TOP Soccer Club for running one of the fright stations.
Over two perfect fall evenings, more than 2,150 visitors walked the Haunted Trail, guided by 88 volunteers that included University of Dayton Optimists, Junior Optimist students, and many CNO members. The event collected seven barrels of food and three hundred dollars for the First Dawn Food Pantry at Restoration Church in Centerville. Debe closed by thanking the Haunted Trail Committee and everyone who helped make this long-standing community tradition successful.
See photos from the Haunted Trail 2025 here.
Poinsettia Sale
Craig Dring announced that the TOP Optimist Club is running their annual poinsettia sale fundraiser again. An online order form will be available soon on the website.
Christmas Tree Lot
Greg Griffin reminded everyone that the Christmas Tree Lot will open in thirty-eight days. The club expects about fourteen days of sales and hopes to sell around one thousand trees. The Centerville High School Octagon Club will assist, particularly on weeknights when the club has only one team assigned each night.
St. Leonard Optimist Club
Carol Smerz shared that the St. Leonard Optimist Club recently hosted a presentation by Terry Bevis on the history and artistry of German Christmas ornaments. She also announced that the next Build-A-Bear event will take place on November 20 at Dayton Children’s Hospital.
Adopt-A-Family
Christy Gariety spoke about this year’s Adopt-A-Family program. The club requested fifty children, all referred by counselors from Centerville City Schools. Because of rising costs, the spending limit per child has been raised to eighty to ninety-five dollars. Members may also donate money toward gifts or food for participating families.
New Wrestling Mats Have Been Installed at CHS
Matt Goecke announced that the new wrestling mats at Centerville High School have been installed and that the first practice will be held tonight, October 21. CNO gave a generous donation for these mats and our logo will be on one.
Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, Patrick Nugent
Byron Wade introduced Patrick J. Nugent, President and CEO of the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance. Byron said that when he and his wife moved to Dayton eleven years ago, they toured the Schuster Center and were amazed by its beauty, feeling as though they had stepped into a major New York theater. Byron invited Patrick Nugent to share how the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance continues to make Dayton a vibrant center for music, dance, and theater.
Nugent joined the DPAA board in 2021. He was accompanied by Allie Haynes, the organization’s Director of Philanthropy. The DPAA brings together the Dayton Ballet, Dayton Opera, and Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Dayton is the only community in the United States where all three performing arts groups operate together as one organization.
He explained that the DPAA was formed through a 2012 merger and now operates with an annual budget of about $8.5 million. The organization produces forty unique productions and seventy individual performances each year, selling roughly sixty thousand tickets annually. About half of those households are new ticket buyers. One third of DPAA’s revenue comes from tickets and subscriptions, while two thirds comes from philanthropy and contributions from donors. The DPAA is not part of Dayton Live, which owns the Schuster Center and Victoria Theatre, but they maintain a close partnership that allows DPAA to perform in those venues.
Harnessing the Power of One
Nugent described the DPAA’s philosophy as “Harnessing the Power of One.” Because ballet, opera, and orchestra share a single structure, the organization can combine art forms to create unique experiences that would be difficult for separate groups to accomplish.
He also emphasized that the arts are for everyone. Their mission is to inspire people of all ages and backgrounds to fall in love with the arts, and their driving purpose is to reach as many people as possible. Since the pandemic, ticket sales have returned to pre-COVID levels, but annual subscriptions remain only about half of what they once were. Rebuilding audiences and attracting new participants is now one of the organization’s top priorities.
Learning and Community Engagement Programs
A major focus of the DPAA is education. Each year, the organization reaches about 65,000 students and teachers across fourteen counties through its Learning and Community Engagement Programs. These programs include both field trip performances and in-school presentations.
The field trip performances, which often mark the first time a student has attended a live professional production, feature the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Dayton Ballet Studio Company, and Dayton Opera Artists-in-Residence. Offerings include Young People’s Concerts, Magic Carpet Concerts, and special sensory-friendly performances of The Nutcracker. The DPAA also collaborates with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute through the Link Up program, which allows students to play along during concerts using recorders.
DPAA’s in-school programs bring the arts directly into classrooms. Programs such as Ballet Stories in Motion, Who Wants to Be a Dancer, Children’s Traveling Opera, and Adventures in Sound featuring brass, woodwind, string, and percussion ensembles allow students to experience live music and dance up close.
The organization also supports three annual competitions for young musicians: the Concerto Competition, the High School Vocal Competition, and the Tri-State Vocal Competition.
Participatory Programs
Nugent spoke about the DPAA’s long tradition of hands-on programs that train the next generation of performers. The Dayton Ballet School, founded in 1927, is the second oldest ballet school in the United States. The Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, founded in 1934, is the third oldest youth orchestra in the nation and includes both senior and junior ensembles for students at different skill levels.
Another initiative, Cue the Music, was founded in 2014 at Ruskin Elementary School. This after-school program meets four days a week and provides intensive string instruction, academic support, and mentorship. Every student who completes the program and applies to Stivers School for the Arts is accepted. Of all Stivers students, 93 percent graduate and 65 percent go on to college.
Dayton Public Schools Arts Expansion
One of DPAA’s newest initiatives is the Dayton Public Schools Arts Expansion. Under Superintendent David Lawrence, every elementary school student in Dayton Public Schools from preschool through sixth grade will now experience live performances in ballet, opera, chamber music, dance, theater, and visual arts each year. The program is designed to enrich students’ artistic knowledge, improve cognitive and academic skills, and support emotional development through exposure to the arts.
Nugent said that learning a musical instrument helps build neural pathways similar to those formed when learning a new language. He explained that people who play instruments are statistically more likely to succeed in scientific, technical, and quantitative fields later in life.
