Operation Bear Care goes to MSTI

The Boise Noon Optimist Club has been holding Operation Bear Care for many years.

Working with Boise State Athletics, they collect teddy bears during a men's basketball game. The club has then distributed the bears to first responders so that they have a soft toy for children in crisis situations.

After learning that the stuffed toy inventory at the sheriff and fire departments in Ada County was full, the Optimist Club did something a little different with their plush friends. They gave them to the Mountain States Tumor Institute (MSTI) at St. Luke's Hospital-Boise.

According to program chairman Gary Arbaugh, about 250 stuffed animals were collected at the basketball game in early February and then delivered by the Optimist Club this past weekend. They'll find their way to young patients at the Children's Hospital as needed.

Thanks to Walt Callahan for sharing photos of the event.

Adjust the sails and move on

The Boise Noon Optimist Club is adopting a new logo. President-elect Larry Highley is shown here with the new design.

Okay, Optimists, look closely; notice anything missing?

That's right, the club is dropping the word "noon" from its title and returning to the original name that is shown on its charter with Optimist International.

I guess the change is a sign of the times as the club no longer meets at noon every week. In order to encourage more participation, they've changed the schedule to evening meetings on the first and third Tuesdays, noon meetings on the second and fourth Tuesdays, and occasional social activities on months when there is a fifth Tuesday.

The noon designation was important when there were multiple Optimist Clubs in Boise City. In addition to Boise Noon there were the Boise Sunrise, Fort Boise, and Boise Bench Optimist Clubs, among others. Most clubs participated in the football program and as members were lost by natural attrition, the clubs were subsumed by the stable Boise Nooners.

The Nooners haven't bee all that stable in recent past. That's why I'm excited to see the new direction that Larry is leading the group. With his leadership, I predict that football will continue to grow, but the club will become involved in more traditional programs again.

That means they'll be looking for more members and more members means more excitement for the many the many projects that Optimist Clubs perform in our communities. Go get'em Larry and the BOC, formerly known as BNOC. Your leadership is needed to spread the word and the enthusiasm.

Optimist Clubs are about addition

Mayor Dave Bieter

I attended the Boise Noon Optimist Club meeting today. That's not that unusual save for the fact that they now only meet twice per month at noon. The other weeks they meet in the evening so that all members have an opportunity to participate.

Joining the club today as the guest speaker was Boise Mayor Dave Bieter. He spoke of the economy and shared the good news that there has been a substantial upswing in building permits in Boise and Ada County. He said that the unemployment rate for Boise was low and while that is a good statistic, it might also be a troubling statistic because many of the jobs that have been created are minimum wage jobs. He also hinted at a major announcement to be coming soon in the new business attraction arena and bragged about the new facilities being developed at Micron.

During his presentation he made several interesting comments that compare his philosophy to that of an Optimist Club. First, he said he was a former Optimist football player and because of that, and the ongoing development of the football program, he will always have a soft spot in his heart for Optimist Clubs. Next he talked about how he believed that it was a city's responsibility and a mission of service clubs to always be adding to the quality of life of a community. Quoting his first-grade daughter, he reminded us that we should never subtract.

But the quote that struck me as unique and worth repeating came near the beginning of his presentation. It describes why we have informational programs at our meetings and why people like to make presentations to Optimist Clubs. "You circulate in this community in a positive way," said Mayor Bieter.

That's right; words shared at an Optimist Club meeting reverberate and lift and inspire others, more than those who attended. Optimist Clubs truly share their positive vision with others and that positive vision, among other things, does more than add to our quality of life. It multiplies.

Christmastime with the Boise Noon Optimist Club

Dyan Graybeal shared the following story and photos from the Boise Noon Optimist Club annual Christmas party:

Boise Noon just had their annual family Christmas dinner/auction that includes a visit from Santa!!! We do a combined live dessert auction which is lively and lots of fun and a silent auction. We make it a full family event, with not only Santa – but crafts and cookie decorating for the kids. Santa is the hugest hit of the night – not only do all of the kids sit on his lap, but many of the “grownups” enjoy a photo with Santa!

Our funds go to the teens at the Hays Shelter Home which is part of the Idaho Youth Ranch. This is a place for teens in transition of some sort to stay while their family lives are being sorted out. 

We usually get 9 – 12 kids, but have 15 this year. We are furnished with Christmas wish list for each that we shop for. Most are asking for basics like coats, shoes, warm clothes and we are excited to fill each item on the wish list. 

What fun we have doing it!
Pictures top to bottom: 
Some Boise Noon Optimist Football Sponsors
Santa's rousing entrance
Not just for kids anymore
A room full of Optimist Christmas cheer

Thanks to Dyan for starting off the 24 days of Christmas on the PNW District Optimist Clubs blog.

Please click here to share your Optimist Club Christmas story now. 

Optimist volunteers at Boise State football games for 37 years

Frank Smoke, Optimist Volunteer at Boise State

Last week, The Idaho Statesman published a front-page article about Optimist volunteer Frank Smoke, "91-year-old Boise State fan stands out from crowd."

