Volume 49 Issue 7 April 2013

Transcription

1 T H E G EO OPTIPINION Volume 49 Issue 7 April 2013 A MONTHLY BULLETIN OF THE GARDENA EVENING OPTIMIST CLUB ZONE 2 PACIFIC SOUTHWEST DISTRICT OF OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL President s Message Spring has sprung and things are happening in the club. We had a good month filled with planning activities for the GEO Youth Tennis League, Respect For Law Week, our Annual GEO Golf Tournament, Nisei Week and a Lau Lau fundraiser, dinner meetings including a banquet for our Essay and Oratorical Contest winners, a nominating committee meeting to nominate our President and Board of Directors for next year (our 50th Year as an Optimist Club), a lively and productive Board of Directors Meeting, and the Pacific Southwest District s 2nd Quarterly Meeting at the Optimist Youth Home. Congratulations are definitely in order for our newly elected Gardena City Councilman and illustrious GEO member, Past President Terry Terauchi. Our congrats on your success, Terry. Well done! I would like to give a special thanks to Jim Carroll and his committee for the banquet for our essay/oratorical contest winners held at The Depot Restaurant. The evening was filled with great food, a chance to meet the contest winners and hear their essays and speech read out loud to the room. It was a great event and Jim did an amazing job, from running the contest to picking the venue for the banquet. Coming up this month we have a couple dinner meetings where members are welcome to join us and mingle with fellow club members and enjoy the camaraderie and good food. At our April 2 nd dinner meeting, Terry Weber will be presenting our Nisei Week Queen candidate by holding a small ceremony crowning her as our queen to represent the club. It will be an exciting night and everyone will be able to meet and greet our new GEO Queen, Lauren Iwata. Let s show her our support and have a great turn out. Yours In Optimism, Stacy Cascadden Save the Date! April 2, 7:00 p.m. Member Meeting at Marie Calendar s Restaurant in Gardena. Come out and meet our Nisei Week Queen candidate and GEO Queen, Lauren Iwata. April 6 GEO Youth Tennis League begins at Arthur Johnson Park in Gardena. Volunteers wanted to help out. April 9, 7:00 p.m. - Board of Directors Meeting in Room 204 of the JCI. April 16, 7:00 p.m. Members/Guests Meeting at Cherrystones Grotto Restaurant in Gardena. CHECK CLUB CALENDAR AT FOR MORE INFORMATION & MAPS Councilman-Elect Terry Terauchi on Election Night with Optimists Sid and Deryck prior to the election results

2 2 THE OPTIPINION Essay/Oratorical Awards Banquet March 19 th at the Depot Restaurant in Torrance brought together the awardees of our club s Essay and Oratorical Contests, their parents, judges, and club members. It was a delightful evening with great food, service and ambiance from Chef Michael Shafer and his staff. Thanks go out to John and Ellen Ing, Louise Chavis, Mary Ann Livingston, Ron Shintani, Robin Arehart, Brett Boston and Teeny Miyano for all their help in judging and organizing the contests. The topic of our Essay Contest this year was How Can I Help My Friends Realize Their Value? and our First Place winner was Kimberly Nguy of North Torrance High School. Kimberly s essay has been entered into the District competition and is included in this newsletter. Our Second Place winner was Christina Zebeljan and our Thrid Place winner was Michele Ajimine both from North High. The topic of our Oratorical Contest was Why My Voice Is Important! and our First Place winner was Henry Zhang of Palos Verdes Peninsula High School and our Second Place winner was Samantha Neal also of Peninsula High School. Both Henry and Samantha will be participating in the next level of competition which will be held April 13th at the Miracle Mile Optimist Club in Los Angeles. Our congratulations go out to all of our winners as we wish them the best of luck and much success in all of their future endeavors. The Ajimine and Zebeljan Families enjoying the meal at The Depot Essayist Kimberly Nguy with Jim Carroll and President Stacy Oratorical Winner Henry Zhang with Jim and Stacy

