March 4, 2025 • 18 mins
Heather Peterson, Jim Franke, and Greg McCune from the Manhattan Optimist Club share their initiatives to uplift the community's youth through various fundraisers and programs. Driven by a shared mission, the club highlights its upcoming events and its vital role in fostering a positive atmosphere.
• Discussing the Optimist Club's efforts to engage the community
• Highlights of their annual fundraising events, including the spaghetti dinner
• Emphasis on empowering local youth through various programs and activities
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMCF Community Hour, asheard on NewsRadio KMAN.
I am great today.
Good to have you on.
Thank you, this is your firsttime in on a show.
Yeah, I've been to a fewOptimist meetings.
(00:21):
I was a member a long time ago.
Can we get you back?
That's a pretty tough deal.
No offense, I'm kind of maxedout right now, but tell me a
little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, so my wife and I retired here in 2019.
I had a 42-year career injournalism, graduated from
K-State in 19.
I had a 42 year career injournalism, graduated from
K-State in journalism.
My wife is an accountant andshe graduated from K-State.
So, yeah, we decided that wewanted to come back and retire
(00:57):
in a college town.
What bureau did you work at?
For AP, I worked for AP andReuters 29 years for Reuters and
I worked in four differentcountries for them, oh my.
And then, with AP, I worked intheir Chicago office as an
editor.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
You're a whole different interview altogether
in your history, aren't you?
Jim Franke is a member of theboard and no stranger to this
program, because it seems likewe get you in a couple of times
every year.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Year we talk about different things that the
optimists are involved in,including the spaghetti dinner
and the tree lot yeah, we havethree large major fundraisers
the tree lot sale, sale ofchristmas trees, the chili crawl
which is in october usually,and then the dinner which just
(01:43):
happens to be coming up for the15th time on the 29th of March.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
We'll get to that here in a little bit, all right,
because we got to introduceHeather first.
Heather's also on the board ofthe Optimist Heather Peterson.
Good morning.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Good morning.
Thanks for having us.
Glad to have you back.
It's good to be back.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
You've been involved in the Optimist quite a while.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
A while.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Most of your professional life probably.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Close.
Yeah, pretty close.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Uh-huh.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yes, pretty close.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
What do you like about being in the Optimist Club
?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
You know it is a really great organization that
does a lot of really greatthings for the youth in our area
.
All of the fundraisers that wedo, all of the programs that we
support, it's directly impactingyouth in this area and it's
(02:39):
fantastic.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
And you and Randy have a little bit of a vested
interest with a couple of yourown.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
We do, we do.
They are in the area and doingthe things and you know,
hopefully they could be astudent of the month or a youth
of the month at some point intime in their future.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Let's talk with Greg just a little bit.
Greg, were you involved inOptimus before you moved to
Manhattan?
Speaker 2 (03:05):
With Greg just a little bit.
Greg, were you involved inOptimist before you moved to
Manhattan?
No, Sorry to say, I was prettyfocused on my career.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Well, you missed out so much, didn't you?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah, so I didn't really do a lot of volunteer
work except with my church.
But when we moved here I metLarry Fox, who you probably know
from the foundation, and hesaid you might come along to the
Optimist Club we have breakfastmeetings and so I came and I'm
still here, yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Well, good for you.
What do you like about it?
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Well, what Heather says and just the things that we
do are trying to make apositive impact in the community
.
You know, I think, dave,there's so much negativity out
there on social media, in oursociety and we're kind of like a
place you can go for positivityand optimism and helping kids.
(03:59):
Our mission is very simple liftup kids, and I just love that
you know you're talking aboutsocial media.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
You know there is, and I don't think that's
necessarily balanced, but youtalked about negativity.
There are a lot of good thingsin social media, but we, I think
we digest really the negativestuff because it just sticks
with us.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
But it's great to have that interpersonal
integration of personalities andpeople and talents that can do
a lot of cool things for thekids with disabled kids at
Manhattan High School going andtalking to them, having them
come to our meetings and howexcited and their families too
(04:55):
excited they are to receive anaward.
So that gets to what I wassaying about lifting up kids,
you know.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, Jim, one of the things that we talked about
just briefly.
