Support the Optimist International scholarship programs and you might win an iPad Air

The Meridian Area Optimist Club is a proud sponsor of the Optimist International Scholarship programs. It hosts the essay contest in the winter and the oratorical contest in the spring. This year it will also expand its offering to include the Communications Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

So they have a suggestion that will benefit  you and them. Skip Black Friday shopping and join them in this drawing instead for an iPad Air. If you win, you'll have a Christmas present sewn up. Your donation will benefit some of the best causes around.

Kirk Farnsworth, President, Meridian Optimist Club invites entries from anywhere. They'll mail  your tickets and prize, he promises. Just go to www.meridianoptimist.org or call 208-850-6729.

Holidays are the busy season for the Meridian Optimist Club

Optimist Clubs are getting ready for the holidays and none more so than the Meridian Optimist Club where members kicked off their annual salute to the season with the long-running food drive on Friday, November 22, 2013.

For thirty-two years, the club has been serving families in need in their community by creating food baskets. Twenty or so years ago (the exact date isn't for sure, they just know it's just been done this way for a long time), the Meridian Optimist Club engaged the school district to help with the food drive and with help from the students, barrels upon barrels are collected and redistributed in the community.

Over the years, food baskets have turned into cartons and crates as hundreds of pounds of canned goods are often given to individual families.

The Meridian Optimist Club supplements the canned food drive with fresh milk, potatoes, bread and a turkey or ham. This year, thirty families received deliveries from the Optimists and the remaining canned goods went straight to the Meridian Food Bank to help others in need.

Next on the Meridian Optimist Club's calendar of events is the annual Christmas Tree lot. Trees will arrive this Saturday, November 30, 2013 and sales will begin that day.

If you live in the Boise Valley, stop by for a fresh tree. You'll find them at the corner of Meridian Road and Overland, just west of Walgreens.

Meridian Optimist Club members ready to enjoy Christmas

Today is the day. With so much competition in the Christmas tree market, the Meridian Optimist Club Christmas tree lot had to remain open longer than usual. You see, the plan is to sell the trees fast and then head home to enjoy the holidays with the family, all the while knowing that the community has helped the Optimist Club do more activities with their generous purchases.


With the sliding economy, many independents have set up their own tree lots and the extra competition has proved to be a challenge; but according to Christmas Tree Chairman Kirk Farnsworth, this year the club still was able to sell about 500 trees.


With only 40 or so left on the lot and only two days 'til the big event, the club began to give them away. After all, that's what Optimist Clubs do: give back to their community in hopes that children will benefit.


Thanks to the Meridian Optimist Club for your service and thanks to the customers who help the Optimist Club do more to benefit kids.

Thanks to Rocky Jackson for the photos. Remember, click to enlarge. 

Bring your luck to the Meridian Optimist Casino Night

Get a head start on St. Patty's Day with the Meridian Optimist Club as they celebrate the Luck o'the Irish Casino Night for the fourth consecutive year.

A joint project with the Meridian Firefighters Drum and Bugle Corps, this activity is fun for the community and raises money for good causes including the Optimist Youth Training Center, the Meridian Food Bank and the Meridian Firefighters.

The fun starts at 6:00 p.m., Saturday, February 25 at Red Line Recreational Toys, 535 N. Locust Grove Road, Meridian. Enlarge and print the flyer for full details.

Don't forget to bring an extra $10 for your chance to win a 2012 Polaris Four Wheeler. Good luck!

Experience Optimism: Shooting for the Olympics

Experience Optimism: Shooting for the Olympics:
Mitchell Van Patten won the sporter division of the American Legion's Junior Air Rifle National Championships on August 6. He earned a $2,500 scholarship and made another step toward his goal of shooting in the Olympics.

The Junior Rifle Program has been sponsored by the Meridian Optimist Club since 1972. In 1997, the club took responsibility for the program, coaches, facilities and shooters and are now raising funds to build a new building as the Meridian Optimist Youth Training Center. Please click on the link to find out more about Mitchell and the Meridian Optimist Club Junior Rifle Club. Please click on the picture to watch a video of Mitchell Van Patten and the American Legion Junior Air Rifle Championships. 

Meridian Optimists combine causes for fundraiser

The Meridian Optimist Club began marketing efforts today for the 3rd Annual Luck o' the Irish Casino Night.

This event is co-produced by the Meridian Firefighters and the Optimist Club. What began as a way to raise money for the Firefighters Pipes and Drum Corps has now blossomed into an annual fundraiser for the Meridian Food Bank and the Meridian Optimist Club Youth Training Center. It also continues to provide support for the Corps as it provides entertainment with a social conscience for the community.

According to co-chairman Rod Shaul, an Optimist, Firefighter and business owner, "We feel that being active in our community and community events are what brings people together, instills positive attitudes and promotes business."

The Luck o' the Irish Casino Night will be held on Saturday, February 26, 6:00 p.m, Redline Recreational Toys, 5353 N. Locust Grove Road, Meridian, Idaho. To find out more about the event, purchase tickets or donate an item for the raffle, please contact Rod at 208.850.9886 or Kim at 208.888.2663.

Meet Mitchell Van Patten

The Meridian Optimist Club is home to a Junior Rifle shooting program. One of the standout marksmen, Mitchell Van Patten was recently honored by Boise news station Channel 6 as the Athlete of the Week.

Mitchell has been shooting competitively for almost four years.

Promise yourself to be lucky!

Need a little extra cash around tax time?  Then you should join an Optimist Club in the Boise Valley. On Wednesday, April 14, both the Caldwell and Meridian Optimist Clubs had lucky winners drawn in their progressive membership drawing.