3 3 THE OPTIPINION How Can I Help My Friends Realize Their Value? By Kimberly Nguy As teenagers, it s hard for us to realize our value in this world. We dissipate our parent s hard earned money, we drive them insane by our rebellious attitudes, and we go out and do reckless things that can either cause trouble for others or us or sometimes both. We can t give our voice and opinion in politics, and we can t sign documents and make decisions without our parent s signature and consent. There are a lot of things that teenagers can t do in this world. It can make us feel worthless sometimes. To all my friends who might feel that they re worthless or unable to make an impact in this world, don t fret because I ve got a solution. How in the world can all my teenage friends in this world realize their true value? Well, the solution is community service. Community service can not only solve the problem at hand, it also benefits our communities, and it can build one s character, awareness, confidence, and bonds with other people. I would tell my friends to either come with me on a volunteering event or join the numerous community service clubs offered on each high school campus. For those whose high school don t offer these type of clubs, make one yourself! Start by making a difference in your school. If you really don t want to go there, just find a food bank, soup kitchen, homeless shelter, animal shelters, hospitals, hospices for senior citizens, or your local beach or park. There will always be places that need your help. For the friends that come with me, I would invite them to volunteer at a place that I love to work at. The soup kitchen. Personally, I feel that the soup kitchen is the best place to volunteer at. Not only is it super fun, it s rewarding to know that you re helping abate the world s hunger problem. Whenever I see little kids at the soup kitchen, it warms my heart to know that I m helping out some of those sixteen million kids that go to bed hungry every day. And, I like working there because I absolutely love cooking. It just cheers me up. While my friends and I are volunteering at the soup kitchen, what I hope is that they ll finally be aware of how they are helping all these less unfortunate people and how they re bringing a smile to these people. By that, hopefully they ll realize that they are valuable in this world. Without them, these people would go to bed hungry every day and have to constantly worry about obtaining enough money for just one single meal. When these people s food problem is alleviated, they can instead focus on something more important such as money for their kid s education or for other necessities such as clothing and shelter. Volunteering at other places will also have the same impact. My friends don t have to volunteer at the soup kitchen in order to realize their value in their community. I would suggest my other friends to volunteer at other places that interests them. If they love kids, they can offer to tutor kids at an elementary school or at the local library. If they are affable and sociable, they can volunteer at a hospice center for senior citizens. These senior citizens would love to have someone cheer them up. If they are passionate about our environmental problems, then they can do park or beach cleanups. If they love animals, they can volunteer their service to the local animal shelters. There s a place for everyone to help out. By volunteering at places that interest them, they would enjoy volunteering and realize that they can make a difference in this world even if it s just something small in their community. Helping out just one kid who s really struggling in math for a day is better than going out shopping and buying another pair of jeans that you don t need. Doing just one act of kindness or good deed can make you valuable in this world. Doing something whether big or small is better than doing nothing at all. So to all my friends who want see their value in this society, go out and do something.

4 4 THE OPTIPINION GEO 2013 Nisei Week Queen

5 . 5 THE OPTIPINION

6 6 THE OPTIPINION OFFICERS President... Stacy Cascadden Vice President... Bill Coonce Vice President... Deryck Koga Secretary... Jun Goeku Treasurer... Ron Shintani IPP... Ron Hom First Year Members Dave Allen Jim Carroll Sid Halushka BOARD OF DIRECTORS Second Year Members EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Justin Carroll Jeanette Mena Glenn Shimizu Jim Carroll-Chairman Jeanette Mena -Assistant Mikey Williams - Photographer THE OPTIMIST CREED PROMISE YOURSELF: To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel that there is something in them. To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best. To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile. To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others. To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble. Christian D. Larson THE OPTIPINION P.O. BOX 2132 GARDENA, CA CLOSING THOUGHTS... Happy Mother s Day May 12th