You've got three annualfundraisers and one of them's
coming up here in about fourweeks or so.
It's your spaghetti feed.
I've been to this a number oftimes and it's always good and
it's always fun.
Give us some details on yourspaghetti fee.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Again, it's going to be the 29th Saturday, the 29th
of March.
It's going to be out atPotterfall in Seco Park from 5
to 8 in the evening.
Tickets will be available atthe door, unless you know an
optimist that you can reach outto.
Okay, $8 for adults and $5, $4,I'm sorry for children under
(05:49):
the age of 13.
Okay, Okay, and the menu ifyou're interested in that
Spaghetti, of course Ooh, youhad me there Both meat and
meatless sauce.
The meat sauce isoverwhelmingly more popular, but
we do have the meatless.
Get a salad, some bread,something to drink and then you
(06:11):
get a dessert and it's a goodtime.
It's sort of the first thingthat happens for a lot of people
in the spring.
It's starting to warm up,People are starting to come out
of hiding.
If I could shout out to some ofthe sponsors that we use for
this.
Our sponsors help us out withfood and ingredients for what we
(06:34):
cook.
First of all, the Outdoor Bankhere in Manhattan.
They provide what's the mostexpensive item on our shopping
list, which is hamburger, andthen we get some pasta and sauce
from the Barilla folks Actually, we get that up in Des Moines
(06:56):
and then the K-State BakeryScience Club.
One of our members was anadvisor for them and we made
this connection with them and wehelped them bake it, but they
come up with like 75 loaves ofbread.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
That's no, no fishes, just bread.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Okay, all right, I always do that, and then what
else?
Speaker 1 (07:23):
It's almost Lent.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
And then desserts.
The Manhattan Optimist FastPitch Association, fast Pitch
Softball Association.
They put up half the dessertsand they also help us with our
ticket sales and that's a heckof a contribution that allows us
to keep the prices as low as wedo.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
How many people come through?
Typically Five to 600.
That's a lot of spaghetti.
That's a lot of spaghetti A lotof bread, a lot of salad a lot
of drink a lot of desserts?
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Yeah, we never use it all, but we've gotten better
over the years.
The first time we did it, wedidn't know what we were doing,
so we gave what was left over toa local organization and they
brought a minivan down and westuffed every square inch of the
minivan with what we had left.
But now we're we're actuallymuch better at it.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Good, all right.
March 29th, that's the day.
So let's talk a bit about someother things.
And and one of the bigchallenges, heather, is, you
know, for every civicorganization is not just getting
new members but retainingmembers.
And I know that you know, theOptimist Club originally was two
organizations and they mergedseveral years ago, which I think
(08:38):
was a brilliant move, and youknow, and that's that probably
was a sustainability initiative,but you're always in need of
new members we are.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Like you said.
I think any civic organization,non-profit organization
struggles with getting peopleinvolved, and I think times have
just changed, for you know, onereason or another, the
organization was one.
At one point in time it splitinto two those who liked to get
up in the morning and those whoyou didn't want to be around in
(09:11):
the morning Myself of one ofthose, without six or eight cups
of coffee in me and we'vereemerged to join forces so that
we could do all of thesewonderful programs that we do,
so we offer.
I think that is one of the bestthings about the Optimist Club
is there's lots of opportunitiesfor engagement and you really
(09:34):
get to pick what aligns withyour schedule, what aligns with
your passions, what aligns withyour values.
You know, what do you, what,what interests you and what do
you want to be involved in that?
I don't know a lot about a lotof other organizations, but I
feel like there's so manyrequirements or all of this or
(09:54):
all of that, and we really havea variety of things.
You can go ref a tea ball, youcan help cook spaghetti, you can
show up in the morning, you canshow up at noon, you can be a
part of the chili crawl, be apart of any of these things that
we do, any of the otherprograms that we do for the kids
.
So there's just a really a widevariety of things that we do,
any of the other programs thatwe do for the kids.
