On June 11, 1776, the Second Continental Congress at a meeting in Philadelphia selected a committee which included Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston. They were charged with drafting a document that would formally sever ties between the colonies and Great Britain. The final draft, written by the hand of Thomas Jefferson and known as The Declaration of Independence, was officially adopted by the Continental Congress by a unanimous vote on July 4th. After its passage, Ben Franklin was asked, “Well Dr. Franklin. What have you given us?” He replied, “You have a republic, Madame. If you can keep it”. And so, the great experiment in American Democracy was born.
In 1870, Congress established July, 4th (Independence Day) as an official holiday and ever since we Americans celebrate the birth of our nation with parades, barbecues, festivals and fireworks. Too often, lost in the celebrations is the meanings of the words that many of us were taught to recite in grade school “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Few at the time gave much prediction that this fledgling group of 13 colonies, through their Continental Congress, had much hope for even a brief period of success with their new republic. But the constitutional government that followed with its individual liberty, elected representatives and limited powers survived the challenges of time, opposition and war. On June 24, 1826, Thomas Jefferson sent his last letter to Congress in celebration of the 50th anniversary of The Declaration of Independence. In it he wrote,
“May it be to the world, what I believe it will be … the signal of arousing men to burst the chains … and to assume the blessings and security of self-government. That form, which we have substituted, restores the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion. All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. … For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them.”
In celebrating this July 4th holiday let us rededicate ourselves to the basic fundamentals of our great society and work together in unity to resolve the many challenges facing our nation in these modern times.
As Optimist Club members let us remind our youth of the truly unique gift that has been granted to us in The Declaration of Independence; the rights of individual freedom, liberty, justice and the pursuit of happiness.
May you all have a wonderfully memorable and safe Independence Day celebration.
Yours in Optimism,
Mark Cropp, President
It’s Time for Optimist Family Night!
UncategorizedIt’s happening next Wednesday, July 11th, and it takes place at Wayne and Sue Hill’s home at 10 Oak Trail in Gettysburg. The Annual Optimist of Gettysburg Family Night is one of the most popular member events of the year. Wayne will be preparing chicken quarters on the grill and all attendees will be asked to bring a favorite side dish or desert to share. Please let us know by Monday, July 9th (staceygreen1215@yahoo.com) if you are planning on attending so we may communicate what each member can contribute to the menu.
The pool is open and the water should be warm, given the hot summer temperatures we are experiencing. The traditional “Optimist Family Trivia Contest” will be held and the winner (or winners) will have the opportunity to select a favorite charity to receive an Optimist Club donation. The invitation is open to all members and is also a great opportunity to invite prospective members.
So pack up the family, a few lawn chairs, your bathing suits, towels and your appetite and join us for an evening of great food and the finest in Optimist fellowship. Dinner and the evenings festivities will get underway at 6:30pm.
We’re all looking forward to seeing you!
“Well Dr. Franklin. What have you given us?”
UncategorizedIn 1870, Congress established July, 4th (Independence Day) as an official holiday and ever since we Americans celebrate the birth of our nation with parades, barbecues, festivals and fireworks. Too often, lost in the celebrations is the meanings of the words that many of us were taught to recite in grade school “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Few at the time gave much prediction that this fledgling group of 13 colonies, through their Continental Congress, had much hope for even a brief period of success with their new republic. But the constitutional government that followed with its individual liberty, elected representatives and limited powers survived the challenges of time, opposition and war. On June 24, 1826, Thomas Jefferson sent his last letter to Congress in celebration of the 50th anniversary of The Declaration of Independence. In it he wrote,
“May it be to the world, what I believe it will be … the signal of arousing men to burst the chains … and to assume the blessings and security of self-government. That form, which we have substituted, restores the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion. All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. … For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them.”
In celebrating this July 4th holiday let us rededicate ourselves to the basic fundamentals of our great society and work together in unity to resolve the many challenges facing our nation in these modern times.
As Optimist Club members let us remind our youth of the truly unique gift that has been granted to us in The Declaration of Independence; the rights of individual freedom, liberty, justice and the pursuit of happiness.
May you all have a wonderfully memorable and safe Independence Day celebration.
