Phather Phil’s Prayer

Heavenly Father. A hug gives us the feeling of appreciation, to be liked and to know we have a friend. What a simple way to recycle Your love. We all have the ability to do this. To be an encourager. An easy smile, a firm hand shake or a pat on the back are all motivational. We never know the cause of frown, a downcast disposition or what’s going on in another person’s world. We thank You for the Ten Commandments to guide our lives. For Christian Larson’s tenants to guide us as Optimists. May we experience the joy of one of our encouragements that has traveled around the world and is returned to us by a stranger. Amen!

Today’s Guests

Guest	Guest Of
Mark Metzger	Speaker
Nick Tarkany	Greg Fay
Jeff Spring	Vince Reidy
Governor Tom Kendo	Optimist Ohio District Governor

Attempted Blizzard

In spite of the frigid temperatures and the snow squall our meeting went on as normal. Many members leaving today’s meeting could be seen scraping snow off of the vehicles. Welcome to Ohio people. Where Christmas is only white with snow about half the time and Saint Patrick’s Day has about a 30% chance each year, which is the same chance as Alaska.

Like true optimists, everyone scraping snow was smiling for the additional opportunity this year to touch the cold stuff.

Awards

Ohio Optimist International (OI) governor Tom Kendo came to our club today. He presented the “Builder of Excellence” award to Greg Fay and Jack Anderson. They each received a pin and certificate for their work in creating our club within a club, CNO 2.0. OI really likes when clubs are able to create clubs within a club. There are other clubs in Ohio using CNO 2.0 as a blueprint for creating their own club within a club. Remember every CNO standard member is also a member of CNO 2.0 and encouraged to come to the third Thursday of the month meetings.

Kendo assured Greg and Jack that the certificate is suitable for framing.

Greg and Jack wanted us to also recognize the rest of the team involved with managing CNO 2.0. These members include: Ron Tinnerman, Jesse Gaither, Greg Griffin, Jean Pummill, Melissa Lucas, Laura Franklin and Pam Miller.

Kendo also mentioned that on a Saturday in August this year that there is an OI meeting in Fairborn. It will be attended by the OI president and his wife. As the second largest Optimist club in the world, he encourages us to come out in record numbers to this meeting.

Dime a Day Foundation

Bill Stone, our representative to the OI charitable foundation, went over the “Dime a Day” program. This is a chance for all of us to donate to the charitable arm of OI. His goal is for 50% or more of us to donate ten cents per day or $36.50. All of your contributions are tracked and as you reach the $1000.00 level you become a benefactor. For contributions of $100, $250, or $500 in a single year you also achieve additional recognition. A donation of $250 includes a beautiful bowl that is changed every year. For a donation of $500 a framed optimist painting is given.

Bill went over the top 10 things that are possible because of the donations to this program. Please give if you can.

Today’s Speaker

Jesse Lightle introduced Mark Metzger, the Director of the Washington Township Recreational Center (WTRC). A motto of WTRC is “Discover your potential”. Mark has been the director for 1.5 years and his kids say he has the greatest job ever because of his direct relationship with Santa Claus himself.

The rec center is now 30 years old and was created when the township purchased the building from the YMCA. Rec West was created 3 years ago when the township purchased the former Centerville Theater building directly to the west of the rec center.

The rec center is currently 40% funded by community taxes and 60% from user fees charged to the users of the facility. The WTRC is the most efficiently run rec center in Ohio.

There are 26 acres of grounds around the WTRC. All of the trails were recently paved and are now accessible for persons with disabilities. Each year approximately 25,000 people tour “Woodland Lights” in December for the holidays.

Other statistics and programs:

The main pool has 220,000 gallons of water.
Approximately 9000 people each year watch shows at the Town Hall Theater.
The enrichment center is new and actively request donations.
Their youth day camps are some of the cheapest options for summer day camps anywhere.
There are classes including art, introduction to belly dance, lunch and learns.
The pool is rented by the High School and the WTRC Sharks swim and dive teams.

There are numerous volunteer opportunities. Examples of volunteers needed are for Town Hall Theater and Woodland Lights. They also accept monetary donations and donations of in kind services. Contacts and phone numbers are available at http://www.washingtontwp.org/contact

After Mark was done speaking Don Kelley spoke to us about the renewal levy for the rec center that will be on the ballot 5/8/2018. He hopes we will all vote yes. The expiring levy was 0.7 mills, the new one is 1.0 mills, which will cost $1.14/month per 100K of home worth. They explained the funds were needed to pay for necessary maintenance and upgrades to the buildings and other items.

Detailed information about programs and calendars are available at: http://www.washingtontwp.org/recreation

Birthdays

Member	Birthday
Vida McDowell	March 15
Brian Nolan	March 16
Robert Foster	March 16
David Brookman	March 18
Joseph Willhoite	March 19

Membership Anniversaries

Member	Month	Day	Joined	# Years
Shane Wilken	March	14	03/14/2003	15
Stephen Kohls	March	14	03/14/2003	15

New Member Readings and Inductions

Name	Sponsor	1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction
Amy Wang	Patrick Arehart	3rd Reading

Sergeants at Arms

Member	Infraction
Chris McAlpine	Lost bell and gavel
All OSU fans	Being a fan of THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
Bob Lawson	Did not remember who his partner was for Sergeant-at-Arms next quarter

Happy Bucks!

No time for Happy Bucks this week.