3rd Quarter District Conference - McPherson, KS. - Econo Lodge

Special Guest: International President, Dr. Mark Shriver 

Special Event: Annual Oratorical Contest

Friday, April 30, 2010
3:00-4:00 p.m. - Meeting of Conference Committee
4:30-5:30 p.m. - Finance Committee Review
4:00-7:00 p.m. - Registration
     Dinner with International President - invitation only
7:00 - 8:00 p.m. - Executive Committee Meeting
7:00 - 10:00 p.m. Hospitality Room Open
Saturday, May 1, 2010
7:00-10:00 a.m. - Registraton
7:30-8:45 a.m. - Lt. Governor Breakfast, 1st Time Breakfast
8:45-9:00 a.m. - Break
9:00-11:30 a.m. & 2:15-4:30 Spouse Event
9:00-10:30 a.m. General Session
10:35-11:40 a.m. - Workshop - Bringing out the Leader in You "What's in your Tool Box"
                               Governor Don Crall - Oklahoma
2:05 - 3:25 p.m. - General Session, - Election of Lt. Governors
3:25 - 3:35 p.m. Break
3:35-4:30 p.m. - PGI Workshop
4:30 p.m. - Door Prizes
5:45 - 6:15 p.m.  Social with International President Mark & Wife Pat & Gov. Don Crall, Oklahoma
6:15 p.m. - Dinner
8:00-11:00 - Hospitality Room - Bunco Tournament $5.00 entry for OIF/CCC
Sunday, May 2, 2010
8:00-8:30 a.m. Worship Service
8:30-9:00 a.m. Breakfast
9:15 - 9:45 - Speaker
9:45-10:45 - Closing session
6:15 p.m.
*for an enhanced schedule, go to the forum and click on Agenda

Important Dates to Remember 2009-10 Year

Please mark the following dates on your calendar:
EZ-Postcard 990 - due 2/15 ....please file if you have not already done so
Annual Reports due to maintain Incorporation 
April 1: Optimist International Dues Statements Issued
              Quilt blocks returned to Ruth Nelson

April 30-May 2: Third Quarter District Conference
                           McPherson
                           Econo Lodge
                           620-241-6960 - Room Rate $59.99 per night, plus tax
                           Reservation Deadline: April 14, 2010

July 1: Optimist International Dues Statements Issued

July 7-10: OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION
                  Denver, Colorado - register early - limited rooms
                   registration available www.optimist.org

August 13-15: Kansas District Conference
                         Topeka
                         785-215-8251 - Room Rate $82.00 per night, plus tax
                         Reservation Deadline: July 18, 2010

August 25-31: Camp Quality Kansas in Agusta

August 20: 2nd Annual Kansas District - Camp Quality Kansas Golf Tournament
                   Falcon Ridge - Lenexa, Kansas
                    (more information to follow)  Mark your Calendars!


Note: Dues must be paid on time for the District to receive their quarterly allotment for each
member. Failure to meet financial deadlines results in loss of income to the district.
        Reservation deadlines for District meetings is important to hold down costs, and to
provide adequate meals for all attending. Your timely assistance is very much appreciated.
          
                   



 

CHILDHOOD CANCER CAMPAIGN

OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL AND CAMP QUALITY KANSAS

 The Brown Bag Campaign has provided over 1,100  dollars worth of items for Camp Quality Kansas including soccer, football, and softballs; games and gift items; stuffed animals; books, coloring books, and crayons; office supplies; medical and hygiene supplies; flashlights – an abundance of items that will help reduce the costs for camp and provide hours of entertainment for this year’s campers.
         Clubs and individuals contributed $1,080.00 dollars at the February conference, $867.00 to the Kansas Camp Quality Campaign Account and $213.00 to the OI Foundation Childhood Cancer Campaign Account.
Additionally, a check for $6,000 was presented to Camp Quality Kansas Director, Susan Mooney on behalf of the district. These dollars represent donations made to the Campaign Account during the 2009 year, and there will be a future distribution made prior to the camp’s start in July.
Kansas Optimists are truly becoming a major supporter of Camp Quality Kansas.  The District feels that by making your donations to Camp Quality Kansas – through the OI Camp Quality Kansas Pass Through Account, we can have better accountability for our dollars, and can periodically make large check donations on behalf of the District to support the goal to serve our Kansas Kids with Cancer.

