First Quarter Board Update from Gov Glen

A great big Thank You to the Optimists of the great AMSNW District that attended the First Quarter Board meeting in Edmonton this past weekend.  About 104 Optimists and companions registered for the meeting to make it a resounding SUCCESS.

The fellowship and enthusiasm shown at this meeting gives me confidence that we will soon be serving more youth in our communities and in some new communities in the next couple of months.

Regional Vice-President Jim Boyd was with us from Des Moines, Iowa and was very impressed with our District Pride.  He arrived one day early to help us with any New Club Building we had going on.  As there was a request from High Prairie, AB through Optimist International, I took him to High Prairie to meet a future Optimist and formulate the plan to charter a Club.  He now has an idea the distances we drive in our District for meetings and New Club building.

Plan on joining us at the Second Quarter Board meeting in Wolf Point, MT on February 21st and 22nd, 2014.  Registration forms and Hotel rates will be posted on our website shortly.  I look forward to meeting both new Optimists and Optimist friends at this next meeting.

Lets Promise to reach out to more youth and make tomorrows leaders better than todays.

"I Promise"
Governor Glen

Optimist International Leadership Summits

Beginning in January of 2014, Optimist International will be hosting a series of one-day training events at 16 locations across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. These Leadership Summits will provide quality training while remaining both geographically and financially accessible to a vast majority of Optimist Members. The registration fee for each of the summits is only $25.

Topics:

• What Makes a Good Club Meeting?
• Secrets to a Dynamic Club
• Mentoring a Member and Retention
• Social Media
• Community Needs Assessment
• Club Marketing and Publicity
• Developing Future Leaders
• And many more!

Dates and Locations:

Check the schedule below to find the Leadership Summit near you!

• May 3, 2014 - Denver, Colorado
• June 7, 2014 - Regina, Saskatchewan
• June 14, 2014 - Portland, Oregon 

Registration:

Download the 2013 Leadership Summit Registration form to register by mail or fax. Online registration will be available soon.

Source:  Optimist Leaders Hotline for October 2013 

Message from the President

Welcome to the 2013-14 Optimist year! October means a new year and a new start for Optimists, but the children we serve didn't notice any stop or start. This is the time to evaluate and fine-tune what we do best. Are you concerned that your Club needs some help to carry out projects and fundraisers to benefit the youth in your community? Would you like to possibly win some money to help fund those youth activities? Well, now you have that chance. The 2013-14 incentives can put your Club's name into eight quarterly draws, one per Region for a $250 Youth Activities Grant.

New Members mean extra hands to lighten the workload. Make a stronger resource of working Members by putting together a prospect list. Get those prospective names from your current Members and charge your Club's Membership Chair to do the talking. Remember success breeds success. If you want to be successful, it is your responsibility to make it happen, so start now.

Watch for news about the new Leadership Summits coming to a location near you in the second or third quarter of 2013-14. Be proactive, not reactive. There is no time like the present to take the first step towards being the best leader you can be.

What's your MO?

President Ron

Source:  Optimist Leaders Hotline for October 2013

2013-14 Scholarship Contest Topics Announced

The topics for the 2013-14 Optimist International Scholarship competitions have been announced:

Essay

"How Dreams Lead to Success"

Oratorical & CCDHH

"How My Passions Impact the World"

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

Additional information is available at the following online information pages:

Essay Competition  ~  Oratorical (Public Speaking) Competition
Communication Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

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.

Clubs should visit our Programs Resources web page and click on the logo for the competition that they want to host to access the latest OI information for that competition.

Meet the District team for 2013-14

Governor Glen Kreller (St. Albert) is pleased to announce the following appointments to the District Team for  2013-14.

There are some changes that we have introduced into the team this year that includes the splitting North-East Montana clubs from Zone 8 to form a new Zone 10.  The Essay & Oratorical Competition Chair positions have been combined and the Lt Governor for Zone 5 will also chair the CCDHH competition.  I want to thank all those Optimists who stepped forward to volunteer with the District Team in addition to their club duties.

Introducing the District Executive Team

The District Executive Team is responsible for running an effective District that fosters growth in membership and clubs, delivers fantastic youth projects and programs, and delivers services that support the Zone Lieutenant-Governors, and Clubs.  We are pleased to introduce the District Executive for 2013-14:

Governor – Glen Kreller (St. Albert)
District Secretary-Treasurer – Wendy Skoretz (Border City-Lloydminster)
2014-15 Governor-Elect – Dan Pedersen (Great Falls-Uptown)
International Ambassador – Nick Markowsky (Prince Aldert)
Candidate Qualifications – Ted Huber (Bozeman Breakfast)

Lieutenant Governors

Zone 1 Lt Gov - James Rehm (Great Falls-Uptown)
Zone 2 Lt Gov - Roger Gravaard (Billings-Heights)
Zone 3 Lt Gov - Les Trevor (Red Deer)
Zone 4 Lt Gov - Roger Gravaard (Billings-Heights)
Zone 5 Lt Gov - Patti Welling (St. Albert)
Zone 6 Lt Gov - Time Bell (Airdrie)
Zone 7 Lt Gov - Allyson Wall (Prince Albert)
Zone 8 Lt Gov - Jim McWilliams (Regina-Downtowners)
Zone 9 Lt Gov - Dennis Hodgins (Duval)
Zone 10 Lt Gov - Ruth Boysun (Wolf Point)