So there's just a really a widevariety of things that you can
(10:17):
be involved in and find yourpassion so that you want to be
involved with it.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
And all these fundraisers go into different
types of programs and, greg,we're going to turn to you for
some of the programs and I knowthat one of the things that you
have been involved in for areally, really long time is
baseball, softball, t-ball andyou got your own ball, diamond
Optimus Park just off Amherst,and that's just a lot of fun and
(10:43):
this is probably a time where alot of people are thinking
about getting their kidsinvolved in that.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yes, registration is going to be opening soon with
Parks on Rackin'.
The City is going to be openingsoon with Parks and Rec in the
city.
We're very proud of the factthat we in the last two years
have given substantial financialsupport to the T-Ball program
with Parks and Rec and that'senabled Parks and Rec to offer
(11:08):
this program for free for fiveand six year olds.
So it's absolutely free.
If parents have kids who youknow are maybe a little bit shy
about getting involved in sportsand whatever, there's no
(11:29):
downside here.
Just sign up and, yes, we havethe games at our park.
A lot of people in town don'tknow that we have our own
Optimist Park.
It's down there by Little AppleToyota behind that development.
We've had it for many years.
We have five ball fields therenow and we host more than a
dozen softball teams there whodo their practicing and stuff,
softball teams there who dotheir practicing and stuff.
(11:52):
So it's a busy place, even morethan the summer, you know the
spring and fall as well.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
And it's a lot of fun .
Do you have to provide themanpower for much of those
activities, or is that somethingthat the city gets involved in?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
No, we're completely independent from the city in
that respect.
Now for T-Bball, as Heathermentioned.
You know you can, we providethe umpires and we do the
maintenance of the fields andthat sort of thing.
And I got to say being a T-ballumpire is really fun.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
I think being a T-ball attendant is a lot of fun
.
I mean, it's, it's, it's it'sgreat.
Comedy attendant is a lot offun.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I mean it's it's, it's, it's great comedy.
Yeah, the first time I was anumpire um a kid hit the ball and
went to third base you knowlike and it, and everybody was
laughing it's, it's, there's, no, there's no pressure there.
One of the fun things it's.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
It's it's neat to have fun when you're doing
things for kids.
Jim, let's talk a bit aboutsome of the other programs that
you do.
You know we addressed, you knowsome of the fundraisers, but
you know you do obviously theT-Ball program, but you guys are
involved in a lot of otherthings.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
Yeah, we well Heather's involved with the.
That try it.
What's it called?
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Just Try it.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Just Try it, which is , you want to just go ahead and
build on that.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
Yeah, so just try it.
Our involvement we provide thenutrition station.
You know a lot of thattriathlon.
(13:38):
We also do a lawnmower clinic.
So those youth that areinterested in having their own
lawn mowing business over thesummer, we take them in, teach
them how not to hurt themselvesand how to run a business in an
afternoon.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
And that's coming up in a week or so.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Yeah, so a great again youth program.
There we're a big part of theearly expressions art fair that
just completed.
We do a student of the monthand a youth of the month, so
we're recognizing really at anindividual level, local
elementary kids and then highschool students.
For the high school kidsthere's a scholarship
(14:17):
opportunity there at the end andit really is rewarding to go to
those meetings and hear whatthose kids have done.
I'm getting goosebumps justthinking about it because it
really is amazing to see theimpact that our organization has
on these kids and in turn I geta ton out of hearing how
(14:37):
amazing these kids really areand it's just it's really
fantastic to see Hoopahler andshoot.
Thank you, yep, we justcompleted Hoopahler and shoot
over the fall.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
And do you want to mention your daughter?
Speaker 3 (14:54):
My daughter was lucky enough that she got to the
finals so it was pretty, prettystoked about that to be involved
.
I was never her judge, just toput that out there, so uh
there's not a whole lot ofjudging you know, make sure they
don't cross the line.
And they made the bucket andall of that.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
I was, it was never me, so I made, I made, made sure
of that, but uh you know, whenI was announcing for K-State,
that was always a fun thing tobe able to do when you get the
finals there with both both boysand girls and you know, and and
hearing a lot of classmates andfriends and family just
cheering each one of them on,and that was always special.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
It really is.
And again, that's another thingthat touches every fifth grader
in the area.
