News & Announcements

     Club Connect Contest - New Oct 24th, 2009.
     2nd Quarter District Conference Invitation - New Oct 21st, 2009.
     Let's Soar - a letter from Mark Shriver - New Oct 15th, 2009.
     Have You Heard About Internet Safety - New Oct 8th, 2009.
     Farewell to Governor Doug - Oct 8th, 2009.
     Scholarship Competition Topics Announced - Sep 12th, 2008.
     15 Member Pilot Club Extended - Aug 16th, 2008.

Club Connect Contest

How does your Club Connect…with potential members, partner groups, your community? How do you promote your club, from your history and past achievements to your current projects and contributions? Perhaps you have a brochure to hand out or a poster to display. If not, wouldn’t it be great if you did?

We are running a contest with a drawing each quarter. Our first winner will be announced at the 2nd Quarter Conference and we will post some of the best entries on our District website.

Lisa-Wilson Sturm & Gord Welling Oct 24th, 2009

2nd Quarter District Conference Invitation

Go For The Gold !!

You are invited to the 2nd Quarter District Conference scheduled for February 5-6, 2010 in Calgary, Alberta. Since this is shortly before the start of the Winter Olympics, Friday night we will have games and award medals to the participating clubs with the most points won during the evening!!!

Mention “Optimist Meeting” to get a reduced hotel room rate of $135 Canadian plus taxes. The hotel is holding a block of rooms for us at this rate until January 15, 2010. For Toll Free Reservations call 1-888-324-5117.

Both a "Kids & Companion Programs" are available so you can bring the entire family. Just complete a Registration Form and book your room before they are all reserved!

The rest of the District meetings for the 2009-10 Optimist year will be held:

3rd Quarter District Conference - Saskatoon, SK - May 14-15, 2010
Annual Meeting & District Convention - Bozeman, MT - Aug 19-21, 2009

Opts Duane Kelly Oct 21st, 2009

Let's Soar - a letter from Mark Shriver

Welcome to the 2009-2010 Optimist year! This year we look to the Optimist Creed, proven inspiration for each of us, as we strive to new heights as Optimists. I'm asking each of you to "Promise Yourself ... for the Kids."

You know what we need to do - we need to serve more kids with more Members and more Clubs. In short, the word for the year is GROW. I challenge each of you to GROW your Club, your Zone, your District. Yes, grow the number of Members. Yes, grow the number of Clubs. But also grow your revenue, your activities, your Foundation contributions and your visibility in the community.

There is one promise you can definitely make that will benefit children and the organization. Promise to look into the new Internet Safety Program this year. I'm excited about this program because it answers a need that parents and teachers all over have - how to keep kids safe online. Just as importantly, this program offers the opportunity for extensive visibility for Optimists to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of parents and grandparents in every community. The educators and parents we help will make perfect volunteers to help other teachers, parents and students down the road. Inform them, and then recruit them!

The time to act is now. Each Club can request one free Internet Safety kit from Optimist International. If you already have your kit, thank you! If your Club has not yet made the request, what are you waiting for? Just send an e-mail to programs@optimist.org along with your Club number and a mailing address. It's an easy first step to a very exciting new program!

Thanks for your dedication to Optimist International. I'm excited for what the year has in store for us - let's make it a year of good promises for Optimism and for the kids!

Let's Soar!

Mark Shriver
2009-2010 Optimist International President

OI President Mark Shriver Oct 15th, 2009

Have You Heard About Internet Safety

Statistics show that 99% of all teens have access to the internet and 94% of students admitted to being cyber bullied and did not tell an adult. The importance of protecting the children in your community is a major undertaking and Optimists Clubs can play a vital role.

Optimist International has partnered with the Internet Keep Safe Coalition to address issues of youth safety as children use the Internet and to educate parents on the online dangers to youth. See our Internet Safety page for more details.

LG Don Holmstrom Oct 8th, 2009

Optimism (A Promise) and His Other Musings

As we bid farewell to Gov Doug and thank him for his contributions through the 2008-09 Optimist year, it's nice to remember how prolific our Governor was. His points of view are well know to those who attend the District Conferences and Converntion, but to those who have never met Governor Doug ... you will be a bit surprised.

I encourage everyone to read his writings from his time as our Governor, especially his last posting entitled "Optimisn (A Promise)". You can find all of his musings on his webpage on our site.

Farewell Gov Doug and thank you for your efforts!

Opt Gord Welling Oct 8th, 2009

Scholarship Competition Topics Announced

The topics for the Optimist International Scholarship competitions have been announced:

Essay

"The Internet: Today's Evolution or Tomorrow's Menace"

Oratorical & CCDHH

"The Internet: Cyber Communication - Progress or Problem?"

Clubs are free to run a club-level competition to select winners to move on to the applicable Zone, Regional and District level competions. Clubs can award monetary awards of up to $500 per winner for each competition.

There are club level planning guides available for each competition:

Garnering interest in Oratorical competitions has been difficult in recent years so clubs may want to consider approaching elementary schools (grades 5 & 6) to start a "Kids Speak Out" program or club.

All materials for club competitions can be purchased from Corall Group by visiting www.canadianoptimist.com, or by calling toll-free 1-866-739-9555 or by faxing an order to 514-739-7558.

Opt Wyn McAra Sep 12th, 2009

15 Member Club Pilot Program Extended

This year a new "Pilot Club" type was introduced in the "New Club Building" program. For the first time sponsor clubs can build a new club with a minimum of 15 new members. To qualify for Distinguished Club recognition, a sponsor club would have to build two Pilot clubs in the same Optimist year. This gave us the flexibility to extend the reach of Optimism to smaller communities who could not support building a 25 member club.

The "Pilot Club" program was approved for a one year period to end September 30, 2009. This program was so successful, that a motion was adopted at the 2009 Optimist International Convention to extend the "Pilot Club" program to September 30, 2012."

The Optimist International office reported that of all the "Pilot Clubs" that were approved, most chartered with 25 members. Approval is required to sponsor the building of a "Pilot Club" in a community. Check out the details about how to sponsor and build a "Pilot Club".

Opt Gord Welling Aug 16th, 2009

1st Quarter District Conference Invitation

You are invited to the 1st Quarter District Conference scheduled for October 22-23, 2009 in St. Albert, Alberta. Enjoy the hospitality of the St. Albert Optimist Clubs and take the opportunity to meet with the District Team led by our Governor, Darryl Sim.