The Southern Exposure

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1 The Southern Exposure Indiana South District Optimist International Volume 23, Issue 2 January Charge Mark Wilson, Governor A message from Mark, your Indiana South District Governor David Osborne, Immediate Past Governor Herman Greenwood, Past Governor Michael R. Novak, Governor Elect Rick France, Secretary-Treasurer Lt. Governors Zone 1: Elbert Bradshaw Zone 2: TBD Zone 3: Bob Thompson Zone 4: Doc Sutherlin Zone 5: Ed Rinehart Zone 6: TBD Zone 7: Todd Marshall Zone 8: TBD Attention: Committee Chairs & Lt Governors The deadline for submitting articles for the next District Bulletin is March 23, Send your articles to p_grant@fastmail.fm if you have . If you prefer, send it snail-mail: 770 N County Road 625 E, Avon, IN DON T FORGET! Determination & Passion Count on Us With the year-end holidays closing and the start of a new year, we have the chance regenerate our spirits and energies. We can rekindle the fire that is so important in reaching the goals we have set. Children across the district deserve our undivided attention. Indiana South s membership held its own as the 1st quarter ended - only down a few members from the October 1st beginning. But remember the trend is an overall loss of members. That s not serving kids and our communities as well as we have been doinf over the years. We need to turn that around and continue efforts to strengthen our clubs and Indiana South. Be sure to come to the 2nd Quarter conference in Jeffersonville. Governor Mark President s Midyear Planning Conferences February 2-3, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri Details on the Optimist.org web site The Southern Exposure 1

2 District Meetings 3 rd Quarter District Conference April 13-14, 2018 Hilton Garden Inn, 750 Wabash Avenue, Terre Haute, Indiana, nd Annual District Convention August 10-12, 2018 Doubletree by Hilton Lawrenceburg, 51 Walnut Street, Lawrenceburg, IN The Southern Exposure 2

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5 Change coming to the Optimist Leaders web site Optimist International is making a change in how the Optimist Leaders web site is now being handled. Eventually, the old Opti leaders site will go away. I will be available at 2nd Quarter Conference to tutor anyone who wants some help with the new web site. Rick France, District Secretary/Treasurer 2018 Ottawa Convention Visit Ottawa, the capital of Canada, next summer before or after the 100th Annual Optimist International Convention Saturday, July 7, thru Tuesday, July 10, 2018! There are many attractions within walking distance of the Westin Hotel and the Shaw Centre such as the Byward Market! Continue to check the convention page for more information and updates. The Southern Exposure 5

6 Junior Optimist International As a special incentive for the Optimist Year, the Optimist International Foundation has approved a grant program to help new Junior Optimist Clubs conduct a service project or give a scholarship! Junior Optimist Clubs with 25 Charter Members or more built between October 1, 2017 and September 30, 2018 are eligible for a $100 Club Grant. Contact youthclubs@optimist.org for more information. Create a Video and Win! Optimist International presents the 2018 Reel Optimism Video Contest. Your Club could win a $1500 Club Grant by creating a short video based on the topic: "Living the Creed." Upcoming Webinars Just Ask Tuesday, January 9 at 7PM (CT) Your membership growth and retention strategy has just found a friend: Just Ask! The Just Ask program supports all of your Club s existing activities, and is a great way to get more hands to serve more children. Whether it's through New Club Building or by adding new Members to your own Club, let's Just Ask! Join us as we share our thoughts to make this renewed Just Ask program the pivot to your District's growth. To register, click here. For questions, contact the Leadership Development Department at leadership@optimist.org. Facebook Ads Available for Growth Projects Optimist International is providing Districts with the opportunity to use Facebook to help with New Club Building initiatives and membership drives. Each District is eligible for a free, standardized Facebook advertisement paid for by Optimist International. The Facebook advertisement will target a location for a potential new Optimist Club or an existing Club for recruitment purposes. Contact Jim Boyd at jim.boyd@optimist.org for more information. Recruit a Teacher for $30! The "Recruit a Teacher for $30" incentive has been renewed for the entire year! Optimist International is waiving the $15.00 membership fee and offering a year's dues for only $30 for teachers. Contact membership@optimist.org for more information. The Southern Exposure 6