Yours in Optimism,
Mark Cropp, President
Caton & Jared’s Alex’s Lemonade Stand
UncategorizedIt is time for the 7th Annual Alex’s Lemonade Stand in Gettysburg. Optimist members will remember Caton and Jared’s visit and presentation to the Optimist Club earlier this year when they received the Club’s donation to their cause. The winners of the Optimist Family Trivia Contest at last summers Optimist Family Night selected Caton and Jared’s Alex’s Lemonade Stand as the recipient of the clubs Family Night donation.
Caton Raffensperger and Jared Herr have been raising money for childhood cancer for most of their young lives. Since their start in 2006 the duo has raised more than $30,000.00 for the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. This years effort will be held on Friday, July 6, 3:00-6:00 and Saturday, July 7, 1:00-6:00. The stand is located on Caton’s Grandma’s Front Porch at 429 Baltimore Street in Gettysburg.
Please join Caton and Jared for the 7th Annual ALEX’S LEMONADE STAND to raise money to help fight childhood cancer one cup at a time. Personal and business donations are welcomed. Additional information may be found by visiting http://www.alexslemonade.org/mypage/85683.
Treasure Found in Hot Summer Meetings!
UncategorizedOur Optimist Club meets outdoors in the Summer beneath a Pavilion that seems at times to capture the heat and harbor more than its share of Summer bugs. So it was on Wednesday, June 20 when 18 of us gathered by the lake to wolf down Daryl’s grilled “dogs and burgs”, a cold brew, and fresh watermelon. We said congrats to our newlyweds – Kris Accardi and Mindy Dicken – and greeted Holly Fox and Lynne Aurand, our guests for the evening.
Now we did conduct our business: the Soccer Parking receipts, which went well, the golf tournament update, preliminary plans for 2013, the $450 donation for the Kindergarten Book project , and the Rec Park Optimist Amphitheater painting done by the USS Eisenhower visiting sailors. But we could have done this by email.
We have some goodies coming up – the Family picnic at Wayne Hill’s home on July 11th ( more to come on this), the Gettysburg “Meals and More” Summer project for kids presentation at the August 1st meeting, and the Zone meeting on August 15th (y’all come!). But we could have shared this news on the website, or even a real snail mail letter!
But we gather. We gather by choice. We swap stories. We eat sitting on creaky wooden tables. We have handshakes all around and we give every living creature a smile (except the bugs).
The treasure in gathering for meetings, even in the Summer heat, is fellowship – the unsaid part of our creed.
Please join us July 11th for our annual Summer Family Picnic. We’ll pick up right where we left off.
Joe MacDowell, secty.
Optimist of Gettysburg Meeting Agenda for June 20, 2012
UncategorizedThe next regular meeting of the Optimist Club of Gettysburg is Wednesday, June, 20. The meeting will get under way at the Lake Heritage Pavilion at 6:30 pm. Daryl Aurand will be preparing the meal for all the members in attendance. An advanced copy of the evenings agenda can be accessed by clicking on Optimist 062012 Meeting Agenda.
Hope to see you there!
Setting the Example Through Leadership
UncategorizedAs we enter the fourth and final quarter of this Optimist year we still have much to accomplish as “Friends of Youth” in Gettysburg. Although the list of things to do is getting shorter, each remaining challenge is certainly no less important to our club, our members and the community.
Since 1958, The Optimist Club of Gettysburg has served the needs of our youth with energy, generosity and commitment to the principles of Optimism. We have made a difference in thousands of young lives throughout the years and we have been successful in instilling the principles of optimism, personal growth and community service in the hearts and minds of the youth we have served and mentored.
Today our organization and other service organizations are confronted with the realities of a challenging economy, social change and increased personal demands on volunteer’s time. As we all struggle to balance the many changes and challenges in our personal lives, the needs of our community and its youth go unabated. Each week another request from someone or some organization wanting to know if the Optimist of Gettysburg can help out with their worthy project presents itself. Surely it can be said that successfully filling a need, produces more needs to be filled.
The Optimist Club of Gettysburg has always achieved it objectives because of the dedication and efforts of an active and interested general membership and member leaders. As we move forward into a new Optimist year we ask you to consider your level of commitment to serving the needs of our community through Optimism. Opportunities include, club officer and board positions as well as project chair positions and co-chair positions. Please consider reserving a prominent place in your busy life this coming year to help continue the proud tradition of the Optimist Club of Gettysburg.
