Ed Murphy chosen as governor-elect

Congratulations to Ed Murphy III for being chosen as the governor-elect of the Pacific Northwest District of Optimist International for 2009-2010. He will become governor of the district in October 2010.

Being asked to serve is always an honor and for several years, Ed has frequently declined saying not yet. In his acceptance speech he explained why he chose to accept the opportunity at this time. According to Ed, he has been a part of an Optimist Club for forty-three years through his grandfather, father and uncle and personal membership. While reminiscing through his uncle's old photo albums and scrapbooks earlier this year, he realized that life can sometimes be short or take us in other directions so the time to step up to the next level of Optimist leadership was now.

We are happy that Ed figured out what many have known for some time and welcome him to the 2009-2010 Executive Board.  Best wishes to Ed and all Optimist leaders for success.

Optimist Clubs bring out the best in all of us

Would you like to give back something to your community?
Do you want to help children develop positive attitudes?
Would you like to help children reach their full potential?
Do you want to share your optimism with others?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you owe it to yourself to become a part of an Optimist Club. Please send us an email now and we'll help you get started.

Follow your PNW Optimist friends on Facebook

It is convention weekend in the Pacific Northwest District of Optimist International! We are so excited to welcome our friends to SW Idaho. The Boise Noon and Meridian Optimist Clubs are planning some awesome activities and there is great training in store for all of our officer-elects.

Watch for updates, or better yet...join Facebook today and you'll get updates from a great number of your PNW Optimist friends. Find us here. It's 2009! Join the social media brigade.

Hillsboro Optimist Club provides service to deployed soldiers' families

Monte Akers, with the Optimist Club of Hillsboro is leading efforts to honor families of National Guard soldiers deployed from Company D/ 2-162.  The company is expected to be deployed through April 2010.

The Optimist Club has pledged support to the Family Readiness Group for family activities during their family member's deployment. 

Read more about the project at Oregon.com.

Let's talk about Optimist Clubs

Seven times - that is how many times the average person must hear or read about something in order for them to take notice and take action. So how many times have you talked about your Optimist Club in the past week? Are you repeating your message in enough places to make sure you are being heard?

One of sessions at the 2009 District Convention will be about Selling Optimism. Rocky Jackson, Ron Petersen and I will lead this interactive and role playing activity designed to help you become confident in your skills and to learn how to turn that elevator speech into something more.

Let me share a preview of things to come: In the new administrative year, we will be taking what we learn here to the streets! But don't wait until then; you will want to use this great idea to build your club's membership today.

Next step in new club building in Eagle

If you are following this blog you might be wondering, so how did it go? Will there be an Optimist Club in Eagle? Well the first meeting went well and while we should never count our proverbial chickens before they hatch, I'm going to go ahead and say yes. After all, the previous post should have alerted you to the fact that I am "owning" this project. We are going to be successful

At the meeting we identified three champions to our cause: Dan Elser, David Gereg and Mark Sjobeck. The three local businessmen have us meeting on a different day, in a new location and have even tentatively chosen arts and culture as their preliminary focus. Eagle is a blossoming city in Southwest Idaho and creating opportunities for children to contribute to the art scene is a great choice!

So join us, won't you? We are meeting this week, Wednesday, 7:00 pm in Eagle Plaza, 228 E. Plaza Street, Suite 1. You can't miss us! Just look for Starbucks and the Optimist Club signs.

Be sure to click on the flyer - it's a little different from last week and shows that we are moving forward!

New Optimist Club underway in Eagle, Idaho

You gotta own it. That's what I have been telling myself for a couple of days now because I have been hesitant to write about a new club building effort that is underway in Eagle, Idaho. Why have I been afraid to talk about it? Perhaps because of the fear of failure; but no more. I am ready to own the effort and and I am ready to meet the challenges and greet the opportunities that await us in Eagle and other communities in Idaho and beyond.

Here is the scoop: Rocky Jackson, Ron Petersen and I have been walking the streets talking about starting a new Optimist Club in the Eagle community. We have the green light from the mayor, we have spoken with hundreds of business owners and residents and we are now poised for our first formal informational meeting. It will be held on Thursday, August 6 at the Willowcreek Grill, 1065 Winding Creek Road, Eagle, ID.

At that time we hope to wow them with all the fantastic projects that an Optimist Club can perform. We also want to hear from them just how they think an Optimist Club will enrich their community. We'd love to hear from everyone! Please send me a message if you are interested in participating or just join us at 7:00 pm, August 6. I can't wait to meet you!

Are you an Optimist Club member in the PNW District that is ready to overcome their fear of starting a new club? Please give Rocky a call and he will help get you started today. 208-870-3414.