This newsletter provides updates from the St. Petersburg - Downtown Optimist Club. [1] It discusses a recent meeting where a local student presented her essay and plans were discussed for upcoming fundraising events. [2] The newsletter also shares announcements about upcoming zone meetings and conferences. [3] Birthdays of club members are recognized and well-wishes are sent to those who will be traveling for the summer.

1. Downtown Optimist Club
A periodic newsletter of the
A periodic newsletter of the
St. Petersburg -- Downtown Optimist Club
St. Petersburg Downtown Optimist Club
North Florida District, Zone 9, Club #60447
North Florida District, Zone 9, Club #60447
May 9, 2011
Editor: Sharon Dennany, telephone 919-274-1311 or email: shar1558denn@yahoo.com
Scott Kaplan – President
7360 Ulmerton Rd. #21D, Largo, FL 33771
Zone 9 Lt. Governor – Jean Rutan
North Florida District Governor – Daniel Rich
Tock…
May 2nd meeting at Tick Tock
Members in attendance were Bob and Roseanne Costa, Scott Kaplan, Jean Rutan,
Moonyeene and Gardner Harshman, Judy and Lee Warnock, Jim Ridings and Sharon
Dennany.
Emily Divito was our guest. She is a senior at St. Petersburg Catholic and presented her
600-700 word essay “How My Education Contributes to My Success in the Future”. Her
essay was in the top 7 and was selected out of 30 essays submitted. Emily plans to attend
Wellesley College in Boston and hasn’t decided whether to study social science or history.
There was a nice turn out for the Ronald McDonald house. The next one is in October due
to the summer months are slow. Scott passed around a thank you card from the Ronald
McDonald house. One of the comments was “Best corn soufflé ever!”
The raffle tickets are going full
steam ahead. Sales are up
to around $500 and Jim Ridings
is in the lead with selling the
most tickets. Go Jim Go!
Scott, Gardner and Lee have
worked a couple of the Rays
games.

2. cont’
May 2nd meeting at Tick Tock cont’d…
The Easter Egg hunt was a wonderful event. It was a great turnout and everyone was
happy. Viki did a good job announcing ticket winners. Scott used a bull horn to repeat
the winning ticket numbers for the crowd in the back. Between Scott and Sue Foster the
club already has around 1200 eggs for next year. They both hit up Publix, Dollar Store and
Wal-mart for the 50% clearance sales.

3. Announcement…
Bayside Club Announcement
Hi everyone -
This is Cynthia! I have been working closely with The ladies at The Trunk Stylists, Sarah
and Holley. The plans for the Fashion show are moving along. We could use some help in
securing donations for gift bags(50) and raffles. We won't say no to anything! Please let me
know if you have anything you can confirm. And, if possible bring it to our next Optimist
meeting!
We will have a full update on the event then. If you have any questions feel free to call me
or email me: 727.643.0154, artcentricstudio@earthlink.net. You can also email Aneesa at
The trunk: info@thetrunkstylist.com. Thank you in advance for your efforts to help make
this a fabulous event!
See you all soon -
Cynthia
Know…
Did You Know
Bread was divided according to status.
Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf,
the family got the middle, and guests got
the top, or the upper crust.
England is old and small and the local folks
started running out of places to bury
people. So they would dig up coffins and
would take the bones to a bone-house, and
reuse the grave. When reopening these
coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to
have scratch marks on the inside and they
realized they had been burying people
50/50 alive... So they would tie a string on the
wrist of the corpse, lead it through the
The pot is up to $239 and Roseanne
coffin and up through the ground and tie it
had the winning ticket, but drew the
to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in
8 of spades, no joker for her.
the graveyard all night (the graveyard
shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone
could be, saved by the bell or was
considered a dead ringer.
Bob and Roseanne are heading to New York for
the summer. See you in the fall!