 Optimist International’s commitment to raise 1,000,000 for John Hopkins was completed in December, 2009. Now, they will move forward with lower annual contributions to John Hopkins, but will also be offering Club and District Matching Grants for Childhood Cancer Projects. – Those applications were e-mailed to all clubs.  There is no due date for your application, however, applications will be reviewed on a quart
erly basis and awards will be determined quarterly. Award amounts will be in the range of $250 to $2,500. Applications can be found on our district web site www.ksoptimist.org or on the OI Web at www.optimists.org
Remember, the red-can campaign is still alive and well, and we will continue to ask for your donations at each District Conference. If you are unable to attend, please send your checks to Ruth Nelson, CCC Chair at 15572 S. Blackfoot St. – Make your checks payable to OI CCC and in the memo section designate for Camp Quality KS or OI CCC or split between both funds*
*Clubs are encouraged to support both the OI Foundation CCC and Camp Quality Kansas. We not only help kids be kids again, but help provide an avenue to find a cure! 
THANK YOU ALL FOR WHAT YOU DO FOR OUR KIDS AND FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT OF CCC!

KANSAS DISTRICT WEB SITE

 The site is almost a year old now, and here is one more reminder on how to use the site. Use the information above to access the site. You will see the “front page” open, with special news articles changed regularly, and invite you to send a picture and article to place on the site for upcoming or recent events and/or fundraisers that you and your club have had. – We are looking for a different way to offer this part of the web, so that may change in the future.  However, we want to remain the “Forum” portion of the web, which is the TAB at the top of the page. The Forum, can be likened to a large filing cabinet of special information for all clubs to access.  There are different “drawers” in the filing cabinet: Kansas District, with information on District Officers* and Policies; District Meetings, with information on upcoming Conferences, registration, etc. Calendar/Newsletters, Copies of the District Newsletter and new Camp Quality Kansas Newsletter;  Directory, District Directory* and Zone Directory; Optimist International,  Mission, Vision, OI Bylaws, Convention Registration *(newly updated) ;  Club Links, for posting of your club Bulletins and/or web pages (note when posting these items, please do not include member addresses/e- mails as these are not secure); Leadership Materials,  Copies of training and marketing bulletins, Bringing out the Leader in You, and other district leadership materials; Optimist Scholarships and Programs, a direct link to the OI web for programs, as well as special information provided by the district on programs; Forms, look here for forms needed for different applications, including the Kansas Corporation Forms, E-Z postcard link, and others; and finally Links, for quick access to the most-used OI Web sites.

 Any Kansas Optimist Member can use the web site – find what you are looking for in the Forum, click on that index, and see what is listed underneath each index heading. Most information will be in a “PDF” format, and requires the user to have an Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have one, there is a free download at the bottom of Links section.  When you open many of the files, it will give you a heading with a , click on the paper clip once ….and if necessary, click on the second to open the file needed. Then, you can print or save that item as needed.
**If there are items you would like to have added to the file cabinet, let me know.

 *Access to the District Officers information or to the District Directory require a password which is “kids09”! This is for security purposes as these files contain addresses, phone info, and e-mails. Do not share the password with anyone but a fellow optimist!
You can post your own newsletters and events, by requesting a log-on identity. Contact me for information on how that is done!  (To view information you do not have to log on!)  Or, you can send me copies of information you want posted to the web, and I’ll do that for you.
Most importantly, to keep the front page “fresh” please send me information on your upcoming events and fundraisers so we can post those and share them with our optimist friends. Feel free to contact me with any questions and for assistance.

Ruth Nelson, web master rnelson1021@sbcglobal.net  or ksoptimist@sbcglobal.net

 

   

  



CLUB DATES 

AND ACTIVITIES

Send us the dates of your upcoming events to be published here:
Send Fliers or other promotional materials and we'll publish that on the Events index of the Forum!
Manhattan Breakfast Optimist Club
Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser
Saturday - March 27, 2010
5:00-8:00 p.m.
Pottorf Hall at CICO Park
Adults $7.50 - Under 13 - $4.00
To support Optimist Park improvements:
complete new fastpitch softball field
complete new and larger T-Ball practice field
start improvements to Brummett Field (raise 14')
build indoor multi-purpose youth facility

Sunset Optimist Club
Pancake Breakfast
March 20 - 9:00-1:00 p.m
Hillcrest Community Center - 1800 S.E. 21st St.
Topeka, Ks. 66607 - $3.50!
(go to Club Events on www.ksoptimist.org for flyer