A member of the Boise Noon Optimist Club, he has been selling programs at Boise State football programs, along with other club members, for 37 years. That means he's been a dedicated Bronco fan and a true optimist for serving when the team was building up to the powerhouse that it is today. What's more, he's been wearing the same Optimist Club vest for all of those years.

On behalf of the Boise Noon Optimist Club,
Gary Arbaugh, Mark "Sparky"Anderson,
Sue Oliver and Michael Bouton
thank Frank Smoke for his service

Frank was recognized at the Boise Noon Optimist Club meeting this week and presented a framed copy of the Idaho Statesman article.

The Boise Noon Optimist Club shares a special relationship with the Boise State athletics. Selling programs at events is one way that the university helps support the Boise Noon Optimist youth football program. During the Humanitarian Bowl, held on December 17, the club was able to raise $744 selling programs. That money is returned directly to the community for the Optimist Youth Sports Complex.

On behalf of the PNW District, I send many thanks to Frank Smoke for his years of service.

Football is not all that the Boise Noon Optimist Club is involved in. This Christmas they could be found raising money ($1,200) for the Idaho Youth Ranch and purchasing coats for girls in the Youth Ranch program, helping with a Christmas party and Santa's Toy Box at St. Luke's Hospital and MSTI, among other things.

Thanks to Katy Moeller and The Idaho Statesman for the original article about Mr.Smoke. 

Boise Noon Optimist Club - Is Busy

Guest post from Susan Oliver, Co-president, Boise Noon Optimist Club

How are the children in Boise, you ask?  If you could have listened in at St. Luke’s Hospital during our Mountain States Tumor Institute Kids with Cancer Breakfast with Santa … you would have heard a lot of giggles, seen bright smiles and enjoyed laughter.  The morning was spent serving a great breakfast from I-Hop on Federal Way, visiting with Santa and making ornaments and other crafts.  Approximately 300 children, parents and volunteers spend a blessed morning making memories. Presently, we are in the planning stage for their annual BBQ/Picnic in July.

How are the children in Boise?  Ask the teens at the Hays Shelter Home and Idaho Youth Ranch how their Christmas was. The Boise noon club served up a happy warm Christmas to 14 teens who are living in these special facilities away from home.  We were told that their Christmas was warm, merry and bright. 

How are the Children in Boise?  The Noon Club this year had a Holly Jolly Christmas Party for our own children and families as a thank you for all their volunteering this year.  We had a visit from our now famous Santa Claus; we have the guy with the best “Ho! Ho! Ho!” in the Northwest, crafts were created by all as well as a ham and  memorable three cheese killer Mac and Cheese dinner was served up warm.

How are the children in Boise?  Optimist Youth Football and Cheer is up and running.  We take one month off during the year and then we start planning, changing, up dating the program getting ready for the first sign-ups at the Bronco Experience, spring football game with the BSU Bronco’s,  in April. This venue is a tremendous hit. We believe that we will be running strong with more than 4,000 players, cheerleaders and coaches this year. A new program for kids related to Optimist Youth Football is being considered.  If it is a “go” more kids in and out of Idaho will be served in a very special way.

How are the Children in Boise?  Our Concessions Stand at the Optimist Youth Sports Complex donated over $12,731.00 to various youth groups that assisted us.  School bands, sports clubs, and Boy Scouts benefited and learned a skill at the same time.

How are the children in Boise?  Presidents Dyan Graybeal and Sue Oliver are getting ready to launch a new program for “Youth Appreciation”.  Stay tuned, we are so excited and think it will be a great success!

To be featured as a guest blogger, please send your story to the PNW District.  Thanks.

Check out those banners!

The Boise Noon Optimist Club has been going through some reorganization over the past few months. It's a huge club with over 300 members, but like many clubs, they found that the number of members attending weekly meetings was declining.

In an effort to attract more participants, they have adopted an afternoon and evening schedule. Evenings are both business and social - one week is the Board Meeting and one week is pure fun; and the noon meetings are the traditional meeting style that our veteran clubs do so well. 

Bookends

Dyan Graybeal and Sue Oliver will serve as co-presidents for the Boise Noon Optimist Club for 2010-2011. Bulletin editor Walt Callahan caught them taking a quick break before the beginning of the year.

The Boise Noon Optimist Club's labor of love

The Boise Noon Optimist Club hosts an evening social on the fifth Tuesday of the month.  Last evening was a fifth Tuesday and I was happy to join them at the Boise Noon Optimist Club Youth Sports Complex along with about 35 other Optimist Club members from the Boise Noon and Meridian clubs.

President Ken Wall served up breakfast for dinner and you can see him and Cindi Wall manning the grill in this picture. My what we expect of our presidents. {grin}

Along with catching up with stories between clubs, Jerron Moore, Executive Director of the football program announced that the Boise Noon Optimist Club had just been informed they would receive a $293,000 grant from the City of Boise for further improvements to the park. He described the projects that included a playground, tennis court, restroom facilities and more grounds and field expansions. Congratulations!

