See you all Thursday morning!  After shaking everyone’s hand, smiling to all and telling stories, we will have another great breakfast from Ruth!  Thanks to Dan Vacarro, we have a guest speaker this Thursday morning.  Jimena Velazco from the Harmonium Family Youth Partner Program who will be sharing what they do for the kids and families!!  

If Doug & Dr. Angie have any of those wonderful chocolate cookies left, they will be selling for only $5.00 a box!!  The money will help the New Alternative kids resurface their basketball court.  😉

Celebrations of Life:

Tomorrow morning, Martin Luther King Day, there will be a Celebration of Life for Raleigh Sanders at 10:00 am – New Hope Community Church, 2720 Olympic Parkway in Chula Vista.  Remember to wear your red, white & blue in honor of Raleigh.  Raleigh was a long time member of the Imperial Beach Optimist Club and a very proud Navy Veteran.

This Friday, January 24^th, we will be honoring Roger Tibbetts at the Miramar National Cemetery at 12:10 pm.  A Celebration of Life for Roger will follow at the Provence House, 4370 Sweetwater Road, Bonita, CA at 1:30.  If you have any photos of Roger that you would like to share, please bring them with you to place on a bulletin board, or e-mail them to Ric Rice at ricricevideo@yahoo.com  Roger will be truly missed by all in our community.

Upcoming Calendar Events:

CPR Training:  Wednesday evening, January 29^th 6:00 PM at the Provence House, Gina Robles will provide CPR training to the Bonita Optimist and their family members at “NO CHARGE” thanks to the generosity of long-time Bonita Optimist member Jim StJerne!!   WOW!  If Jim is buying, I’m going!!  😉  Cost of Non-Members who would like to attend is $50/person.  If 10 or more attend, this will be lowered to $40/person.  For those that would like a 2-year physical Certificate of Completion from the American Red Cross, it will be an additional $30 out-of-pocket for both members and non-members.  Estimated class length is 1.5 to 2 hours long. 

Bonita Optimist Valentine Dinner:  Friday night, February 14^th!  Bring your girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife and your friends to celebrate another wonderful year of “LOVE”!!

Festivities will start at 6:00 PM at the Provence House with a terrific dinner from Ruth!  Linda Steele-Fisher will again amaze us with her decorations!!  You don’t want to miss out. 

We might even play a “LOVE” game.

Optimist International Essay Contest:  (Application attached).  Applications should be turned into Tim Jeffries by Monday, February 17, 2020.  timjeffries@cox.net

Topic:  “Is Optimism the Key to Achieving the Dream you Imagine?”   Club level awards are $400, $300 & $200.  😉

Dance for a Cure:  Friday, February 28^th and Saturday, February 29^th,  The 13^thAnnual Junior Optimist International Dance Classic will be held at Eastlake High School at 7:00 PM.  You will find everyone in the Ruth Chapman Performing Arts Theater.  Please advertise your business in their extremely successful program!  (see attachment)

Oratorical Contest:  March 5^th 6:00 PM at the Provence House.  $$$$  Award for 1^st Place  $1,200.00  Award for 2^nd Place $600.00 & Award for 3^rd Place is $300.00!! 

Big Bucks here for the kids!! 

We will also have our Bonita Optimist Club meeting that morning March 5^th at 7:00 AM.  Immediately following, we will be moving books from the Provence House to the Bonita Museum.  We need some “young” Optimists here to help us “older” Optimists.

Book Sale:  March 7^th & 8^th at the Bonita Museum.  A lot of preparation is needed to be ready for this upcoming event!  All of your help is greatly needed, so please volunteer!!  Contact Ann Stevens.  😉

Student Appreciation Night:  March 2020.  Date yet to be determined!!  😉  Need experienced Optimists to help!!

As you all can see, we have a very busy calendar and we need everyone’s cooperation.  There is more on the calendar, like Respect for the Law April 19th, Scholastic Awards and of course our Bonita Golf Tournament in June, but I didn’t want to scare you so early in the year!

It’s a Good Day to Have a Good Day!! 

Vicki Garcia-Golden

Great News Everyone! 

Heads Up! Cole Mullins, our Immediate Past Junior Optimist International President, and Julia Cooper, our current Junior Optimist International President, will be attending our CALSO Junior Optimist District Meeting on February 1st.  This is a GREAT honor for our District.  I encourage all of you to attend and participate to meet, see, and hear what our JOI President has for us.  Please look at the attached Junior Optimist International (JOI) “The Torch” magazine which has biographies of both Julia and Cole on pages 1 and 2.  Everyone who was not at the JOI Convention in Louisville last summer now has the opportunity to experience and interface with these two inspirational Junior Optimists!  

