Dean Mitchell Public Scholarship

Kolton Fink is the 2016 recipient of our scholarship.  He and family were on hand to see the presentation.  Be sure to visit the club website for a bio on Kolton.  Below are some photos from this morning.

Opti-Bulletin 10-20-16

See link at the bottom to access today’s meeting on YouTube.

Optimist Club of Beaverton
Club Meeting Minutes: October 20, 2016, 7:00 AM
Barry B. presiding.
This Day in History:
1944, General McArthur returns to the Philippine Islands.
Calendar:
October 20th, tonight, 7:00 to 8:00 PM, Great Shake Out (Emergency Preparedness) Reedville Presbyterian.
October 22nd, Saturday, Women’s Safety Fair, Sheriff’s Office, Hillsboro HQ.
October 22nd, Saturday, Child Safety Seat clinic at St. Vincent’s, 9:00 to 11:00.
October 22nd, Saturday, “Tip a Cop”, 5:00 to 8:00 PM, Beaverton Red Robin. (Wally reminds everyone to turn out for an Optimistic showing of the clubs support for Police and the Special Olympics.)
Announcements:

• Optimist Club positions open: Board Member and Sergeant at Arms.
• An audit committee has been appointed: Marv Thompson, Michael Stack and Scott Thompson.
• This meeting was recorded (Wally J.) for upload to U-Tube as the continuation of an “e” Club option. Subsequent meetings will also be recorded, allowing members not present to see the meeting
• September 2017 is the 50th anniversary of the Beaverton Optimists Club. Submit ideas for this landmark event to Barry!
• Roger H. attended the Optimists Regional Meeting in Kennewick, WA. Good classes on leadership and an emphasis on the Essay contests.
• Steve G. attended the Home Plate Open House. It was well attended and excellently done. They provide meals, shelter and other services, and referrals for the homeless.
• Eric S. provided an update on the Aloha Library activities and fund raising. Contact Eric for details, there is a lot going on.
• 50/50 Pot Raffle – $10.00 in the pot. Winner – Roger H.

Guest Speaker: Jules Schoolmeester, new Beaverton Police Activities League (PAL) Executive Director, provided some background; she recently hails from Sioux Falls, where she worked in the drug and alcohol abuse program. She described some of the PAL activities available to the 50 (or so) young people in the program, including, but not limited to, boxing (boys and girls), a clubhouse, a homework room, and opportunities to work with senior citizens. While there is as yet no scholarship money available for memberships, it is something she intends to work on.

Meeting adjourned at 8:00 am
Respectfully submitted,
Steve Gerber, Secretary

Breakfast with the ATF

Colene Domenech, ATF Portland Office

We had a great speaker today.  Colene has over 20 years experience as an ATF agent.  We learned a lot about the operation of the agency.  Many people think they get all the paperwork on all guns sold in Oregon but the info stays with the dealer.  Perhaps our laws need some fine tuning to make it  possible for the agency to have those records (like they do in Hawaii).  When a gun is used in a crime it makes it a lot easier to track down ownership.  She gave the example of the shooting death of Sgt. Godding in Seaside.  Because the gun was originally sold in Hawaii, they were able to track it to the killer.

Because of their unique investigation, they were able to settle the case of the Woodburn Bombing several years ago.

Some things to remember…

• Monday is Troop 870 Court of Honor at Mountain View Middle School, 7:00 PM.  Let’s show support for  our scouts and their leaders.
• Car Seat Clinic, Saturday, October 22nd, 9 – 11:30 AM at Providence St. Vincent’s Medical Center.
• Tip-A-Cop, Beaverton Red Robin on Canyon. We would like to attend as a group.  Hope to see you there at 5:00 PM.

If you missed the Thursday breakfast, you can view it on Youtube.

Have a good weekend.

 

Opti-Bulletin September 8, 2016

Magician Bob Eaton with two willing volunteers.

It was great to see our friend from Hillsboro Optimist Club Bill French.  He notified us that we are an Honor Club for the current year.  He also encouraged us to participate in finding hole sponsors for their gold tournament on September 16th.

CALENDAR:

• Today is “Back to School Bash” at the Aloha Farmers’ Market, 3-7:30 PM.
• The ABA Luncheon is today at 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM.
• Sunday, 9/11 @ 2:00 PM will be a brief time of remembrance at the 9/11 Memorial in Veteran’s Memorial Park, Beaverton.
• Monday, Sept. 12th is the Board meeting, 6:30 PM
• Saturday, Sept. 17th is Murray road cleanup.  Meet at the K-Mart parking lot at 8:30 AM for coffee & donuts.  Please let Wally know if you are planing to come.  We need about three more bodies.
• Installment Dinner @ the Chrisman’s on Saturday, Sept. 24th, 3-7 PM.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• Bruce Buffington announced he is retiring as chair of the NWBSC.  Come to their board meeting on October 20th, 6:30 PM to recognize Bruce’s service of 22 yrs.
• Susan showed us a plastic bag with her photography on it.  It will be used to market other such bags.  Good job Susan!  It would be nice to get some of these to give to our breakfast speaker and place our mug in them.
• Raffle winner last week was Marv T.  He wasn’t here to collect.  This weeks winner was Roger Hampton.  It was apparently rigged because our speaker is his friend and drew the winning number for him.  So if you need a loan, see Roger.