They all, every fifth graderevery year, gets an opportunity
to be a part of that program andwhat you don't see is when we
go to every school during gymclass and we have them, that
same support is there, for youknow their classmates are
(15:52):
cheering them on and it's just.
It's so great.
It's so great to see Great.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
How can people find out more about the Manhattan
Optimist Club and and maybe youknow investigate being being a
guest at one of your meetingsand becoming a member.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Yes, we would love to have people come and join us.
So we have a website,manhattanoptimistcom, and you
can click join today, whichprovides more information.
One thing I'd like to mentionis that we're doing something
new this year.
We in the past have pretty muchrelied on word of mouth about
(16:32):
our programs and our club, butfor the first time, we're going
to do an actual marketingcampaign.
So you should be seeing more onsocial media radio ads, youtube
video about our programs andabout us.
In the next few weeks.
We're going to launch that.
(16:52):
We're very excited about it.
A little nervous nervous too,because we haven't done this
before.
But yeah, we would ask peopleto go to the website, fill out
the form.
We'll be notified and we'llinvite them immediately.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
We may just put in a quick plug for your meeting
location.
That's the Blue Hills Room inthe Blue Hills Shopping Center,
just to Tuttle and Kimball, andyou have breakfast meetings on
the first, third and maybe fifthWednesdays of the month and
then lunch on the second andfourth meetings.
Correct, that's always goodfood there.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
It is.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
Delicious.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
They do a great job, yeah, and if you want to come to
one of the morning meetings,over the next couple of months
we'll be having the Youth of theMonth, which Heather mentioned
presenting to differentelementary schools in the area.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Well, appreciate the work that all of you do.
Good luck with your spaghettifeed coming up on the 29th, and
you've got information aboutthat on the website
ManhattanOoptimistcom.
Our guests in this segmentinclude Greg McCune, jim Franke
and Heather Peterson, allrepresenting the Manhattan
Optimist Club, and thanks forjoining us today.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Thanks, for having us , Dave.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
When we come back from the break, Jim Jeanette's
going to be joining us.
He's with Manhattan AreaTechnical College and boy he's
got some great stories to tell.
We'll hear from Jim in just acouple of moments on the GMCF
Community Hour and, by the way,you can always find out more
about the GMCF's activities atour website, which is mcfksorg.
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMCF Community Hour, asheard on NewsRadio KMAN.
I am great today.
Good to have you on.
Thank you, this is your firsttime in on a show.
Yeah, I've been to a fewOptimist meetings.
(00:21):
I was a member a long time ago.
Can we get you back?
That's a pretty tough deal.
No offense, I'm kind of maxedout right now, but tell me a
little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, so my wife and I retired here in 2019.
I had a 42-year career injournalism, graduated from
K-State in 19.
I had a 42 year career injournalism, graduated from
K-State in journalism.
My wife is an accountant andshe graduated from K-State.
So, yeah, we decided that wewanted to come back and retire
(00:57):
in a college town.
What bureau did you work at?
For AP, I worked for AP andReuters 29 years for Reuters and
I worked in four differentcountries for them, oh my.
And then, with AP, I worked intheir Chicago office as an
editor.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
You're a whole different interview altogether
in your history, aren't you?
Jim Franke is a member of theboard and no stranger to this
program, because it seems likewe get you in a couple of times
every year.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Year we talk about different things that the
optimists are involved in,including the spaghetti dinner
and the tree lot yeah, we havethree large major fundraisers
the tree lot sale, sale ofchristmas trees, the chili crawl
which is in october usually,and then the dinner which just
(01:43):
happens to be coming up for the15th time on the 29th of March.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
We'll get to that here in a little bit, all right,
because we got to introduceHeather first.
Heather's also on the board ofthe Optimist Heather Peterson.
Good morning.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Good morning.
Thanks for having us.
Glad to have you back.
It's good to be back.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
You've been involved in the Optimist quite a while.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
A while.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Most of your professional life probably.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Close.
Yeah, pretty close.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Uh-huh.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yes, pretty close.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
What do you like about being in the Optimist Club
?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
You know it is a really great organization that
does a lot of really greatthings for the youth in our area
.