Optimistically,

Jim Parrotte

CALSO Optimist District Junior Optimist Clubs Committee Co-Chair    

January 15, 2020

Governors All

On behalf of my family and the Board and Management of Optimist International, I take this time to wish you and your family a productive and blessed 2020. We are sincerely appreciative of your leadership and commitment to serving the children and communities in Optimist International’s global landscape.

Since October 1, 2019, I have had a hectic schedule visiting clubs and districts around the Nation, while overseeing the strategic policy direction of the organization through the Board of Directors. We have been making great headway in our attempts to introduce new technologies and marketing initiatives to improve our outreach to the world of potential volunteers. Please allow me to share some of these initiatives, which you are free to share with your membership:

• Roll out of an online Learning Management System which will improve the training afforded to all members and ultimately improve the leadership skills of many of our volunteers to strengthen our clubs;
• Currently beta testing an organizational Optimist APP which will allow you to have all relevant information at your fingertips on your smart phone;
• Produced and printed the first magazine of the year and we will launch our new e-magazine “Optimist” in a few weeks which will give you a new look and feel to our primary news bulletin in a digital format;
• Expanded and improved our social media outreach to widen our reach to people outside of the general membership;
• We have received proposals from three reputable marketing agencies to build the new www.iOptimist.org website and are currently evaluating these proposals;
• We participated in the Tournament of Roses parade in partnership with Rotary International and we had visual and verbal coverage on four major networks, as well as high visibility along the parade route with approximately one million spectators seeing our Optimist Brand.
• Participated in a leadership summit with the Rotary, Lions, and Kiwanis where we discussed developing a global collaborative initiative to reinforce the importance of service clubs in the world. We are so committed to this idea that we will have a follow up meeting this April in Chicago including our senior executive leadership.
• At the board level, we have implemented three important committees that are intended to strengthen the administrative, financial, and institutional capacity of the organization to ensure our survival into the future. As you can see, we have been busy and I know that you have been busy as well. I have had the opportunity thus far to visit clubs and districts in Ohio, Canada, Missouri, Georgia, Texas, and California, and I have seen first-hand the amazing work that is being done on behalf of the organization. It truly

4494 LINDELL BLVD. ● ST. LOUIS, MO 63108 314.371.6000 ● FAX: 314.371.6006 E-mail: headquarters@optimist.org www.optimist.org

4494 LINDELL BLVD. ● ST. LOUIS, MO 63108 314.371.6000 ● FAX: 314.371.6006 E-mail: headquarters@optimist.org www.optimist.org

warms my heart to know that thousands of members are out in the trenches each day touching the lives of our children and improving the communities in which they live.

I am confident that our plan to expand this type of service into communities not yet served can be successful but we need those of you who can identify where there are opportunities to let us know so we can ensure that clubs are built in those communities not yet served.

In addition, after the first quarter where our clubs significantly cleaned up their rosters and in some instances disbanded, it is time that we focus on the retention of our existing members by ensuring that your clubs constantly keep members engaged. In addition, we need to ensure that efforts are put in place to make sure our clubs protect their legacies by having new energy and ideas through new members to ensure that the projects and programs that clubs have put in place can be executed, expanded and reinvigorated to make a difference to millions more children.

In closing, we must enter this second quarter with renewed vigor and energy to make sure that our clubs have the tools and membership to execute more service and we must ensure that we expand our Optimist Brand of service into new communities. Engagement and sharing this engagement to the world is the key. We have a great story and we need our clubs to help us tell that story.

It’s a new year, so let’s recommit ourselves to ensuring that our service to the world is second to none. I am relying on you to keep our promises to the children of the world!

Your friend and President,

Adrian M. Elcock Optimist International President 2019 to 2020

The Office of the Attorney General has changed their filing requirements for the RRF-1 form so that it conforms with the FTB and the IRS.  Assets are no longer a factor in determining the fees – only gross income.  I have attached an updated spreadsheet to reflect this change.

David Dickson, Distinguished District Treasurer

Dear Optimist Brothers and Sisters :

Please join us in our tribute to Raleigh Sanders, longtime member of Imperial Beach Optimists

MLK Day

1/20/20

10:00a.m.

New Hope Community Church

2720 Olympic Pkwy.

Chula Vista

Since Raleigh was such a proud Navy Vet, please wear Patriotic, red, white, and blue clothing.

Soul Food reception immediately following

Junior Optimists from the Canyon Crest Academy Junior Optimist International Club volunteered at “Feeding San Diego” over the Holiday Break sorting and packaging citrus fruit for distribution to the needy.  The Club members regularly perform volunteer community service activities in support of those in need.   The Canyon Crest Academy Junior Optimist International Club is sponsored by the Del Mar – Solana Beach Optimist Club.