Meet the District Growth Team

The District Growth Team is responsible for fostering a significant growth in District membership by assisting fellow Optimists to recruit new members and build new adult and JOOI clubs, and by enhancing the knowledge and skills of Optimist leaders and members.  We are pleased to introduce the District Growth Team for 2013-14: 

Leadership Development Chair – Edie McInnes (Blackfalds)
Membership Chair – Nathan Kondrat (Red Deer-Waskasoo)
New Club Building Chair – Gary Cross (Regina-Downtowners)
JOOI Chair – Sue Bridgeford (Great Falls-Uptown)
Personal Growth (PGI) Chair – Jeff Barnhart (Great Falls-Uptown) 

Meet the District Youth Programs Team

The District Youth Programs Team is responsible for running the District Scholarship Contests, and supporting clubs with running other OI sanctioned youth programs.  We are pleased to introduce the District Growth Team for 2013-14: 

Childhood Cancer Campaign – Dan Petersen (Great Falls-Uptown)
CCDHH Competition Chair – Patti Welling (St. Albert)
Essay/Oratorical Competition Chair – Dick Mastel (Medicine Hat)
Junior Golf Chair – Jay Strever (Billings-Heights Business)
Juvenile Curling Chair – Mike Di Nicola (Calgary) 

Meet the District Services Team

The District Services Team is responsible for providing services that support the District Team, Zone Lieutenant-Governors, and Clubs.  We are pleased to introduce the District Services Team for  2013-14: 

 

Achievement, Awards & Protocol – Lloyd Pethick (Friendly City-Moose Jaw)
District Convention Chair – Lyle Merriam (Regina-Downtowners)
District Foundation Rep – Doug Kirby (Billings-Breakfast)

Supplies (Canada) – Brian Wallace (Edmonton Dinner)
Supplies (US) – Loran Salsbury (Magic City-Billings)
District Web Services – Gord Welling (St. Albert Breakfast) 

New JOOI Incentives from the International President

 Growth is important in all areas of the organization, including JOOI! There are some exciting new incentives to encourage the building new JOOI Clubs. Take this opportunity to give the youth in your community the chance to make new friends, develop leadership skills, learn the importance of community service and have fun!

All new JOOI Clubs chartered in the 2013-2014 year will be entered into a quarterly draw for a $250 grant towards one of their Club activities. There will be one draw per quarter and only Clubs built in that quarter will qualify for the draw.

Source:  Optimist Leader Hotline for October 2013

For more information on JOOI Clubs, visit "Clubs 4 Kids" on our District website.  If you are interested in building a JOOI club, please contact your Zone Lt Governor or the District JOOI Chair, Opt Sue Bridgeford.

Welcome everyone to a new year of Optimism

My friends and fellow Optimists.

Welcome everyone to a new year of Optimism.

First, let me be one of the first to congratulate "Distinguished" Immediate Past Governor Nick and his Team on a successful year of Optimism. His positive membership and building of 2 new Clubs has allowed more youth in our District to be served by Optimism. We look forward to keeping this momentum during our year.

As some of you are aware, it is my passion for our organization that keeps me involved with my Club and with this great District. I developed the theme "I Promise" to indicate that I will be working hard this year as your Governor to make this District stronger and serving more youth (the leaders of tomorrow). As
such I have a personal Oath;

"As an Optimist, I promise to make
the AMSNW District better tomorrow than it is today"

I would ask each of you to share with me my passion, my fellowship and in your own way my theme or oath. By doing this, I know that we will be serving many more youth in this District on September 30, 2014.

Welcome to the 2013-2014 year "I Promise"

Glen Kreller,
Governor 2013-2014
gkreller@shaw.ca
(780) 916-8687

"My Optimism" ... an open letter to fellow Optimists

My friends, one and all,

Every member is an Optimist because of a feeling they get when they affect the lives of young people. Whether it is at the club or the district or international level, each of us moves forward with one unified goal in mind; make our community and our world a better place for our children to live in.

How we portray our optimism varies for each of us. Some of us strive to be a part of the decision making process. While others are happy with witnessing the smiles on the faces of the young people we serve. It is important that every club and district of Optimist International recognizes that the involvement of our members must be filled with personal enjoyment. It must be entertaining and it must capture the underlining need of our members to feel that they make a difference.

In 2013 -2014 it is my wish that every club and district recognize that our children are served by active members. All members place their involvement in club and district meetings and activities on their social priority list. If we satisfy their desire for fun and enjoyment we move higher up on their personal list. We need to find out what makes our members happy and make it happen. The answer may be different for every club but the results will return big rewards in more working members and new leadership.

We can no longer lose members without a proactive plan to replace them first. For what ever reason, even the smallest of deletions has a major effect on the ability of this organization to continue to support its endeavors. Every club must understand the fact that we are all Optimist International. We are all a voice that makes a difference in our communities and our districts. It is time to raise that voice so that it echoes from club to club, village to village, city to city. Build Optimism to a stature that everyone wants to be apart of. That is my “MO” (My Optimism). Put a smile on a child and love in your heart.

Only you can make the difference.

Yours in Optimism,

Ron Huxley
2013-2014 President Optimist International