Collector's Edition #3, Year 2 December 2000
Message From the President
Our club is delighted with the fine work done by Bill Chantler and his committee on the Novice Hockey Tournament last month. The tournament was a resounding success and achieved its budget expectations. A hearty congratulations is extended to all involved.
Our thanks go out to Past President Rick and his lovely wife Mary Anne who graciously offered their home for our Christmas party. Optimists Kevin Heslop and Doug Mackay win the Red Green award for repairs to the Gillespie house and I heard Optimist Sil volunteer his home for next year as he has 15-20 projects that they could work on. Optimist Vinny performed tricks, Optimist Peter Hegler held a jovial and well lubricated session as Santa and our photographer Optimist Don Draper was busy recording memories of the night. A fun time was had by all.
The year 2000 has been a success in many ways. Especially noteworthy is that our membership has grown from 36 one year ago to 48 today. Optimist club historian Peter tells me that the club has never exceeded 50 members. One of our many goals for 2001 will be to encourage and develop an active interest from all members, rookies and veterans alike. It is your challenge as an Optimist to select and participate in the programs and the activities of our club. Your Board of Directors is working on many new events and ways to develop Optimism in 2001. We are counting on everyone's help.
I wish each of you and your families a safe holiday season and a very Merry Christmas.
Jim Easton
Oakography
Eric Riley began his Optimist career in 1989 when Greg Harness sponsored him. Sincethenhe has been active as a Director several times,.the Vice President of Youth for three or 50 years and as President for oneterm. Hehas chaired the baseball committee for three years and coached ball for 12 years on the competitive side plus a couple of years in house league.
His teams have had many special moments and have brought Province wide attention to the Oakridge Optimist program. His Pee Wee team won the M Provincial Championship, his Rookie Ball team won the Provincial Championship, his Mosquito team earned silver at the Provincial Championship and he was an assistant coach when his T Ball team won a Provincial Championship. The kids on his teams have benefited from the excellent coaching abilities of Eric and his partners.
In his spare time Eric is a teacher (I use this term in its broadest sense) at Clarke Road Secondary School. He began his career in 1975 as a Clinical Social Worker for Probation and After Care. I always thought Eric needed to receive counseling rather than be responsible for dispensing it. He went back to school to get his Masters in Education and began teaching at the Genest Centre in 1988.
He did a stint at Thames Secondary before going to the '~Road" eight years ago. He has coached football, hockey and track at the high school level and is known for producing competitive teams and planning great trips for his student athletes.
Eric has been married to Dana for 24 years. I will tell you his first response if you buy me a beer. Dana has also been very involved in Oakridge Optimist sports as a long standing member of the Ball Committee and a great advocate for girl's fastball - the real sport!
They have two kids, Tara who is a fastball pitcher and Shane who plays baseball. Eric is known for cooking the turkey at many of our past Christmas parties. Some of his fondest memories, other than the car rallies and a memorable bus trip to Detroit with fewer people returning than the number going, remain known only to him as he refused to identify any other guilty Opumist members. He did mention that he had fond memories of the sleigh rides at Circle R Ranch with special mention of the hot tub event at Dave Butt's after the last party at that location. I don't know what happened in the tub but it should be noted that Dave left the club shortly afterwards and we have never been back to Circle R since.
Eric has made a great impact on the youth in our community in his professional and volunteer capacity. Thanks for all of your hard work and dedication!/p
Optimist Rick Gillespie
Dinner Meeting - Nov.16, 2000
We took it to the air waves that night as special guests, Tom Gibson and Dave Langford set up AM 980 radio station's Sports Talk Show (6:00-7:00 p.m.) at Thames Valley Golf Course. Included on the broadcast and our dinner meeting were Steve Code, (Free Press football predictions), Bob Ranick (Opt. Jun. Golf), and 3 generations of the Palser family - Hugh, Dick and Rick (all coaches in the Oakridge program). The Oakridge Novice Hockey Tournament also received some great publicity as Opt. Bill Chantler was interviewed. Bill was. very effective in representing the hard working committee, which organized the tournament. Some highlights of the dinner meeting included:
· Presentation of a plaque to the Palser family, by Pres. Jim Easton, to commemorate their service as hockey coaches.
· Indication by Bob Ranick that a budget of $25,000 is needed to run a zone Junior Golf program
· Introduction of a trophy honouring Opt. Bob Stark. It will be presented annually to the team which is champion of the Novice Hockey Tournament
· Brief presentations by Dave Langford, Sports Ed. For the London Free Press and Tom Gibson, sportscaster for AM 980. Tom (born in Owen Sound) did have to mention that his more recent home town, Strathroy, had a double pad arena in comparison with London's????
· Dave spoke of his experiences as sports editor for both the Free Press and the Toronto Globe and Mail. He recalled a conflict with Cito Gaston who felt some of his Globe articles smacked of racism. A meeting was called by Paul Beeston and Dave remembered the feeling of intimidation as Cito entered the room in full Blue Jays uniform. Cito asked Dave "Why don't you like me?" Dave's response was that it was not dislike of the person he had written about but rather his negative feelings about some of Cito's baseball strategies. This illustrated the impact of the press, positive or negative, on local sports teams.
· Dave and Tom were presented with Oakridge OpUmist golf shirts. They were still exuding enthusiasm about their gifts and the experience at our meeting during the next day's broadcast.
Well done! to President Jim for making all the arrangements. A super meeting and great PR!