Olathe Noon
Optimist Club Event
Tri-Star Basketball at 10 Title 1 Schools
March 2010
Augusta Optimist Club
Hosts "Bugs Bunny Club in conjunction with the Augusta Dept. of Safety at the historice Agusta Theatre
March 6, 13, 20, and 27th - Youth Movie with prizes
March 6 - Annual Wrestling Fundraiser

Flint Hills Optimist Club
Flint Hills Optimist High School
All-Star Basketball Classic
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Classic's Banquet
March 22, 2010

April 3 - Flint Hills Easter Egg Hunt
July 4 - Fireworks Display

2ND ANNUAL KANSAS DISTRICT
CAMP QUALITY GOLF BENEFIT
TOURNAMENT
 Mark your calendars for August 20, 2010 - Falcon Ridge Golf Course !  More details later.



FUTURE INTERNATIONAL

 CONVENTION DATES

2010
Denver, Colorado
 July 7-10, 2010 (Wednesday-Saturday)

2011
Baltimore, Maryland
July 3-6, 2011 (Sunday-Wednesday)

2012  
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
July 11-14, 2012 (Wednesday-Saturday)

2013  
Cincinnati, Ohio
July 3-6, 2013 (Wednesday-Saturday)

Oratorical & Essay Topics 2010

Oratorical/CCDHH: Cyber Communication - Progress or Problem

Essay: The Inernet: today's evolution or tomorrow's menace?
*Go to the forum to print out the instructions and applications for these events.

Oratorical & Essay Topics 2011

Oratorical/CCDHH: :"If I were the Leader of the Free World, the first issue I would address would be?"
Essay: "How my education is the Key to a Successful Future."
 Join us in McPherson on May 1 for the District Oratorical Competition and cheer on our kids  then again on Sunday, welcome the Essay winner.

INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT RECEIVES RECOGNITION

  International President Mark Shriver has received an award from his home state of Georgia. He has been recognised with the Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Service. This prestigious award is presented each year to lawyers and judges in Georgia who have contributed significantly to their communities throguh their service work.
 KANSAS DISTRICT
TO CELEBRATE 50 YEARS

 This year, in August, we will mark the 50th year for the Kansas District.
 We hope to mark this date with a celebration, so if you have any ideas about how we might want to celebrate and commerate this time, please contact Ruth Nelson at rnelson1021@sbcglobal.net.  
 We'll have a committee working on details, but suggestions and ideas would be very much appreciated.   

KANSAS INCORPORATION ANNUAL REPORTS AND E-Z POST CARD FILINGS

    Clubs incorporate to have a Business ID Number (usually 7 digits) so that they can open a Club Bank Account. Once incorporated, they are required to file an Annual Report to maintain their Incorporation. If the incorporation is forfeited, they must file for reinstatement (a costly possibility). To check the status of your club, follow this link:

http://accesskansas.org/serv-corporations/search.do

Then choose to search by Name or by your Business Identity Number. This search will provide you with information as to when you were incorporated, and if the incorporation is current, and when your next filing is due!

Every club should file 6 months after the end of the Optimist Year, which makes your Annual Reports due in April Annually.  The Annual Report forms are on the www.ksoptimist.org web site under “Forms” and under “Kansas Corporation Forms” NOTE: The 2010 forms have now changed, so please use the “NEW”       forms for filing your reports.

All clubs are required to file the EZ Postcard 990. A link to this form is on the www.ksoptimist.org web site, again, under forms. The EZ Postcard filing was due February 15th. Please get your filing done!  This is electronic, and no reminder is given, you MUST go on the website to file. Once you file, you should receive a reminder post card each year.  You can also go out to IRS.gov and find the link and information on how to file.

CHRISTIAN D. LARSEN AWARD 

 PAST GOVERNOR(S)

Please consider helping us start a new tradition in our District. We would like to begin to annually provide a Christian D. Larsen Award for one of our past governors. They have begun the process by making personal donations, but to reach the $1,000 required we need individual and club support.

We have a number of senior past governors and now would be the time to begin this process as we approach our 50th Anniversary as a district. If you or your club would like to make a donation, please send your check to Ruth Nelson, 15572 S. Blackfoot St., Olathe, KS 66062 – made payable to OI Foundation and in memo section note CDS-Kansas. Executive Director, Judi Smith has agreed to hold our donations until we reach our goal. A committee will select the recipient, and the award will be made at the District Convention in August.  This will be our 1st Annual Award, but we hope to be able to make this an annual event to honor those who have led our district over the years.  For a list of those governors, please refer to your directory, or contact me at rnelson1021@sbcglobal.net.