Funding Opportunities
The DPAA’s education and engagement programs cost about one million dollars per year, with about a quarter of that funded by philanthropy. The Young People’s Concerts and Magic Carpet Concerts alone will see a seventy-two thousand dollar increase in costs next year. The Cue the Music program costs one hundred fifty thousand dollars annually and is supported entirely by donations. The organization is seeking additional funding to continue expanding these programs to reach more students.
Nugent concluded by thanking the community for its continued generosity and said that none of this work would be possible without the donors and volunteers who make the arts accessible to everyone in the Dayton region.
Thank You
Thank you, Patrick Nugent, for sharing how the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance continues to enrich our community, inspire creativity, and help young people experience the arts firsthand.
Slides from Patrick J. Nugent
You can view the slide deck of the presentation here.
What We Learned About CNO’s Fundraiser
President Sarah Umbreit reminded everyone, especially newer members, about the club’s three major fundraisers: the Avenue of Flags, the Christmas Tree Lot, and the Tom Frazier Tee Off for Youth. These events are the primary sources of funding for CNO’s community service projects, youth programs, and scholarships.
Sarah explained that volunteering for these fundraisers is one of the best ways to get to know other members and feel connected to the club’s mission. Working together at the Tree Lot, helping with the Avenue of Flags, or lending a hand at the golf outing creates opportunities to meet people, share laughs, and see firsthand how the club makes a difference in the community.
New Member Readings and Inductions
- Daniel France, Second Reading, Sponsored by Tony Danial
- Steve Kelzer, Third Reading, Sponsored by Mike Creech
Happy Bucks
- Jane Fiehrer shared that a new team member at Sign Connection, has a daughter who looks forward each year to sitting in the “electric chair” at the Haunted Trail.
- Jane Fiehrer said her son Evan received a grant to support his band, The Groove Essentials. They’ll perform on October 24, 2025, at The Tank inside The Arcade in downtown Dayton. You can find more by searching for The Groove Essentials Arcade.
- Debe Dockins gave five dollars for the success of the Haunted Trail.
- Gail Aiken said she was happy that Debe Dockins led the Haunted Trail community event with great success.
- Sue Jessee announced that the Haunted Trail collected 1,224 pounds of food for the First Dawn Food Pantry.
- Tom Conroy paid two dollars and said he enjoyed seeing how much his two grandchildren enjoyed watching The Sound of Music at the Schuster Center last Saturday.
- Paul Stull gave a Happy Buck because he was happy.
- Paul Boeckman said he was happy that, as past president, he’s still in possession of the club’s stolen gavel.
- Sandy Stevens said her husband, Dick Stevens, is doing great after his second heart valve replacement. His doctor said he is doing so well that he does not have to return for another year.
- Arline Danial said she loved what the speaker talked about and encouraged everyone to support the arts, especially for school aged kids.
- Ellie Parker said she will be having knee replacement surgery soon. She knows recovery will be difficult but is looking forward to feeling much better afterward.
Sergeants-at-Arms Fines – Denise Green and Beth Duncan
- A musical fines game was played where each table passed a ball while music played, and whoever was holding the ball when the music stopped had to pay a dollar.
- Sam Pfabe was fined for buying 50/50 tickets with a twenty-dollar bill.
- Ron Kuker was fined for being the first in line at the buffet.
- Byron Wade was fined for calling Sergeant Beth the gray hair.
- Paul Stull was fined for losing the magnet from his name badge in his clothing.
- Sarah Umbreit was selected by the Wheel of Misfortune.
- Sarah Umbreit was fined after joking that the Wheel of Misfortune was rigged.
- Mike Creech was fined after he made a wrong turn while leading a Haunted Trail group. A ghoul had to correct him before his group went too far.
- Greg Griffin received the Random Fine of the Week. The wheel originally landed on Evelyn Griffin, but since she was not present, the club agreed that Greg would receive the fine instead.
- The unlucky table was table fourteen. Table twelve was drawn first, but no one was sitting there.
- The lucky table was table ten, and they were allowed to choose a prize from the prize basket.
Welcome Guests
| Guest | Guest Of |
| Allie Haines | Speaker Guest |
| Dan France | In Readings |
| Patrick Nugent | Speaker |
| Steve Kelzer | In Readings |
Club Membership Anniversaries
| Member | Joined | Years |
| Carrie Million | October 21, 2015 | 10 |
| Evelyn Griffin | October 21, 2015 | 10 |
| Tony Danial | October 22, 2024 | 1 |
| Arline Danial | October 22, 2024 | 1 |
| Tom Conroy | October 22, 2024 | 1 |
| Mike Fanelli | October 22, 2003 | 22 |
| Bob Foster | October 22, 2003 | 22 |
| Susan Vass | October 22, 2024 | 1 |
| David Wiedmeyer | October 22, 2024 | 1 |
| Lacy Owens | October 23, 2019 | 6 |
| Carol Smerz | October 23, 2019 | 6 |
| Andy Higgins | October 23, 2019 | 6 |
| Dan Thalheimer | October 25, 2020 | 5 |
| Bernita Daley | October 26, 2022 | 3 |
| Judy Tellis | October 26, 2022 | 3 |
Birthdays
| Karen Collins | October 26 |
| Ray Daley | October 27 |
CNO Donations – Since 2013
Click here to see a summary of donations the club has made since 2013
Thank You Notes Received this Week
CLICK HERE to see the Thank You Notes received this week
Links to PowerPoint and Pictures
CLICK HERE to see the PowerPoint Slide Deck from this week’s meeting