Anita Welchel, president-elect was the lucky winner in Caldwell and in Meridian new member Mel Landaluce pocketed a quick $185.  The drawings are fundraisers for both clubs with proceeds going to offset such things as speakers, visitors and guests meals. The raffle can sometimes run for a nearly a full year before a winner is drawn.  Congratulations ladies!

Club secretary-treasurer Bill Garcia "pays off" Mel Landaluce at the Meridian Optimist Club meeting.

Christmas tree sales fund youth projects in the community

'Tis the season! The Meridian Optimist Club Tree lot opened today. The hours of operation are:

Mon-Fri 2:00 to 8:00
Saturday 9:00 to 8:00

Sunday 10:00 to 6:00

The tree lot is open until all trees have found a home. According to President Mark Sullivan, that's usually about 17 days so hurry in for the best tree around! The tree sales fund all Meridian Youth Projects for the coming year.

If your Optimist Club has a tree lot, please send us the location and hours so we can include them on the blog.

Meridian Optimist Club hosts Junior Golf Tournament

The Meridian Optimist Club held a pre-qualifying tournament for the PNW District Junior Optimist Golf Championships. The district tournament qualifies golfers to advance to the international tournament at the PGA National at the end of the July. The club tournament was an opportunity for local golfers to qualify for a free ride to the district event. The Meridian Optimist Club is proud to announce that five golfers, ages 14 to 18 were offered the opportunity to advance to the district tournament. From left to right, they are Mark Baer, Jacob Adams, Ian Hannu, Kathryn Buckingham and Tyler Barker.

Unfortunately, due to prior commitments, some will not be able to make the trip to Hillsboro, Oregon, but we are happy to announce that Mark Baer and Ian Hannu will represent the Meridian Optimist Club at the Pacific Northwest District Optimist Junior Golf Tournament.

Mark placed first in the boys 16-17 division with a score of 75. Ian place second with a score of 79. In boys 14-15 division, Jacob Adams placed first with a round of 87.

The girls participated in the 14-15 age division. Kathryn was the first place qualifier with a round of 75. Tyler scored 79 for the second place finish.

The Meridian Optimist Club Junior Golf Tournament was played at the Boise Ranch Golf Club. Bob Thompson served as the Tournament Chairperson. Despite the overcast skies and a touch of rain, both kids and Optimist members had a great time at the first annual tourney for Idaho.

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.

Spotted! Channel 7, Optimists and Trees

The Meridian Optimist Club was up at o'dark thirty this morning with meteorologist Larry Gebert of Idaho's Channel 7 NBC News. Fans of the news channel know that "Where's Larry?" is a common question as he travels about Southern Idaho to help promote good causes and recognize good people and deeds.

On tap this morning was the Meridian Optimist Christmas Tree Lot promotion. Optimists - and Larry, a Boise Noon Optimist member - were on hand at 250 Overland Road, Meridian, ID at 4:30 a.m. This picture was snapped just minutes after 5:00 a.m. as busy Optimist members moved trees to make a great display. Trees range in price from $35 to $85 and all patrons who bring two or more non-perishable items for the Meridian Food Bank receive a $5 discount off their purchase.

The Christmas Tree Sales are the main fund raiser for the Meridian Optimists. One hundred percent of all fund raising proceeds are returned to the Meridian community in the form of community service projects and programs that involve, benefit or recognize children.

Meridian Optimists deliver holiday food baskets

This year the Meridian Optimist Club prepared and delivered thirty food baskets to families in
the Meridian area. Together with schools in the Meridian School District they also collected hundreds of pounds of canned goods for the Meridian Food Bank.

The Meridian Optimist Club has prepared food baskets for more than twenty years. About ten years ago they began working with students in the schools to collect non-perishable items. All that is needed and more is collected in a short two week period.

The next project for club is their annual Christmas Tree Sales. It's a busy season for the Meridian Optimists.

PNW Optimists hold first quarter meeting

It is an unofficial opinion, but this writer believes the Flintstones and Rubbles should be named as honorary Optimists of the PNW District. We know that they already belong to the Royal Order of the Water Buffalo, but inclusion and partnerships can only take our clubs that much further by giving us more hands to serve our community.

Diversity, partnerships, unity and progress were the themes for the First Quarter PNW Optimist District Meeting in Gig Harbor, WA. Governor Peter Smith presided over his first meeting as District Governor. Vice President Tommy Vaughn smiled, cajoled and inspired the group to ask questions, but work together. Governor-elect Linda Jackson reminded everyone that we were on this journey together. And the Leadership Development Team of Ed Murphy, Jean Jensen, and Linda Jackson offered tips and tools for leaders, members, and members aspiring to be leaders. A great start to a great year!

Shown above are Dr. Tom Hammond, Trenna Garcia, Sue Thompson, and Bill Garcia of the Bedrock...err... the Meridian Optimist Club.

Make plans now for the PNW Optimist Convention

Newly elected Optimist Club presidents and secretary-treasurers are encouraged to attend the PNW District Optimist Convention on August 14-16 in Chilliwack, British Columbia. According to Governor-elect Peter Smith, this is the best time to get prepared for the year ahead! Register online now.

Training this year will include basics of club operations, delegation and goal setting. New to the agenda will be a module recently introduced at the Optimist International Convention on Public Relations.

We will also be honored to welcome the incoming Optimist International President Don Sievers. Don hails from the Optimist Club of Jackson, Missouri and will be promoting a successful conclusion to the current administrative year and inspiring a great start to the incoming year. He will introduce the theme for 2008-2009, Give me Five for the Kids, as well as the new honor club requirements.

This is also the time of year that we elect our governor-elect for 2009-2010. Linda Jackson has declared her candidacy. Find out more about Linda Jackson and Ron Petersen. Ron will be the district secretary-treasurer if Linda is elected.

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.