Hope you enjoy the Good Neighbor activities in Beaverton this weekend.

See you next time.

Energy Conservation…and More!

Our breakfast speaker this morning was Massoud Jourabchi with the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.  We learned a lot about the history, current, and future projected use and demand of energy.  He is a friend and neighbor of Michael Stack.  Massoud is from Iran and will probably be asked to come back and tell us about his home country.

It was great to see a good number of members out this morning.

• Bob Day’s son, Sam Day, recently died of bone cancer (Bob is with the Portland Police Bureau).  Roger Hampton knows the family and had Sam in one of his classes at Sunset Presbyterian Church.  There are a number of stories and videos about Sam.  Just do a web search.  There is a lot of expense with his treatment so Roger said folks can make a donation.  Contract Roger.

• Next Thursday is the Aloha Business Association Luncheon @ 11:30 AM.  Farmer’s Market is featuring a “Back to School Bash” that day, 3:00 PM – 7:30 PM.

• Please check the Calendar on our Website to learn about other upcoming events.

The raffle winner today was Marv Thompson.  I guess that means we’ll see him two weeks in a row!

Roger Whitaker announced that some wood was sold and the proceeds amounted to around $500.  Thanks Roger, Jack, and Bob A.  There is still more wood available.  We also plan to be at the last two Saturday markets to sell wood in conjunction with our scout troop.

SEE EVERYONE NEXT WEEK!  GO OUT AND SHARE OPTIMISM!

“An Eye for Beauty”

Susan shares her love of photography.

 Susan presented to the club breakfast today a beautiful slideshow of her photos.  Because of MS Susan’s world became restricted so she turned to photography.  Thank the Lord she did because she is so talented and has an “eye for beauty.” Thank you Susan for sharing today.

We were privileged to have the Hillsboro Optimist Club President Jack Thornton at the Breakfast.  It was a relief that he didn’t come to steal (after all, we do have a truce), but rather to give something.  He presented Wally with the “Golden Golf Club” for our involvement in the Jr. Golf Tournament recently.  It rightly belongs to Dusty for all his work.

Lyn Kirwan was present today.  Her membership application and fee have been turned in.  Wally told her that there was a good likelihood that see is “in” unless she messes up between now and board meeting on Monday 🙂

Our club was featured in the latest Washington County Sheriff’s Newsletter showing our recognition of two of their deputies, Jarrod McCreary and Tony Morris.  We also regcognized two Beaverton Police Officers Nathaneal Brown and Jeremy Shaw.  All of these officers have had a positive relationship with youth in the community.

Upcoming Events:

• Saturday is the “Veterans’ Cruise In.”     July 9, 2016 @ Valley Catholic School, 10 am – 3 pm.  Admission is free.  Let’s show off our Optimist club by wearing vests, hats, shirts, name tags!
• Board meeting Monday, July 11th, 6:30 PM at the Pal building
• Thursday, July 21st will be the presentation of the Dean Mitchell Scholarship Fund.  Members of the Mitchell family will be present.  We also thank the family for their recent donation.
• Club Auction – Thursday, July 28th breakfast.  Save your treasures and money. Send any promotional items for sale to Wally.

Go Out and Share Optimism!

 

Tualatin Valley Visitors

This morning we enjoyed hearing Carolyn McCormick from the Washington County Visitors Association (WCVA).  Tax revenue from hotel guests fund the program and others.  The WCVA promotes tourism in our county, often considered the “Portland’s Backyard.”  We do live in a thriving area with great population growth.  WCVA also provides grant funds to promote other endeavors such as disc volleyball in the Stub Stewart Park to mention only one.  Learn more at their website http://tualatinvalley.org/.

• President Wally was back after spending the last two weeks doing chaplain work.  He spent last week in Salem with a friend who has dementia and his wife coded but was revived after a few moments.  Then he came home to visit another friend who was having a medical test done.  Last Sunday he participated in the baptism of a former Police Lieutenant.

 

• Dusty is needing to pull back on most of his commitments to take care of his wife who needs around the clock care.  He will be unable to assume the roll of president next year.  He will finish his roll in the Optimist Golf Tournament.  The Board is meeting June 6 to discuss a replacement.  Any ideas or volunteers would be appreciated.

 

• Don’t forget the Memorial Day service at Veteran’s Memorial Park, 11:00 AM on May 30th.  There is a great program planned and Commander Steve says “Come early to get a seat.”

 

• Teddy Martin was sworn in as our newest member today.  Did you know he lives on 22 acres and his wife raises Alpacas?  Welcome Teddy! Teddy works at Edward Jones.  Check out his link on our website.

Next week’s speaker is Lynn Kirwan with the Aloha Cruse-in.

Have a good week!