4. It’
It’s My Anniversary
th
May 6
oodyard
Henry G
th
All Optimists are urged to attend the May 8
valis
upcoming zone meeting at the home of Ric Car
Lt. Gov. Jean and Rick Rutan.
Club officers are EXPECTED to attend.
Appetizers and soft drinks will be provided.
Wednesday, May 11th
1409 49th Ave. NE.
Come any time after 6:15 pm
Meeting starts at 7 pm
Phone 727-522-6143
Tampa
Conference
May 13th – 15th
is the 3rd Quarter
Conference in Tampa
at the Crowne Plaza
Tampa Westshore.
The theme for the
conference is Spanish.
Expect to see some Flamenco dancers
and of course a Spanish meal. District
oratorical, essay and poster contest
winners will be announced.

5. It’
It’s My Birthday!
May 3rd
Viki Pena
May 23rd
Paul Jerri
May 31st
Laura Morris
Rutan,.
Rick Rutan,.
Chuck Hayworth,
Jane Ridings and
Dell Schuler
Here are warm wishes heading
Bunco Party Fund Raiser
your way, for steady improvement
The Downtown Optimist Club is having a every day, when you're feeling good
Bunco Party/Fund Raiser once more, may your life be even
Invite all your friends and
come out for great fun! better than before.
Date: May 21, 2011
Time: 6:00 PM
Cost: Tickets are $10.00 per player
Place: 1409 49th Avenue NE
St. Petersburg

6. Respect for Law
The Zone 9 Respect for Law Banquet will be held on Thursday, May 19th. We will
meet at Piccadilly Cafeteria on US 19 and 22nd Avenue North (the same place we
had it last year). Our speaker for this year's banquet will be St. Petersburg Police
Chief Chuck Harmon. Chief Harmon is a difficult speaker to secure but when I
explained how the Optimists in our zone annually honor members of law
enforcement in many forms, he made room in his schedule to be our speaker.
Please come out and support the Chief and honor a member of law enforcement!
The banquet will start at 6 PM with an anticipated end at approximately 8 PM. If
you've been to Piccadilly before, you know we'll want you to go through the line
before 6 PM and be seated so we can start on time.
I am asking all the clubs to contact me directly whether or not they are participating.
I will be creating the program in a week or so and need to know whether or not to
include your club. All Optimists are encouraged and invited to attend the dinner.
Each club normally pays for the dinner of their recipient and their family and provide
some token of appreciation, usually a plaque and a card.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at
504-8652 or at sdkaplan@aol.com.
Looking forward to a great showing by Zone 9.
Optimistically yours,
Scott Kaplan, President
Downtown Optimist Club
Gardner and Moonyeene are
heading to the
mountains of North Carolina
for the summer.
See you in the fall!

7. 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.
CLUB OFFICERS DIRECTORS
President Scott Kaplan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .535-6939 Jean Rutan (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522-6143
7360 Ulmerton Rd. #21D, Largo, FL 33771 Rick Rutan (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522-6143
1st Vice Pres. Vi Hayworth . . . . . . . . . . . . 527-2656 Judy Warnock (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458-8278
2nd Vice Pres. Viki Pena. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421-3721 Sharon Dennany (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . ..919-274-1311
Sec/Treas. Lee Warnock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577-7159 Gardner Harshman (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .592-0243
Sgt-At-Arms/Gardner Harshman. . . . . . . . 592-0243 Moonyeene Harshman (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . 592-0243
Chaplain Rick Rutan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .522-6143
COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Oratorical Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lee Warnock
Essay Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jean Rutan
Programs/Speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rick Rutan
Fellowship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Vi Hayworth/Viki Pena
Poster Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jean Rutan
O.I. Foundation Rep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jane Ridings
Respect for Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gardner Harshman
Youth Appreciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lee Warnock
New Community Dev. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vi Hayworth
Raffles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lee Warnock
Easter Egg Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Viki Pena
Bell Ringing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vi Hayworth
First Friday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lee Warnock