You are invited to contact Mark Cropp, jmcropp@embarqmail.com, or Craig Sweet, craig@ldg.net, to volunteer your desire to “step up” and set an example for others to follow through your leadership.
The Gettysburg Optimist Club GADS Scholarship Presented
UncategorizedTyler Harte and Norma Jean Redman, Gettysburg High School seniors, were recently presented the 2012 Optimist Club of Gettysburg, Dollars for Scholars Scholarship. The students were presented with their award by Optimist Club member and Dollars for Scholars Board President, Matt Sheads. The Dollars for Scholars program is one of 19 youth related programs that is supported by funds raised by the Optimist Club of Gettysburg.
Gettysburg Area Dollars for Scholars (GADS) recently awarded 66 scholarships and awards totaling $60,000 to graduating high school seniors residing in the Gettysburg Area School District. In the eight years since its inception, Dollars for Scholars has given in excess of $361,000 in scholarship money to local students continuing their education.
All recipients of the Dollars for Scholars Scholarships can be reviewed in the “Faces” section of the Saturday, June 16, 2012 issue of the Gettysburg Times.
Gettysburg Rec Park Optimist Amphitheater Painted by the crew of the USS Eisenhower
UncategorizedOn June 6, 2012, the crew of the USS Eisenhower was in Gettysburg. As a service project to the community, they painted the Rec Park Optimist Amphitheater. We extend a big thank you for all of their hard work. It looks great!
A Hot Summer of Optimism in Gettysburg
UncategorizedIt will be upon us all very soon. The time for family vacations, fireworks, swimming, beach going, barbecues, festivals, grille-outs and all things outdoors. Summer will be making it’s annual debut on June 20th and the Gettysburg “Friends of Youth” will embark upon a Hot Summer of Optimism in Gettysburg. Knowing no season, members will continue to gather to conduct their business, celebrate the nations birthday and share some optimistic moments with their families and friends. Here are the Gettysburg Optimist Club events currently scheduled for the coming season:
As you can see, Optimists serving the youth of Gettysburg knows no barrier of time or season. There is plenty of opportunity to come together, between the annual summer vacations, holiday and busy schedules, to join with your fellow friends, family and members for a Hot Summer of Optimism in Gettysburg.
Wrapping Up A Busy Month of Optimism
UncategorizedMay 2012 was a very busy and important month for the Optimist Club of Gettysburg. Two of the most important fund raising projects of the Optimist year occurred during the last two weeks of the month. The Blue Gray Youth Soccer Parking Project and the Second Annual Gettysburg Optimist Golf Tournament commanded the clubs attention and produced very positive results. A large turnout of members and supporters were on hand to make sure that our contributions to 19 youth related programs were met for 2012 and beyond. A special “Thank You” to Don Davis, Soccer Parking Chairman, and Chairman Don Ferrara, Second Annual Gettysburg Golf Tournament for their extra, hard work and leadership.
It never seems to fail that no matter how busy Optimist members are, they come together for the youth of Gettysburg. I thank all members for contributing their time and talents to make both events a BIG success and also extend my sincere appreciation to hundreds of participants and supporters who sponsored and attended both events. The Gettysburg Optimist Club could not do what they do without their enthusiastic participation.
More than 300 photos of the Golf Tournament have been posted to the clubs website at http://gettysburgoptimist.org/news/golf-fundraiser-photos/ for members and supporters to review and download. Already more than 19 unique visitors have been driven to the site and accessed the photos. It is very rewarding to know that our efforts have such a fine following.
Junction Creative Solutions has written a Blog post and national press release concerning the Optimist Clubs efforts at the Second Annual Golf Tournament. That posting is available at http://junction-creative.com/wordpress/2012/06/junction-sponsors-second-annual-optimist-club-of-gettysburg-golf-tournament-supporting-local-youth/
The club continues their service in June with this months first regular membership meeting on Wednesday, June 6. The meeting will get underway at 6:30 pm at the Lake Heritage Pavilion. Brent Smith and Joe MacDowell are the Food Committee for this meeting. I welcome all members and those interested in learning more about the Optimist Club of Gettysburg to come by for a visit.