Mike Donahue Addresses Large Group

Mike Donahue, former news anchor for KOIN-6 was our speaker today.  We had a large contingency from the club, Aloha Business Association, Hillsboro Optimist Club, and community.

 

In retirement Mike is working with the media department for the Providence Healthcare System.  He puts together reports and videos of employees and patients who make a difference.  They call his segments, “How We Care.”  He shared a story about a 14 year old Boy Scout who helped produce 500 handmade holiday stockings for patients.  Another was a young woman who went into nursing after her experience seeing the devastation of 9/11.  Providence paid for her education to serve in the Providence system.  See more of the videos in the link above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike doesn’t drink coffee so Wally and Roger presented him with an Optimist “tea” cup.

 

 

Because we were an honor club last year, our board secretary, Dusty, presented Susan with a certificate of honor for her dedication as our former secretary.  Thanks Susan!

 

Susan receives a big thank you from the club and the Optimist District.

Reminders:

This Saturday is the PAL auction and dinner.  Let Bruce Buffington know ASAP if you want to to.

Next week Commander John Koch and Capt. Eric Oathes will be our speakers. We will also be taking in our newest member, Teddy Martin.

This day in history…the Eiffel Tower was opened in 1889.

Next Thursday is the board meeting.

We raised $182 in our Dollar Challenge!  Thanks everyone.

It was great seeing Dave Chrisman at the breakfast today.  Thanks for making the long trip Dave.

Rumor has it that Dick Schouten will be returning on a regular basis now that the election is pretty much behind him.  We are waiting Dick!

See you all next week.  Go share Optimism!

 

Judge Mercer Shares the Optimist Creed

Judge receives his mug.            Photos by Susan N.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last week our President put out a Dollar Challenge.  He handed out 10 one dollar bills to the members present and encouraged them to invite people to match that contribution.  This morning we received $61.50!  Way to go club!

Announcements:

Next week’s speaker is Mike Donohue, retired newscaster from Koin 6.  Invite your friends!

Mike Donohue

Today’s raffle winner was…Bob Arneson

The board has voted to have Teddy Martin join as our newest member.  Welcome aboard Teddy.

We passed around a couple of cards today.  One goes to Bruce Buffington who is recovering from eye surgery.  The other was a thank you card we received from Zach who came to our breakfast a couple of weeks back selling items for the Scout National Jamboree.

Jack raised some money on a very strange auction item.  It was some kind of ID from Area 51 in Nevada. Marv Thompson now knows who he is!

Our speaker today was Municipal Judge John Mercer.  He shared a couple thoughts about the mission of the City of Beaverton, “Oregon’s Best,” as it relates to a couple of lines from the Optimist Creed.  He really connected with the crowd and he doesn’t want to see anybody in court 🙂

See you all next week…with Mike Donohue.

 

Scouting Breakfast – February 25, 2016

 

Patches we received at the breakfast. The one on the right was from our speaker. The bottom patch signifies we were an honor club in 2014-2015.

 

 

 

 

Honor Club Certificate

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our speaker was Brian Blachley from the Scout Office.  Area scouting is in good shape financially as well as membership.

Becky, one of our previous speakers from Electronics Unlimited, and her scout son, Zach attended.  Zach was visiting from Troop 618.  He is raising funds to attend the National Jamboree.  A number of us went home with chocolates or jerky.  Good luck Zach!

Dusty attend the area Optimist training on Saturday.  He was very enthused about what he heard and saw.  He passed on an honor pin and certificate (see photos above), an honor patch, an Optimist patch, and a couple of pins.  We will be adding patches on our banner and displaying it.

This Thursday…is open breakfast.  Rumor has it we might be getting a technology update.

Below are the notes from the previous breakfast:

Optimist Club of Beaverton

Club Meeting Minutes   February 18, 2016

This Day in History – 1885 – Mark Twain published the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

50/50 Pot raffle – $11.00 in the pot.  Winner – Marv Thompson

Eric Oathes brought us up to date on a few police related items:

Body Cam Open House at Griffith Park Police Station tonight

PAL Auction and Dinner April 2nd at PCC Rock Creek

Safety Car Seat Installation at 4915 SW Griffith Dr.

Can You ID Me Program

Polar Plunge on February 2nd to support Special Olympics.  Eric is  diving right in.

John Koch reported that the Dance With a Cop was successful because he didn’t have to dance.

Speaker for today was Bob Day, Commander in the Portland Police Bureau.  He has been with PPD since 1990 with a stint in the Oregon State Police prior to that.  He spent four years as a mounted policeman and really enjoyed the interaction with the public.

He stated that the PPD has 948 sworn police personnel but is forty five officers shy of what they should have.  Know anyone who would make a good police officer?  Of special interest was the Audit Program with the Dept of Justice.  Portland has been a proponent of such an oversee program.

Of other interesting information, he estimates there are over 2,000 people who live on the streets of Portland.  This presents many problems for the police in working with the mentally ill.  Great to have him visit the club.

Dusty Taylor, Secretary