Farmington - Farmington Hills Optimist Club

Hi -

Here are some odds and ends about recent and upcoming Junior Optimist events:

Inside Outside: Project FISH

Next Friday night, January 14, the Farmington Hills Parks & Recreation Department is hosting a program called Inside Outside at the Costick Center. The Optimist and Junior Optimist Clubs will be promoting Project FISH and operating a “casting” station. Kids will cast (underhand) plastic fish into hula hoops for prizes. The event runs from 6-8pm, and we are looking for 4-5 Junior Optimists to work each one-hour shift, either from 6-7pm or 7-8pm. If your child would like to volunteer, please write to richard@f2hoptimists.org. No prior experience necessary. The summer 2011 date for our Project FISH program has not yet been set. For more information about the Inside Outside program, follow this link: http://muniweb.fhgov.com/egov/docs/1292506931_611938.pdf

Goodfellows & Neighborhood House

Dave Kenerson, President of the Goodfellows, expressed his gratitude for all of the time and hard work our Junior Optimists put in this year. He made that announcement at a Goodfellows meeting this week. Noting that the average age of a Goodfellows “Elf” is north of 60, he thanked the Junior Optimists and their parents for their time, and referred to them as the future of the Goodfellows organization. We hope everyone who helped out on delivery day had a great experience, and a special thanks to those who participated in the Civic Theater and Battle of the Middles programs. This year the Goodfellows served 278 families and seniors, more than 400 people in total, all of them in Farmington and Farmington Hills. We will be supporting them again in the Memorial Day Parade, when we will help promote Neighborhood House, the Goodfellows program that helps those in need during the other 11 months of the year. This is our third year of partnering with the Goodfellows, and it has been a positive experience for both organizations.

Power & East Junior Optimists

Kudos to our Power and East Junior Optimists who braved the cold for the Salvation Army last month at Busch’s Grocery store on Drake Road. They sang carols and rang bells for hours on a very cold day, and one of their rewards was appearing in both the Farmington Observer and Farmington Patch newspapers. Great job for a very worthy cause!

Optimist Essay & Oratorical Contests

You may have seen in your eFriday folder before the holidays that it’s time for the F2H Optimist Club Essay Contest. The topic this year is "How My Education is the Key to a Successful Future". Winners at the local level move on to the District competition as part of the Optimist International Essay Contest for 2011.

Winners will be judged at the local level for students living and going to school in Farmington and Farmington Hills. There are separate prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for 7 & 8 graders and for 9-12th graders. Winners will be sent to the district level, and each district will send top entries to the international level. College scholarships are available for top winners at the district level and beyond. We are encouraging all of our Power and East Junior Optimists to submit an essay. The Club will distribute over $700 in prizes to the winners. Entries must be received no later than Friday, January 14, 2011. For complete details on the contest, follow this link: http://www.farmington.k12.mi.us/news/efriday/optimist_essay.pdf

Next up is the F2H Optimist Oratorical Contest, just a few months away. More on that in our next ListServ. Last year, Veer Shah, an 8th grade student at East Middle School won first place for the boys. He went on to take first place at the District level in Auburn Hills, and received honors at the state-wide level in Muskegon, winning some significant scholarship money along the way.

Junior Optimist Board meeting

On Wednesday, January 12, we will have a meeting for Junior Optimist officers at Dunckel Middle School in the LGI Room from 6:30-7:30pm. The LGI is located across from the front door at Dunckel, which is across the street from the Farmington Library on 12 Mile Road. We will go through some exercises to help the leaders plan their club meetings, create task lists for their projects, and learn how to run meetings smoothly. The Treasurers will learn about using Excel for their budgets and T-shirt orders. The Secretaries will learn about reporting progress and keeping minutes. We will also work on a simulated plan for the Sweet Dreamzzz collection drive February 7-11, which 6 of our clubs are participating in. Parent leaders for the schools are also welcome to attend this meeting. Please RSVP to richard@f2hoptimists.org if your child or parent leader will attend so we'll be sure to have enough handouts.

Treasurers and Secretaries who are unable to attend the meeting will find the forms they need for t-shirt orders and registrations at this link: http://www.f2hoptimists.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=46&Itemid=68

Other  Junior Optimist Meetings & Events

• Junior Optimist Board: Jan.12 Dunckel Cafeteria @ 6:30-7:30pm
• Essay Contest Deadline for submissions Jan. 14
  
• Dunckel: Jan 20 Dunckel Cafeteria @ 6:30-7:30pm
• East: Jan. 18 East LGI @ 6:00-7:00pm
• Power: Jan. 12 Power Cafeteria 6:00-7:00pm (also Feb. 9, Mar. 9, Apr. 13 & May 11)
• Warner: Jan 13 Warner Cafeteria @ 6:30-7:30pm
• Woodcreek: Jan. 10 Woodcreek LGI @ 6:30-7:30pm
• Girls Oratorical Contest: March 2, Maxfield Training Center or TBD @ 7:30-9:30am
• Boys Oratorical Contest: March 9,Maxfield Training Center or TBD @ 7:30-9:30am
• Junior Golf Tournament: May 14, Farmington Hills Golf Club 7:30am-12noon
• Memorial Day Parade: May 30, downtown Farmington @ 9-11am
• Great Family Campout: Jun 11, Heritage Park @ 2-6pm (Project FISH & serving dinner)
• Founders Festival Parade: July 16, downtown Farmington @ 9-11am

© 2010 Farmington - Farmington Hills Optimist Club   www.f2hoptimists.org
P. O. Box 2203 · Farmington Hills, MI, 48333-2203

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