7 Optimist International Foundation We are proud to announce the first checks awarded from the Optimist International/Optimist International Foundation Disaster Relief Fund. Awards are for projects nominated by San Antonio Optimist Club, Optimist Club Anguilla, British West Indies and Pasadena (Texas) Noon Optimist Club. These grants help communities affected by the devastation of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Thank you to those Clubs for partnering to help others in their communities and an added thank you to all that have contributed to the Optimist International/Optimist International Foundation Disaster Relief Fund. Optimist International Foundation has re-launched the Childhood Cancer Campaign Matching Grant Program. Clubs will be able to receive a matching grant up to $1,000 to fund a local childhood cancer project. These projects can be traditional childhood cancer efforts Clubs have supported over the years. New to the effort, the scope of the matching grant program has been broadened to include health and wellness projects that relate to childhood cancer. For more information, visit the Foundation website. Programs Has your Club started planning for an Oratorical, Essay or Communication Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (CCDHH)? Visit the scholarship section of the website to download the Planning Guides and applications. For questions, contact programs@optimist.org Personal Growth and Involvement (PGI) Revisions In order to keep the PGI program relevant to Optimist Members, the Leadership Development Committee revised the requirements for the PGI program in effect on October 1, If you are already working on a level of PGI, you may continue using the old requirements until you complete the level you are working on. On the next level, use the revised requirements. New Passports with the revised requirements were available beginning December 1, For questions, contact the Leadership Development Department at leadership@optimist.org. Scholarship Contest Rule Change Effective October 1, 2018, all Clubs and Districts will be required to hold non-gender Oratorical Contests. For full listing of scholarship contest revisions, click here. There are no rule changes for the Oratorical Contest. For questions, contact programs@optimist.org The Southern Exposure 7

8 ESSAY CONTEST Can Society Function Without Respect? Local contests should be completed in January 2018 Deadline for submitting the winning essay for your club is February 28 District winners will be invited to the 3 rd Quarter Conference to receive their awards and read their essays. The complete Essay Contest packet can be obtained at Club Presidents should appoint an Essay Contest chair soon and they should contact schools for their assistance. Tony Trimble, Essay Chair Oratorical Contest "Where are My Roots of Optimism?" Club Contest completed and submitted to District chair by March 6, 2018 Semi-Final Contests March 2018; dates & locations t.b.d. District Finals held on April 14, 2018, Terre Haute, Indiana Fee: $60.00 each Indiana is still up in the air about dates/forms of Standardized Testing, but if history repeats itself, the testing will be around February 26th to March 9th. It is best to avoid these dates and have your contest a few weeks before. Tricia Vaal, Oratorical Scholarship Chair Tri-Star Basketball Club Contest Completed by February Date Finals: March 11, t.b.a. Send entries to District chairperson Fee: $50.00 each for Boys and Girls Jack Nichols, Chair The Southern Exposure 8

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12 Don Julian a longtime member of the Downtown Optimist Club of Evansville passed away this past November. Don was a Lt. Governor of Indiana South District. He will be missed. The Southern Exposure 12

