CURRENT NEWS:

At the May 13, 2011, meeting, Clyde Kensinger was presented with a Christian Larsen Award by Rod Obermeier. This is a very high honor for Clyde and we extend our sincere congratulations to him. Clyde first joined the West Topeka Optimist Club in December of 1966, and has since transferred his membership to our Club. He has served as Lt. Governor of OI International ; is a Past President of his Optimist Club, among many other Optimist activities.

At the same meeting, President Ron Brown presented awards to Mike Akulow, Misty Kruger and Ted Heim for their work and organizing the highly successful ”Zoobilee” and Silent Auction on May 6..

Since we have been meeting at the Top Of The Tower, our luncheon has been $10.00 per person. However on July 1, the meal cost will be increased to $12.00. Also, because the Top Of The Tower will be closed the week of July 3 to 9, there will be no meeting on July 8. Be sure to mark your calendars.

On Friday, June 3 ,Judge Dave Bruns, a long-time Optimist, presently on the Board of Directors of OI International, and a former International Vice-President of Optimist International, will be sworn in by Governor Sam Brownback as the newest member of the Kansas Court of Appeals at 3:00 P.M. at the Supreme Court Building. All Optimists are invited to attend the ceremony.

The next District Convention will be held in Topeka during the last week-end in August. Once again we have been asked to man the hospitality room. We will need volunteers and a sign up sheet will be available later on.

Meeting of May 6, 2011:

This was our “Zoobiliee” held in the evening at the World Famous Topeka Zoo and an opportunity to invite potential members as our guests. We were served fajitas from Pepe & Cheles Mexican Restaurant and guests who were potential members received their meals due to the generosity of Bill Kastens.

There was an excellent turnout with a number of guests. This Newsletter is not going to try to list them all, primarily because I don’t have their names. However, I do want to mention that Governor Kit Kelley and his fiancé, Jane Moore were in attendance. There were also a number of spouses of members who also enjoyed the evening. An additional feature was the Silent Auction thanks to the efforts of Misty Kruger.

Credit for the program is due to Mike Akulow and Ted Heim, who both spoke – Mike gave an excellent picture of Optimism and our Club’s activities. ( If I weren’t already a member, I would have joined up on the spot) and Ted reported about the Downtown Optimist Discussion Group, (DODG), which he and Ken Kerle have been conducting for the youngsters at the Shawnee County Juvenile Detention Center.

Their remarks were followed by Brenden Wiley the Zoo Director, who is apparently on good terms with a female tarantula. Several present were allowed to “pet” or “stroke” her, the spider that is. .Brenden spoke briefly about his goals for the Zoo and then conducted a tour of the Zoo, after which the group returned to the meeting room for the results of the Silent Auction (sorry I don’t have the names of the winners); the singing of Happy Birthday to Carol Kimball; and a closing with the Optimist Creed.

Meeting of May 13, 2011:

Ed Klumpp, a former Chief of Police of Topeka, spoke about the “Safest Capital City Team” and its program for Information Saturation. Klumpp spoke after having been up all night the night before working with the Kansas Legislature on police matters. He has been very active in this area since his retirement from the Topeka police force. He said that his most intense efforts were to obtain a more stringent DUI bill, which the Legislature did enact.

Information saturation is a concept suggested by Barry Feaker of the Topeka Rescue Mission to make a better effort to publicize primary crime targets. As a result the “Safest Capital City Team” was formed to provide a systematic way of informing the public. The Team has selected specific “Sectors” within the City, such as Business, Civic Organizations, Government, Law Enforcement and Social Services, to name several. Each Sector is headed by an individual active in that particular Sector. The purpose is to send out bulletins to all areas of the City alerting citizens to any increase in a specific type of crime, For example, home burglaries or car thefts. These bulletins may also include suggestions for citizens to take to protect themselves from loss.

The first effort was directed toward car thefts. The Sector leaders meet monthly with Chief of Police Ron Miller and Sheriff Ed Barta to discuss which crimes are on the rise in Topeka. From these meetings decisions are made about what bulletins to distribute , to what areas and their content.

Klumpp brought with him an example of a bulletin recently issued regarding auto thefts. It stated that there were 555 auto thefts in Shawnee County in 2010, which translates to 1 stolen car every 16 hours. He said that many of the thefts occurred when drivers left their cars running. (An open invitation to theft).

Besides reducing crime, Klumpp said there could be another upside to the program in that it might persuade some businesses to relocate to Topeka, where crimes were being reduced by this program.

In response to a question, Klumpp discussed an automated telephone approach whereby targeted citizens were called in a “Code Red” program and asked to register with the City or County so that they could be contacted in a limited calling if the situation worsened in their neighborhood. To register you can call www/Topeka.org or ShawneeSheriff.org. and follow instructions.

We had one guest, our present Governor Kit Kelley who spoke briefly about the District Convention to be held in Topeka the week-end of August 19-21, and asked for our support for the Convention. We are scheduled to host the Hospitality Room again this year.

Mike Akulow was the winner of the drawing and shared $20 with the OI Foundation; Margaret Brown’s badge number was drawn to receive a prize to be determined, but Margaret was not present; and Governor Kit Kelly was awarded the President’s Prize.