Optmist Club helps move library....

Saturday April 21st, Optimist Club members helped pack and store the books in the library of Matthews Elementary School. Principal Kathy Ambrose and her staff were delighted to see how many turned out for the great event. Under the watchful eye of the principal and the staff, the books were boxed and moved to the storage area until the new library is finished. We then got a tour of the school by Sam Packham who explained the new construction and the improvements being made. The school will get a complete new look and what we saw was very impressive. Great job.....
Here are a few of the pictures I got from Saturday.

Plant Sale... May 11th & 12th

Ann Ronchetto and Jan Reding are heading up this project and working with a different company this year. Currently there was not a pre-order list but Ann indicated they would look and see if this is something they want to do as the items will be on consignment this year. If we don't sell it then it is returned to the company we got it from. More information will be provided on this and helpers will be needed for the event. So mark your calendars for these dates.

Respect for Law BBQ

Kristy Caley sent around a sign up sheet for the Respect for Law BBQ to be held on May 18th from 4:00 to 8:00 PM. The event will be at the Armstrong Park and if you missed the meeting, please get with Kristy Caley with your questions and items you wish to bring.

Golf Tournament update...

Jerry Vaughan gave an update on the Golf Tournament that will be held on June 14th. He will pass a sign up sheet for those who can help with check-in and other event support. He is looking for goodies as he plans to give out gift bags to those who are playing this year. If you have anything you would like to donate or know of someone who would like to donate, please get with Jerry. More information to follow.

Another check for ink cartridges...

Jerry presented the club with another check for the ink cartridges being turned in. Remember if you have any that you want to turn in, bring them to the meeting or drop them off with Jerry Vaughan at the Chamber. They must be name brand and cannot be recycled ones. Please get with Jerry for more information on this.
Thanks.

Selecting new officers for 2007/2008...

At the meeting on April 21st, it was brought up that we needed to start looking for officers for 2007/2008. Jim Brown' name was signed up on the list and Carol Barnes and Ann Ronchetto volunteered to work with him to start recruiting the new officers. If you want to volunteer for an office position, get with one of the three individuals and let them know your interest, otherwise you may get a call from one of them. There are also at least three board members that needs to be recruited as well. Good luck ladies and gentleman.

Scholarship committee has met....

The scholarship committee has met and selected the two names for this years scholarships from the Grain Valley Optimist Club. Names will be revealed in a follow up article after the awards have been presented. The committee consisted of Jan Reding, Mary and Lon Harper and believe there were 12 applicants in which the group looked at and make their selections. It sounds like they did a very nice job on deciding which two to select. Thank you Jan, Mary and Lon.

Charles (Chuck) Johnston new Ward 2 Alderman..

I looked at the name and it did not register it as our Chuck Johnston, member of the Optimist Club and of course, one of our Santa Claus. My apologies for the over site and congratulations on your new position of Alderman for Ward 2. Please honor us with a visit and that way I can take a picture for future updates.

Jan Reding Honored with Show-Me Volunteerism

Janis Reding

2007 Award Recipient

The Show-Me Volunteerism Award goes to Jan Reding, of Grain Valley, Mo, for her sincere commitment to service in the community, She truly illustrates what is expected of a genuine role model. Jan is best described by two phrases: "Salt of the earth" and " if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem".

The Show Me Volunteerism Award was created by the Missouri Community Service Commission to recognize the late Governor Mel Carnahan's commitment to service and to the citizens of the state of Missouri. This award will recognize one outstanding volunteer from Missouri who has exhibited a long-term commitment to volunteerism. This volunteer's impact should be broad based and comprehensive including both hands on experiences and leadership roles.

Award recipients become role models who share ideas and information on their past volunteer experiences, which helps to inspire other organizations and individuals to achieve their own volunteer goals.

There was a very good but large write up on the agenda for Jan, I will only pick out some of the key things as many of us know Jan.

Jan reflects the sort of person that doesn't wait for someone to ask them for help. She is one that is always encouraging others to do the best they possibly can. Leading by example, Jan is quick to praise others and is always humble about her contribution while building up others' efforts. She makes everything and everyone around her feel better about themselves.

The depth and breadth of her volunteerism is the most remarkable quality in Jan. Her passion in the community of Grain Valley is exceptional. Her volunteerism extends from her vast body of work in the area. Jan has been or is very active in many of the Grain Valley community groups and school councils.

Jan's passion and zest for life can leave one in awe. This 70-something woman has a zeal for life that is infectious . She is truly putting her actions into words that "those that can have a responsibility, an obligation, to do and help those who can't".

There is so much more to say about this person that I could fill up the whole blog with it. Jan I for one agree with everything that was written and more. I am proud to include this in the blog for others to read and praise you on your volunteerism and we should all have at least part of the zest this woman has. It is an honor to write this.

Christy Davis

Optimist Club helping move Library...

The meeting for the Optimist Club on 21st of April will be held at Mathews Elementary School at 8:00 AM for a short meeting first. For those who can stay and help with moving the Library we will start at 9:00 that morning. This is a great time for those kids who need extra hours to come out and help. Please invite those who you know would like to help as this project will need all of the support they can get that day. I understand that Kathy Ambrose will have Pizza for lunch for those working. If you have any other questions on this, please get with Carol Barnes or Jan Reding.

Optimist Member Dale Arnold

Dale Arnold

Alderman Ward 1

Congratulations to Dale who is now the Alderman for Ward 1.