13 Information Corner Oratorical Chair Oratorical Committee Oratorical Committee Trish Vaal (David) James "Jim" Arnold (Colleen) Bob Thompson #5364 (Joyce) 870 South Melody Lane 3548 S 101 E 251 Brixton Woods East Dr Santa Claus, IN Clayton, IN Pittsboro, IN H (812) ; C (812) H (317) ; C (317) H (317) ; C (317) dtvaal@psci.net papawarnold@tds.net optimistbob@tds.net Santa Claus Mill Creek Plainfield JOI Chair Essay Contest Michael R. Novak (Diane) Tony Trimble # East Troy Street 1714 Beech Drive N Greensburg, IN Plainfield, IN H (812) ; B (812) H (317) ; B (317) minovak@msn.com FAX (317) Greensburg tonytrimble@comcast.net Plainfield Personal Development Program (PGI) Respect for Law Awards & Achievement (A&A) Lisa Zack (Dan) Greg Kuhn # 2047 Chuck Curry #9753 (Cheryl) 5001 East 71st Street Glen Cove Court 2230 West Melody Lane Indianapolis, IN Indianapolis, IN Greenfield, IN C (317) C (317) H (317) zack146@comcast.net gakuhn@aol.com clcurry500@yahoo.com Fishers Indianapolis Breakfast Indy Downtown Tri-Star Sports Junior Golf Co-Chair Junior Golf Co-Chair Jack Nichols Mike Woodward (Jill) John R. Reel (Carolyn) 4324 Summit St 641 Lawndale Drive 861 Highlander Drive Cartersburg, IN Plainfield, IN Plainfield, IN H (317) ; C (317) H (317) ; C (317) H (317) jackieking@tds.net optimist.mike@gmail.com rondalreel@aol.com Mill Creek Plainfield Plainfield Club Newsletter Contest District Directory Nicolas Quintana #4653 Rick France #9739 (Pat) 674 Shakespeare Drive 4908 North Illinois Street Avon, Indiana Indianapolis, IN C (317) H (317) ; C (317) nquintana111@gmail.com rfrance8094@gmail.com Avon Indianapolis Downtown The Southern Exposure 13

14 Useful Web Links Optimist International Structure & Services: Club Organizational Model: Optimist International Foundation: The Optimist International Foundation is a 501C3 organization whose purpose is to receive and manage funds exclusively for the charitable, literary or educational purposes of OI and its member clubs. See website link: Official Optimist International Supplier: Shumsky The Southern Exposure 14

15 Is Your Club on the Internet? You can help people find your Club. Make sure your info on the on the Clubs page of the Indiana South District website is correct. If there is anything you would like the District web team to fix for your club s listing, please be sure to let us know. Send an to us at webmaster@indianasouthdistrict.org Make sure your info on the Optimist International website is correct. If your Club has changed their meeting place and/or time, be sure to update the info on the OI website. It s easy for the Club President or Secretary/Treasurer to do: TO FIX YOUR CLUB'S MEETING PLACE & TIME INFO on the OI website Clubs Directory: Log on to Optimist Leaders online ( for your club. Click the Club Addresses button (left side, about halfway up). Follow the directions and type in the correct info. Remember to Log off when you're finished! Does your club have its own website? If you make your own web hosting arrangements, please let the District web team know the address, so we can link to your site from the District Site s Clubs page, and be sure to let the OI web folks know about your site. As of early July, only three Indiana South clubs have their website listed on the OI Club directory: Avon, Evansville, and Indianapolis. If your Club is considering starting your own website, keep in mind that there is space available on the District site for hosting Club websites. Let Webmaster Jim know if you would like to have your club s site hosted at no cost on the District site. You can send him an at webmaster@optimistindiana.org, or give him a call if you have any questions. You can put Social Networking to work for your club, too. Optimist International has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Linked in, and Pinterest. Find all kinds of ideas and getting-started info on the OI Social Networking page: The Southern Exposure is published for all Optimists located in the Indiana South District, Optimist International. The editor is Paul R. Grant, 770 N County Road 625 E, Avon, IN Submissions may be sent to p_grant@fastmail.fm and are subject to extreme editing. Club Presidents: Please make copies of this Bulletin and distribute to the members of your club. The Southern Exposure 15

16 Update Member Information To ensure each Optimist Member is receiving important information from Optimist International, encourage each Member to update their contact information with a leader in your Club. This includes addresses, addresses and phone numbers. Each leader (Club President, Secretary, or Treasurer) has a log-in for Optimist Leaders to update the Members information. Attention ALL Club Presidents Presidents of all Clubs in the District serve as members of the District Board of Directors. Make sure to attend your Board meeting at every District Conference and at the Convention. The Southern Exposure 16