VOL. 60, No. 3, October 20, 2005

Pres. Will Dawes presided over our 1st business meeting of the year with approximately 25 members in attendance at the ORC (Optimist Recreation Center). Chaplain Bingham gave the invocation and led the pledge of allegiance. Copies of the club by-laws, the budget for the year and the monthly financial statement were distributed. Pres. Will and others plan to participate in the District Board Meeting in Decatur Oct. 21-23, and report the proceedings to the club in the near future.

Each club committee chairman was urged to aim high this year. A listing of committee heads follows:

Community Service		Beck/Nevins
Sergeant at Arms		Binner
Membership		Castelli
Band Instruments		Clarke
New Club Building		Duarte
Fund Raising		Sanford/ Westmoreland/ Duarte
Essay Contest		Goodwin
Oratorical Contest		Gipson
Youth Appreciation Week		Hix/Townsend
Procedures/ Policies		Nevins
Programs		Pepper
Chaplain		Bingham
Personal Growth Coordinator		Plank
Financial Oversight		Sandridge/Shirey
Respect for Law		Schultz
New Member Mentoring		Shirey
Communications		Winkler/ Billings/ Ferrell
Archivist		Ferrell

Ed Clark, Bill Clarke and Alberto Duarte will write a description of our band instrument program and submit it to OI (Optimist International) and the Huntsville Times. The membership goal this year is to achieve a net gain of 25 with each member having a personal goal of at least one. Pres. Dawes is shooting for 2 new Jr. Optimist JOOI clubs (one at Sparkman High), and one new adult club. The assignment of a senior member to act as a mentor to each new member for a short time is an important innovative addition this year. Duane Plank urged each member to make a special effort to meet and talk with all guests at our meetings. Al Castelli recommended that we only use the ORC for monthly business meetings, not for our Christmas Party or any special events. It was announced that Gay Pepper's mother passed away recently at 97. Will offered the club's sympathy to Gay.

Ralph Caneer notified the club that the Optimist Foundation Board terms for Jeff Klimek and Beth Townsend will end at the end of the year. It's up to the club to re-elect them for another 3 years or to replace them with other qualified club members. Only those who have been club members for 3 years are qualified. Our web site is now shown on the bulletin each week. Current and past bulletins as well as a wealth of other information is available thanks to Governor-Elect Tom Casteel.

CALENDAR

Oct. 27		Thursday		11:45 am		Holiday Inn Select		Charles Wiley, Media Bias
Nov 1		Tuesday		4:00 pm		1st Commercial Bank		Board Meeting
Nov 3		Thursday		11:45 am		Holiday Inn Select		TBA
Nov 16		Wednesday		4:00 pm		Regions Trust Department		Optimist Foundation
Carl W.