All of the fundraisers that wedo, all of the programs that we
support, it's directly impactingyouth in this area and it's
(02:39):
fantastic.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
And you and Randy have a little bit of a vested
interest with a couple of yourown.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
We do, we do.
They are in the area and doingthe things and you know,
hopefully they could be astudent of the month or a youth
of the month at some point intime in their future.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Let's talk with Greg just a little bit.
Greg, were you involved inOptimus before you moved to
Manhattan?
Speaker 2 (03:05):
With Greg just a little bit.
Greg, were you involved inOptimist before you moved to
Manhattan?
No, Sorry to say, I was prettyfocused on my career.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Well, you missed out so much, didn't you?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah, so I didn't really do a lot of volunteer
work except with my church.
But when we moved here I metLarry Fox, who you probably know
from the foundation, and hesaid you might come along to the
Optimist Club we have breakfastmeetings and so I came and I'm
still here, yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Well, good for you.
What do you like about it?
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Well, what Heather says and just the things that we
do are trying to make apositive impact in the community
.
You know, I think, dave,there's so much negativity out
there on social media, in oursociety and we're kind of like a
place you can go for positivityand optimism and helping kids.
(03:59):
Our mission is very simple liftup kids, and I just love that
you know you're talking aboutsocial media.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
You know there is, and I don't think that's
necessarily balanced, but youtalked about negativity.
There are a lot of good thingsin social media, but we, I think
we digest really the negativestuff because it just sticks
with us.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
But it's great to have that interpersonal
integration of personalities andpeople and talents that can do
a lot of cool things for thekids with disabled kids at
Manhattan High School going andtalking to them, having them
come to our meetings and howexcited and their families too
(04:55):
excited they are to receive anaward.
So that gets to what I wassaying about lifting up kids,
you know.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, Jim, one of the things that we talked about
just briefly.
You've got three annualfundraisers and one of them's
coming up here in about fourweeks or so.
It's your spaghetti feed.
I've been to this a number oftimes and it's always good and
it's always fun.
Give us some details on yourspaghetti fee.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Again, it's going to be the 29th Saturday, the 29th
of March.
It's going to be out atPotterfall in Seco Park from 5
to 8 in the evening.
Tickets will be available atthe door, unless you know an
optimist that you can reach outto.
Okay, $8 for adults and $5, $4,I'm sorry for children under
(05:49):
the age of 13.
Okay, Okay, and the menu ifyou're interested in that
Spaghetti, of course Ooh, youhad me there Both meat and
meatless sauce.
The meat sauce isoverwhelmingly more popular, but
we do have the meatless.
Get a salad, some bread,something to drink and then you
(06:11):
get a dessert and it's a goodtime.
It's sort of the first thingthat happens for a lot of people
in the spring.
It's starting to warm up,People are starting to come out
of hiding.
If I could shout out to some ofthe sponsors that we use for
this.
Our sponsors help us out withfood and ingredients for what we
(06:34):
cook.
First of all, the Outdoor Bankhere in Manhattan.
They provide what's the mostexpensive item on our shopping
list, which is hamburger, andthen we get some pasta and sauce
from the Barilla folks Actually, we get that up in Des Moines
(06:56):
and then the K-State BakeryScience Club.
One of our members was anadvisor for them and we made
this connection with them and wehelped them bake it, but they
come up with like 75 loaves ofbread.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
That's no, no fishes, just bread.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Okay, all right, I always do that, and then what
else?
Speaker 1 (07:23):
It's almost Lent.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
And then desserts.
The Manhattan Optimist FastPitch Association, fast Pitch
Softball Association.
They put up half the dessertsand they also help us with our
ticket sales and that's a heckof a contribution that allows us
to keep the prices as low as wedo.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
How many people come through?
Typically Five to 600.
That's a lot of spaghetti.
That's a lot of spaghetti A lotof bread, a lot of salad a lot
of drink a lot of desserts?
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Yeah, we never use it all, but we've gotten better
over the years.
The first time we did it, wedidn't know what we were doing,
so we gave what was left over toa local organization and they
brought a minivan down and westuffed every square inch of the
minivan with what we had left.