Christmas Party
December 9, 2000
In the President's Message, Jim Easton thanked Mary Anne and Rick Gillespie for their hospitality and he highlighted some of the events of the evening. The following photo essay illustrates, in part, what took place.
Opt. Vince and the old egg in the glass trick!
There were so really novel gifts. Look what lucky Opt. Scott took home.
Opt. Max and the Gillespie's dog also did tricks. This may have been the only food the poor animal got all evening.
Santa. Whoops! Optimist Santa Hegler appeared to distribute gifts. He may have lost some weight since last year. Will Santa's wife really wear the three things he gave her? Opt. Doug tried on his gift but wasn't sure where his nose was.
Christmas Humour
Some one-liners you may want to share with children during the next few weeks.
· Why would Santa Claus make a good race car driver?
Because he's always in the pole position.
· Why does Santa Claus have three gardens?
So he can Ho-Ho-Ho.
· Billy: How come you never hear anything about the tenth reindeer, Olive?
Tilly: Olive?
Billy: Yeah, you know... Olive the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names...
· What do you call a chicken at the North Pole?
Lost.
· Mrs. Claus: Keep your eyes off the turkey dressing!
Santa Claus: Why? Mrs. Claus: It makes him blush!
· As a little girl climbed onto Santa's lap, Santa asked the usual, "And what would you like for Christmas?"
The child stared at him open mouthed and homTied for a minute, then gasped: "Didn't you get my letter?"
· ELF ONE: I can play the piano by ear!
ELF TWO: That's nothing. Santa Claus fiddles with his whiskers!
Oakridge Hockey Tournament 2000
Congratulations to the committee, which planned the successful Novice tournament held at Oakridge Arena November 18 and 19. Teams were entered from Toronto, Niagara Falls, Waterloo, Stratford, Grand Blanc, Scarborough, Kitchener, Caledon, Woodstock, Hamilton, Sarnia and Oakridge.
Committee members were:
Chairperson - Bill Chantler
Vice Chair - Bob Stark
Treasurer - Craig Rath
Programs - Steve Cochrane, Doug Finlay
Pictures - Tim Firth
Trophies/Awards - Mark McGugan
Booth Managers - Cathy Finlay, Dana Harriss
Registrations - Kevin Heslop, Tern Botsford, Dana Harriss, Rick Harriss, Cathy Finlay
Timekeepers - John Langmuir
Referees - John Langmuir, Ron Earnshaw
Upcoming Events:
Jan.13- Breakfast Meeting at Thames Valley Golf Course - 9:00 a.m.
Jan.18 - Activity/Social Evening. The "activity" was being explored at press time but Tubing was one thing being considered. Call captains will be more specific in the near future.
Feb. 15-Social with members of the sports committees. Location to be announced.
Mar.22- Dinner Meeting at Thames Valley Golf course. This has been designated as Alumni Night as former members of the club will be invited to join the current members. Should be full of fun and nostalgia.
In the Zone and District
Next Quarter Board Meeting will be held in London on Feb.03, 2001 These generally are morning and early afternoon affairs with a very good lunch in between. Any member is welcome to attend. It is a great chance to meet fellow Optimists from the Midwestern Ontario District. Time is set aside to offer training sessions on various programs promoted by Optimist international. It is here that we can truly become excited by activities for young people that our club now organizes or wishes to organize. We stand to gain ideas and confidence to further enhance the things we already do and also to introduce new ideas. The recent growth in our club offers a wonderful opportunity to do this.
A concept in business having to do with change probably applies to service clubs. If we strive only to maintain the status quo, we may in fact be falling behind. We should always be exploring new and different ways that we can help young people grow as healthy, well rounded, contributing citizens in the community. If you are interested in experiencing the Quarter Board Meeting, please call or email Pres. Jim.
Celebrations
Happy Birthday to:
Peter Hegler - Dec 9
Don Draper - Dec 9
Linda Hegler - Dec 7
Happy Anniversary to:
Ahlam and Ab Chahbar - Jan
Lorraine and John Cameron - Dec 7
Optimist Club of Oakridge Acres Board of Directors 2000/2001
President - Jim Easton (641-0798)
V.P. (Youth) - Steve Cochrane (657-8865)
V.P. (Ways & Means) Kevin Heslop (472-2627)
Secretary - Bill Chantler (641-6483)
Treasurer - Craig Rath (673-6403)
Past President - Rick Gillespie (641-2815)
Director (1 yr.) - Peter Heg~er (471-4928)
Director (1 yr.) - Doug Mackay (473-5885)
Director (1 yr.) - Rick Harriss (473-2412)
Director (2 yr.) - Sil Brecevic (657-8803)
Director (2 yr.) - Mike Wolowich (473-0769)
Director (2 yr.) - Fred Fickling (472-1062)
Oakridge Communicates!
1.) Newsletter Staff
Editors - Bob Moldowan and Don Draper
Oakography - Rick Gillespie
President - Jim Easton
2.) Check out the website for the Oakridge
Optimists.
Web address - http://www.execuIink.com/~oakridge.htm
Email address - oakridge@execulink.com
Web Master is Peter Hegler
· Dinner Meetings held the third Thurs. of each month at the Thames Valley Golf Course unless announced otherwise. (7:00 p.m.)
· Board of Directors Meeting held at the Oakridge Arena on the 1st Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m.
THE OPTIMIST CREED
PROMISE YOURSLF
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble