Recent Events

At our 24 Mar 09 meeting the Club's Oratorical Contest winners all gave their speeches on the topic: "For me, Optimism is...". All three had their speeches completely memorized and did an excellent job. The parents of our speakers also attended the meeting. The Club appreciates the extra time and effort our three gifted orators have put into writing and practicing their speeches. These three are examples of the outstanding young people we have in the Beavercreek-Fairborn community. Due to a scheduling conflict, Jenee cannot compete at the next level of the contest so Rachel Cohen will be representing our Club in the Girls' Division at the Zone Contest. The Zone Contest will be held on April 4, 2009 in Springfield (see Home Page for address). We all wish Rachel and Zach well in the Zone contest.

Mallory and Nicholas were honored at the Youth Appreciation Week Banquet on Nov 13, 2008. The banquet was held at the Presidential Banquet Center in Kettering. Mallory, the Club honoree from Fairborn High School, plays on the varsity golf and basketball teams, worked at Youngs Jersey Dairy restaurant, is active in the 4H Club and is vice president of the National honor society at her high school. Nicholas, the Club's honoree from Beavercreek High School, plays junior varsity tennis, is an Eagle Scout and the order of the arrow and studies computer engineering. Both were interviewed by Dan Edwards from Channel 2 in Dayton. Club members present were Marlene and Jim, Joe and Eliza, Karen and Bob, Dave and John. Congratulations to Mallory and Nicholas and we wish you all the best in the future.

Collin Gossel captured first place in the Boy's Division of the Oratorical Contest at the District Conference on May 17, 2008. Collin went last and gave his best speech of the contest. Using his experience in the Flash Mob group he belongs to, he challenged the audience to "be a little bit weird" in our daily lives to make life more worth living. Collin was presented the District Plaque by OI Ohio District President Sue McNeal. He will also receive a $3000 scholarship to the college of his choice. Our Club's previous District winner was Carl Ghandi who won in 2005. Karina Jhangiani gave an excellent speech and was runner up in the Girl's Division. The Beavercreek-Fairborn Optimist Club congratulates Collin on winning the District and both Karina and Collin for their outstanding accomplishment in reaching the District level.

The Regional Oratorical Contest was held on April 19, 2008 at the Springfield Public Library. There was a light sprinkling of rain that morning but that couldn't dampen the speeches or spirits of our Club's two contestants. Karina competed against 5 other girls and Collin competed against 6 other boys. Karina was the next to the last to give her speech in the girls' division and Collin went first in the boys'. The other contestants were from zones in the western part of the state--including those in Lima, Troy and Columbus. In her speech, Karina pointed out that Helen Keller and Beethoven were examples to follow because both said to themselves "why not?" when they could have taken the defeatist attitude of "why me?" when confronting their individual adversities. In his speech, Collin challenged the audience to be "a little bit weird" instead of conforming to the "norm" all the time. He also talked about the group he enjoys being a member of called the "Flash mob" which encourages its members and those watching, to do just that--break their everyday routines and do something different. As Collin says in his speech: "a little weird goes a long way"--it has indeed taken him a long way -- to the District contest. Both speakers were inspirational and enjoyable to listen to. Our Club is very proud of these two gifted orators and we wish them well at the District contest on May 17th.

Our Club winners in the girl and boy divisions, Karina and Collin, competed in the Zone Oratorical Contest on April 3rd, 2008 at Whitenberg's Shouvlin Hall and advanced to the next level, the Regional Contest. At the Zone Contest there were three contestants in each division, representing the Beavercreek-Fairborn, New Carlisle, and Springfield Optimist Clubs. All the contestants were within 10 points in their scoring by the judges, making it an extremely close contest. The Regional Contest will be held on April 19th, at 9:30AM at the Clark County Library, 201 South Fountain Ave, Springfield. We are very proud of Karina and Collin and wish them well at the Regional Contest.

The Club held its annual Oratorical Contest at Peace Lutheran Church on Friday March 14, 2008. Originally scheduled for Sunday March 9, a snowstorm dumped so much snow that it had to be postponed. Twelve girls competed in the girl's division and ten boys competed in the boy's. The topic was: "Why me? Why Not?" All were students of Mrs Jane Cook, Speech and Debate teacher at Beavercreek High School, and were Freshmen. All the contestants gave excellent speeches, with Karina Jhangiani and Collin Gossel taking first place in their respective divisions.

On Dec 4, 2007 the Club held it's annual Christmas party at the home of President Kylie. The pot-luck supper was delicious and the Yankee gift-exchange was hilarious. Marlene ended up with another frog for her collection even though Joe tried to "steal" it. The star of the evening was Kylie's daughter Ava who had as much fun as anyone. She really enjoyed helping Darrell open his presents.

In the first Club activity of the new year, Emily Redd and Matt Kuntz were chosen by our Club to be honored at the Youth Appreciation Banquet held on Nov 6, 2007. Emily was accompanied by her parents and brother, and Matt attended with his parents. Emily is a senior at Fairborn High School and runs track and cross-country. Matt is a senior at Beavercreek High School and is active in Show Choir.

Members of twelve Dayton area Optimist Clubs were present at the banquet with each Club selecting youth to be honored for their accomplishments and contributions to their communities, schools and churches. TV personality Jim Bucher interviewed all the honorees. Beavercreek-Fairborn Club members present at the banquet were President Kylie Miller, Joe Haddix and Dave Brown.

This event grew out of one Optimist's vision to the extent that the United States Congress and President issued a public law designationg the second week of November as National Youth Appreciation Week. Since 1956, Youth Appreciation Week observances have given Optimist Clubs the occasion to work with youth toward the common goals of education, career development, physical well-being and community service.

Our annual Kite Fly was held on May 5, 2007 at Fairborn Community Park. There was a great turnout of families and everyone had a good time in the nice weather--even though the wind failed to show up. For a $1 donation, each person received a kite, a slice of Papa John's pizza and a soft drink. Next year the Kite Fly will be held at Rotary Park in Beavercreek. See you all there!

The Club held its B.B. Wolf (he's not "big and bad" until proven guilty) trial at the Fairborn Court on May 3, 2007. Third graders from Five Points Elementary in Fairborn were our guests for the trial, and served as the jurors. Like last year, B.B. Wolf was not charged with stealing cookies from Little Red Ridinghood because of a hung jury. The kids each received cookies after the trial. Judge Barber made a surprise appearance as Little Red's Grandmother.

Thanks to all those from the Fairborn Court who participated and to member Joe for another great job of setting up this event.

The Club held its oratorical contest at Peace Lutheran Church in Beavercreek on March 10th, 2007. Six boys and seven girls competed. All the speeches were excellent and addressed the topic: "My Biggest Challenge is...". Placing first in the boys' division was Alex Bell and in the girls' division was Paige Brown. The contestants are all students of Mrs Jane Cook, the speech teacher at Beavercreek High School. Thanks Jane and all those who competed in our Club's contest.

The Kabolds surprised everyone at our Feb 20th meeting when they captured President Michael's gavel. The Kabolds wrote in a farewell letter to the Club two years ago that they were traveling back to the old country and would not return. Then at our Feb 27th meeting, Katelyn delivered a letter from the Fairborn Kabolds Clan reporting that they had decided to return to Fairborn and had taken up residence in Community Park. They wanted to be close enough to attend our weekly Club meetings. We can expect that they will be playing tricks on Club members in the future--especially the president.

The winner of our Club's Essay contest is Katelyn Clendenin, a senior at Fairborn High School. Her essay entitled "I Want to Make a Difference Because..." will next be judged at the regional level. Katelyn read her essay at our February 27th noon meeting at Giovanni's.

The Beavercreek Fairborn Optimist Club held their annual Christmas party at the Seewer's on Dec 15th. A fun time was had by all especially during the Yankee gift exchange. Marlene held onto her singing frog and Michael to his Christmas bear. Joe also took home a frog for Christmas.

Club members have just finished selling raffle tickets for our annual Club fundraiser. The owner of the winning ticket picked on Dec 19, 2006 was Dan Neer of Centerville. Dan will receive a beautiful 14K yellow gold blue topaz necklace with 4 pts total weight diamonds ($495.00 value).

The necklace was generously donated by member Pete Bates, owner of Shwartz Jewelers in Fairborn.

Thanks to all who supported our youth activities by buying tickets.

The 2006 essay contest topic is: "I want to make a difference because..." Essays have been submitted by students from Fairborn and Beavercreek High Schools. The judges have picked the winning essay at the Club level. The next level is the regional.

On November 9, 2006, the Optimist Youth Appreciation Week Banquet was held at the Presidential Banquet center in Kettering. It was hosted this year by the Kettering Noon Optimist Club. One deserving area youth was selected by each participating Optimist Club. The honoree selected by the Beavercreek-Fairborn Optimist Club was Ashley White of Fairborn. Ashley attended the banquet along with her parents, Kim and Mike. Ashley likes her newspaper class at Fairborn High School and may study journalism in college. Beavercreek-Fairborn optimists attending the banquet were Pres Michael, Kathleen Seewer, Joe Haddix, Dave Brown and Kylie Miller. Congratulations Ashley!

Our Installation Banquet was held on Wed. 20 Sep 06 at 6:30PM at the Villa Di Giovanni's Restaurant in Fairborn. President Michael and his officers were installed. (photos below)