But now we're we're actuallymuch better at it.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Good, all right.
March 29th, that's the day.
So let's talk a bit about someother things.
And and one of the bigchallenges, heather, is, you
know, for every civicorganization is not just getting
new members but retainingmembers.
And I know that you know, theOptimist Club originally was two
organizations and they mergedseveral years ago, which I think
(08:38):
was a brilliant move, and youknow, and that's that probably
was a sustainability initiative,but you're always in need of
new members we are.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Like you said.
I think any civic organization,non-profit organization
struggles with getting peopleinvolved, and I think times have
just changed, for you know, onereason or another, the
organization was one.
At one point in time it splitinto two those who liked to get
up in the morning and those whoyou didn't want to be around in
(09:11):
the morning Myself of one ofthose, without six or eight cups
of coffee in me and we'vereemerged to join forces so that
we could do all of thesewonderful programs that we do,
so we offer.
I think that is one of the bestthings about the Optimist Club
is there's lots of opportunitiesfor engagement and you really
(09:34):
get to pick what aligns withyour schedule, what aligns with
your passions, what aligns withyour values.
You know, what do you, what,what interests you and what do
you want to be involved in that?
I don't know a lot about a lotof other organizations, but I
feel like there's so manyrequirements or all of this or
(09:54):
all of that, and we really havea variety of things.
You can go ref a tea ball, youcan help cook spaghetti, you can
show up in the morning, you canshow up at noon, you can be a
part of the chili crawl, be apart of any of these things that
we do, any of the otherprograms that we do for the kids
.
So there's just a really a widevariety of things that we do,
any of the other programs thatwe do for the kids.
So there's just a really a widevariety of things that you can
(10:17):
be involved in and find yourpassion so that you want to be
involved with it.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
And all these fundraisers go into different
types of programs and, greg,we're going to turn to you for
some of the programs and I knowthat one of the things that you
have been involved in for areally, really long time is
baseball, softball, t-ball andyou got your own ball, diamond
Optimus Park just off Amherst,and that's just a lot of fun and
(10:43):
this is probably a time where alot of people are thinking
about getting their kidsinvolved in that.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yes, registration is going to be opening soon with
Parks on Rackin'.
The City is going to be openingsoon with Parks and Rec in the
city.
We're very proud of the factthat we in the last two years
have given substantial financialsupport to the T-Ball program
with Parks and Rec and that'senabled Parks and Rec to offer
(11:08):
this program for free for fiveand six year olds.
So it's absolutely free.
If parents have kids who youknow are maybe a little bit shy
about getting involved in sportsand whatever, there's no
(11:29):
downside here.
Just sign up and, yes, we havethe games at our park.
A lot of people in town don'tknow that we have our own
Optimist Park.
It's down there by Little AppleToyota behind that development.
We've had it for many years.
We have five ball fields therenow and we host more than a
dozen softball teams there whodo their practicing and stuff,
softball teams there who dotheir practicing and stuff.
(11:52):
So it's a busy place, even morethan the summer, you know the
spring and fall as well.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
And it's a lot of fun .
Do you have to provide themanpower for much of those
activities, or is that somethingthat the city gets involved in?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
No, we're completely independent from the city in
that respect.
Now for T-Bball, as Heathermentioned.
You know you can, we providethe umpires and we do the
maintenance of the fields andthat sort of thing.
And I got to say being a T-ballumpire is really fun.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
I think being a T-ball attendant is a lot of fun
.
I mean, it's, it's, it's it'sgreat.
Comedy attendant is a lot offun.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I mean it's it's, it's, it's great comedy.
Yeah, the first time I was anumpire um a kid hit the ball and
went to third base you knowlike and it, and everybody was
laughing it's, it's, there's, no, there's no pressure there.
One of the fun things it's.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
It's it's neat to have fun when you're doing
things for kids.
Jim, let's talk a bit aboutsome of the other programs that
you do.
You know we addressed, you knowsome of the fundraisers, but
you know you do obviously theT-Ball program, but you guys are
involved in a lot of otherthings.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
Yeah, we well Heather's involved with the.