The Boise Noon Optimist Club program is the largest youth football program in the United States run completely by volunteers. Volunteer members conceived, developed and maintain the facility, raise funds for the complex, manage the concession stands, oversee and sometimes conduct construction projects, and coach the children, both boys and girls in football and cheer.

One other thing that you can add to their to-do list is striping the fields. Club bulletin editor Walt Callahan shared the following pictures with us of the striping crew at work.

The Boise Noon Optimist Club football program and youth sports complex - it really is a labor of love.



Thanks to Walt Callahan, Bulletin Editor Extraordinaire of the Boise Noon Optimist Club for the pictures.

Boise Noon Optimist Club football program recognized in USA Football News

Jerron Moore will be stepping down as the executive director of the Boise Noon Optimist Club Football Program this year.  Along with other Optimist Club members and friends, he has been a major motivation and inspiration for expanding the program and developing the the Youth Sports Complex that serves Boise and Ada County. Read more about Jerron in a great article in the USA Football news. 

It's Optimist football season in Idaho

For the next eight weeks, many Optimist Clubs in Idaho will be focused on football. With more than 10,000 children participating in the Optimist Football program and thousands of young ladies cheering for them, it is easily the largest program conducted by clubs in the PNW District.

The Optimist Clubs of Boise Noon and Nampa have both developed large football complexes in their communities and the Boise Noon Club has reached out to bring other communities into the program including the Optimist Clubs of Emmett, Horseshoe Bend, McCall, and Mountain Home.  The teams are coached by Optimist members and the concessions are manned by Optimist members.  In Boise, the concession trade has become so large that even the neighboring Meridian Optimist Club has taken on a trailer to assist their friends and make some money in the process.

So for the next eight Saturdays, these clubs will be super-busy.  If you would like to volunteer with the Optimist Football program, please send me a message and I will forward it to the club of your choice or take a look at the websites for direct contact information:

• http://www.optimistyouthfootball.com/
• http://www.nampaoptimistfootball.org/

Photo of the Kituku Warriors, a team in the Boise Noon Optimist Football program.

Optimist Club visitations are fun!

Do you ever take the time to visit other Optimist Clubs? Club visitations used to be widely promoted as a way to increase camaraderie in between zone and district meetings. When you visit a neighboring club, you get the opportunity to:

• See how they function. Clubs have different procedures - do they have a guest speaker or is it all about networking?
• Find out about their programs. Every club has something that most of their members are passionate about. Individual members have passions as well. How does that affect the services they provide?
• Find out about fund raising. Where do they get their money to operate?
• Share stories from your home club. Find out if there are opportunities to partner on events and activities and make an even bigger impact in your region.
• Pick up a souvenir to take home. Okay, I don't really recommend this, but when it happens, it sure is fun to for the other club to plan a visit to retrieve their possession.

Over the past year, the Boise Noon and Meridian Optimist Clubs have developed a close relationship through club visitations. They support each others service projects and fundraising opportunities. On one visit, the Nooners picked up the Meridian gavel, forcing President Sue Thompson to start the meetings with a small ball-peen hammer, lovingly provided by fellow President Cindi Wall.

On the next visit, President Sue invited the Boise Noon Optimist Club mascot Buster Bronco to visit the Meridian Club for a while. He accepted and held a place of honor at Meridian feed bag until a group of Nooners turned up to retrieve him. A treaty was reached. A ransom was paid. Buster Bronco returned to his rightful place at the Boise Noon Meetings and President Sue retrieved not one, but two Meridian Optimist Club gavels for her trouble.

Try it! You will find that Optimist Clubs are more fun when you take the time to share some humor. Plus a good laugh has wonderfully positive, healing properties.

Thanks to Walt Callahan, Boise Noon Publicist for the picture. Michael Bouton and Sue Thompson are shown making the exchange while Bill Garcia looks on.

Boise Noon Optimist Football Program

More than 4,000 youths participate in the Boise Noon Optimist Football program each year. To be sure the kids are safe when they hit the fields, they have to first train the coaches. Here's a look at the coach's clinic held August 2. Thanks to Walt Callahan for forwarding the pictures.

Boise Noon and Meridian Optimists join for Wheel event

The popular game show Wheel of Fortune rolled into the Boise Factory Outlet Mall on Saturday, June 21 and the Boise Noon and Meridian Optimist Clubs joined forces to serve refreshments to thousands of hopeful contestants. Approximately 160 people made it to the stage for auditions and free prizes. They may be called up for a screen test when the Wheel auditions return to Boise in the fall.

Cindy Wall, President-elect, Boise Noon Optimist Club spearheaded the event along with Gary Arbaugh, Boise Noon Optimist and CBS employee at KBCI Boise. Meridian Optimist Club members provided extra hands for the event.

Picture 1. Hopeful contestants-to-be wait for the Wheel to be set up. Picture 2. Bob Nelson, Tom Hammond and Bill Garcia prepare for the noon rush on hot dogs. Picture 3. Linda Jackson prepares a cooler for vending soda and water in the crowd. Picture 4. Rocky Jackson empties water from the coolers gaining the appreciation of kids looking for some cool fun.