President Sidney Sandridge asked chaplain John Burns for today's prayer and to lead us in the pledge of allegiance to our flag, followed by an enthusiastic shout of "God Bless America" from Fred Binner. Next Al Renz introduced Perry Law who gave a presentation on Optimism, fulfilling the Level I PGI (personal growth and involvement) requirement. Perry cleverly wove into his speech the tenets of our creed and the objects of Optimist International. It was a super speech and should be written down. Al added the bronze addition to Perry's membership pin.
Alberto had a guest today, Henry (I'm sorry I missed his last name), an engineer with Boeing.; Byrom had two guests: Sharman Dailey and Nicole Hitt. We're currently having very excellent programs, so invite someone to see what our club is doing. Byrom introduced our speaker today. Marcy McFarlin described the illicit substance abuse going on in our. community. She presented documented evidence of 6th to 12th grade activities across Madison County. It was shocking to learn the extent of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, uppers and downers (and who knows what) being regularly used by about 10 % of. our kids. Marcy pointed out that the use here is above the national average. Our club's community service and outreach committee is about to decide which youth programs we will support this year, and we should keep this problem described today in mind. Marcy said the Child Advocacy Center has been effective in this field, but has had to lay off personnel recently. Marcy's organization is the Partnership for a Drug-Free Community dedicated to youth substance abuse prevention. Marcy further emphasized the importance of keeping communication channels open with our 11 to 18 year olds.
This week our business meeting will be at the Optimist Recreation Center. Well vote for either Gay Pepper or Ray Swaim to fill an opening on the Huntsville Optimist Foundation Board. Also, all committee chairs will have the opportunity to report their committee progress. Rebecca won the attendance prize today.
