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Monday, September 24, 2018

Announce your Outstanding Optimist (please)

Has your Optimist Club named someone as an Outstanding Optimist this year?

An Outstanding Optimist is a member of your club or your community that has gone above and beyond in service to others or has provided hope or funding for your club or community to accomplish its goals.

The purposes of recognizing an Outstanding Optimist are quite simple. In addition to giving a well-earned pat on the back to a deserving individual, your Optimist Club may use the opportunity to advance the goals of Optimist International by publishing the award in your local newspaper and on social media. Sharing the optimistic news builds awareness and affinity for your Optimist Club and its causes.

To put it more succinctly, it gets your name out there and as you know, Optimist Clubs need more name recognition.

Plus, awarding someone for doing good in the club or community is a requirement for Honor Club.

Please report your award winner to Optimist International with this form by September 30. Thank you.


Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Report your Optimist Club Pride (please)

At the end of every administrative year, Optimist International asks its Optimist Clubs to report on the activities with which they have been involved throughout the year. The report, available to complete online at www.optimistleaders.org, is called the Club Pride Report.

It may also be downloaded as a PDF form here: Club Pride Report.

The Club Pride Report helps clubs identify the steps they have taken to reach Distinguished or Honor Club and it allows the parent organization to combine the activities of its clubs into data that can be shared with others. How do you think we know that each member touches the lives of 35 children each year? Numbers like that are collected along with the number of projects and types of projects that each Optimist Club performs annually to make their community and our world a better place to live.

This is a call to all club presidents to complete the Club Pride Report at your earliest convenience. If you are not a club president, get ahold of your club officers and remind them that this is important. We would like to see it completed by September 30 each year. Thank you.


Wednesday, September 12, 2018

We must take action

TG Thomas
It's been one month since the PNW District Optimist Clubs came together at the 2018 District Convention. Hosted by the Lebanon Optimist Club, it was a splendid event. The Lebanon Optimists shared information about their community and their club and their Optimist pride was easy to see. 

Glenda StandevenDuring the weekend, we had the opportunity to hear from TG Thomas, the official representative from Optimist International and incoming vice president of the West Region. TG led the officers-elect training and gave a presentation about membership growth, relating the need to volunteer to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. As Maslow indicated, once the basic needs of personal well-being and security are met, individuals seek to belong and rise to find a sense of accomplishment and prestige among their peers. Only then do they move on to self-actualization where they try to achieve their full potential through creative activities, among other things. Imagine the last two stages: can't both be achieved by belonging to an Optimist Club? 

In a very inspirational presentation, we also heard from a fellow Optimist Club member and incoming president of the Chilliwack Optimist Club, Glenda Standeven. Glenda is a cancer survivor who has used her experience to author the book, "I am Choosing to Smile." She shared her story about learning her diagnosis, having her leg and hip amputated, and adjusting to her new lifestyle. Her key message was that we make choices every day about how we are to live. For her, choosing to smile is a mantra and the way she encourages herself to take action every day. 

To illustrate her point, Glenda lit the candle that can be seen on the podium in the picture to the right. Channeling "The Secret," she asked the audience to will the candle to extinguish. As persons with a positive mindset, the audience tried with all their might to fulfill Glenda's wish, but alas, they could not. Then Glenda said, "As optimists, we can hope. As realists, we realize we have to take action to make our goals happen."

Yes, indeed. To achieve our goals for ourselves, for our communities, for the youth, and for our Optimist Clubs, we must take action today. 


Monday, September 10, 2018

Optimism looks good on you

Optimist International is celebrating its 100th anniversary. From the July 2018 International Convention to the International Convention in 2019, Optimist Clubs and their members are invited to do the same.

One easy way to show your pride is to share the 100th Anniversary logo and slogan, "Bringing out the best into the next century" via your Facebook profile picture.

Give it a try! Optimism looks good on you.



Saturday, September 1, 2018

What's an Honor Club?

Optimist International measures the success of its Optimist Clubs based on one achievement:
Honor Club.

The Honor Club award means that an Optimist Club is managing itself in a way that will help it succeed far into the future.

Earning Honor Club helps your Optimist Club create its legacy and ensures that Optimist International can move forward into the second century of service. 

Earning Honor Club means hope for the future.

The Honor Club criteria are set forth by the Optimist International Board of Directors in Policy ICD-135.  They are:
  1. Complete three or more service projects each year 
  2. Complete the Club Pride Report and Club Officer-Elect Report 
  3. Recognize a Club member or local community individual 
  4. Grow Club by Net of +3 in membership
  5. Appoint a Club Foundation Representative and make a non-restricted contribution to the OIF or CCOF 
  6. Conduct a Membership Recruitment/Drive (i.e. NOW) Program 
  7. Club President or Club President-Elect (or two Designees) attend District Convention (or two other District meetings/conferences) 
  8. Be current on District and OI Dues and Fees
Optimist Clubs that demonstrate a further commitment to growth are called Distinguished Optimist Clubs

Earning Distinguished Optimist Club helps Optimist International create its legacy.

The Distinguished Club criteria are set forth by the Optimist International Board of Directors in Policy ICD-135. In addition to earning an Honor Club recognition, they must also:
  1. Meet Honor Club requirements
  2. Add Net + 15 in membership OR Build one or more new Clubs OR Increase by Net + 8 and build two or more JOOI Clubs
With 30 days remaining in the Optimist International administrative year, it's time to focus on making the first century of optimism the best it can be. Won't you finish the year strong and start the celebration of 100 years of Optimism as an Honor or Distinguished Optimist Club?

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