Dale is a multi-tasked individual who is a member of the Grain Valley Optimist Club Vice-President and works at the Fire Station. Now he will be representing Grain Valley with his position as Alderman's Representative for Ward 1. Dale and wife Shelia and have two daughters, Kacie and Danielle. Again congratulations Dale and we know you will do a great job.

Substance Abuse posters....

Carol Barnes brought in posters that were submitted for the club to look at and vote on. The club selected their favorite poster for the girls and one for the boys. The winners were River Hawkins and Cydnee Thorton. The photos show club members looking at the posters and then the two winners with Carol Barnes. Carol gave me this additional information that I would like to add. The two students whose posters were chosen were 4th grade Mathews Elementary. Kathy Argotsinger, the art teacher at Mathews, offered an after school Poster Club for 3rd and 4th grade students. This was more than we expected. They met twice a week where Mrs. Argotsinger taught them techniques for designing posters. The students came up with their ideas and created their designs during the club time and were also able to work on them at home. Thank you Carol for the work you did on this project.

Guest Speaker Ralph Hernandez....

Saturday, April 14th, Ralph Hernandez was the guest speaker at the Optimist Club. With him were Mark Fry and Anthony Alexander who spoke on the Youth Wrestling Teams and what would be needed to possibly have an event in Grain Valley this coming year in 2008. The ages are from 6 yrs to 8th graders. These guys mentioned what their group does for an event and what would be needed to have an event. Jan gathered all of the information and will contact Jeff Tebbenkamp, Athletic Director with the information. Currently Kristy Caley's son wrestles and she shared some photos with us . More information will be given on this at a later date.

Plant Sale...

Ann Ronchetto and Jan Reding are making arrangements for the Plant Sale that will be held on May11th and 12th. The type of plants, baskets and others are almost finalized and will update us more on this within the next meetings to come.

Wally's Nut House

Jan mentioned at the Saturday meeting that she looked into the pricing of Wally's Nut House verses Farmsteads that we have used in the past. After some discussion, it was suggested that we not only look at pricing but consider the taste and quality of the items we normally have on our sell list. Jan will do more research on this and will report back at a later date.

used Cartridges...

Reminder that we are still collecting the empty cartridges for the Optimist Club. Bring your empty toner or cartridges to the meeting or to Jerry Vaughan at the Chamber. They must be brand names only.
Thanks

Another Check from Patricia's

Today at the meeting, Sheila mentioned that Sharon Morse had turned in another check that was given to us from Patricia's. This is for the receipts we turn in. Please continue to bring you receipts into the meeting and place in the box that is on the officers table. Remember if you paid by credit card, we need the receipt that is considered the itemized receipt.
Thank you Sharon for your work with this project.

In our Prayers....

We as a club would like to keep Robert and Sharon Morse in our prayers for his loss of his sister this past week. Bob, our sincere condolences.

Silver Egg Found....

The unclaimed Silver Egg has now been claimed. I received an e-mail from Jerry Vaughan who gave me Brook Gonzalez' name and after a few phone calls, we finally got together and the basket was delivered to Lillie Gonzalez from Grain Valley. Brook told me that the eggs were taken home and with so much candy did not let them open all of the eggs until recently. This is when they discovered the missing Silver Egg. Lillie is shown with her basket and was glad to get it too. Thank you Jerry for the team work on this event, we made a small girl very happy and there are plenty of bunnies for her to share with her little sibling.

Weather holds out for Easter Egg Hunt..........

Saturday March 31st, we had our annual Easter Egg Hunt. With the weather being unpredictable, members gathered at Armstrong Park and waited for dark clouds to move on. Finally at 8:45 we decided it was time to scatter the eggs out. John went to change into costume and wait for the little ones to start coming in for pictures. At 9:10 we got our first little one and the crowd started to gather. The weather gods were kind to us and the day turned out to be a good one for the occasion. The club put out 8,000 eggs which is the most we have ever done. Each year it gets bigger and bigger, and that is good. It means that our clubs contributions are getting spread out to the people. It is nice to see familiar faces and new ones as well. This year we did keep some eggs back for those who missed the event. It takes only 3 minutes at the most to gather all of the eggs. We had winners for all but one basket. The Silver egg for the 8 to 10 yr old did not show up. Some one has taken the egg home and hopefully will get a hold of the Chamber or City and ask about it. If you get a call on this, get with either John or Christy as we have the basket. I want to thank everyone who helped and special thanks to Kathy Doty for her tremendous donated items for the baskets, John Davidson from the Police Department who donated some items for our baskets, Jim Meyer with the Community center for his donations, Lunar Bowl for their donations and Sonic for their donations again this year. Thank you for all of the nice gifts. Sheila did a great job with the pictures along with daughter Danni and Bob who took pictures. The winners that we did have were: Dave Muller of GV, Kyle Bradley of GV, Taylor Trask of Indep., Kyler Ginnings of BS and Ella Boyle of GV. I have included some pictures for you to view.

Bike Safety date

On Saturday at the Easter Egg Hunt, I was asked by a few individuals when the Bike Safety was scheduled for. It is set for June 9th at the Sni-Bar Elementry School. The time right now is at 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Please look for more information to come soon.

Wishing you a get well

Saturday, Kathy Doty mentioned that her mom, Erma has been under the weather lately and cannot seem to shake this off. We want to say, Erma get well, we miss you and let us know if there is anything we can do to help out.