That try it.
What's it called?
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Just Try it.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Just Try it, which is , you want to just go ahead and
build on that.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
Yeah, so just try it.
Our involvement we provide thenutrition station.
You know a lot of thattriathlon.
(13:38):
We also do a lawnmower clinic.
So those youth that areinterested in having their own
lawn mowing business over thesummer, we take them in, teach
them how not to hurt themselvesand how to run a business in an
afternoon.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
And that's coming up in a week or so.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Yeah, so a great again youth program.
There we're a big part of theearly expressions art fair that
just completed.
We do a student of the monthand a youth of the month, so
we're recognizing really at anindividual level, local
elementary kids and then highschool students.
For the high school kidsthere's a scholarship
(14:17):
opportunity there at the end andit really is rewarding to go to
those meetings and hear whatthose kids have done.
I'm getting goosebumps justthinking about it because it
really is amazing to see theimpact that our organization has
on these kids and in turn I geta ton out of hearing how
(14:37):
amazing these kids really areand it's just it's really
fantastic to see Hoopahler andshoot.
Thank you, yep, we justcompleted Hoopahler and shoot
over the fall.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
And do you want to mention your daughter?
Speaker 3 (14:54):
My daughter was lucky enough that she got to the
finals so it was pretty, prettystoked about that to be involved
.
I was never her judge, just toput that out there, so uh
there's not a whole lot ofjudging you know, make sure they
don't cross the line.
And they made the bucket andall of that.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
I was, it was never me, so I made, I made, made sure
of that, but uh you know, whenI was announcing for K-State,
that was always a fun thing tobe able to do when you get the
finals there with both both boysand girls and you know, and and
hearing a lot of classmates andfriends and family just
cheering each one of them on,and that was always special.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
It really is.
And again, that's another thingthat touches every fifth grader
in the area.
They all, every fifth graderevery year, gets an opportunity
to be a part of that program andwhat you don't see is when we
go to every school during gymclass and we have them, that
same support is there, for youknow their classmates are
(15:52):
cheering them on and it's just.
It's so great.
It's so great to see Great.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
How can people find out more about the Manhattan
Optimist Club and and maybe youknow investigate being being a
guest at one of your meetingsand becoming a member.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Yes, we would love to have people come and join us.
So we have a website,manhattanoptimistcom, and you
can click join today, whichprovides more information.
One thing I'd like to mentionis that we're doing something
new this year.
We in the past have pretty muchrelied on word of mouth about
(16:32):
our programs and our club, butfor the first time, we're going
to do an actual marketingcampaign.
So you should be seeing more onsocial media radio ads, youtube
video about our programs andabout us.
In the next few weeks.
We're going to launch that.
(16:52):
We're very excited about it.
A little nervous nervous too,because we haven't done this
before.
But yeah, we would ask peopleto go to the website, fill out
the form.
We'll be notified and we'llinvite them immediately.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
We may just put in a quick plug for your meeting
location.
That's the Blue Hills Room inthe Blue Hills Shopping Center,
just to Tuttle and Kimball, andyou have breakfast meetings on
the first, third and maybe fifthWednesdays of the month and
then lunch on the second andfourth meetings.
Correct, that's always goodfood there.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
It is.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
Delicious.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
They do a great job, yeah, and if you want to come to
one of the morning meetings,over the next couple of months
we'll be having the Youth of theMonth, which Heather mentioned
presenting to differentelementary schools in the area.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Well, appreciate the work that all of you do.
Good luck with your spaghettifeed coming up on the 29th, and
you've got information aboutthat on the website
ManhattanOoptimistcom.
Our guests in this segmentinclude Greg McCune, jim Franke
and Heather Peterson, allrepresenting the Manhattan
Optimist Club, and thanks forjoining us today.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Thanks, for having us , Dave.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
When we come back from the break, Jim Jeanette's
going to be joining us.
He's with Manhattan AreaTechnical College and boy he's
got some great stories to tell.
We'll hear from Jim in just acouple of moments on the GMCF
Community Hour and, by the way,you can always find out more
about the GMCF's activities atour website, which is mcfksorg.
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