The Downtown Optimist Club newsletter provides updates on upcoming fundraisers and community events. It discusses plans for the Easter egg hunt and working at a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game to raise funds. It also shares well-wishes for a club member in the hospital and highlights the club's participation in programs like Respect for Law to honor law professionals in the community.

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
March 12, 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…
March 15th meeting at Tick Tock
Lee discussed the raffle and passed out tickets to everyone who was willing to sell some.
One of our larger fundraisers, we made approx. $700 last year. Prizes to be won are the
same as last year: Grand prize 2 night stay at the Alden Beach Resort, other prizes include
$50 gift cards to Publix, Outback and the Derby Club at Derby Lane. New this year...to the
club member who sells the most tickets wins a $50 gas card!
Lee also discussed working at Tropicana Stadium where we help the Optimist Club of St.
Pete with their Papa John's pizza stand. Gardner and Scott will work the first game, 4/3.
The next game after that will be 4/15. This was our largest fundraiser last year, making the
club over $1500!
Della Shuler talked about the E3 JOOI club at Morgan Fitzgerald. They will be having their
dance at school 3/16. They sold nearly 300 tickets and will also be selling concessions to
raise money. They are getting ready for the Oratorical contest and have recently added 3
members to their club.
Viki talked about the Easter Egg Hunt. The park has been reserved. The Breakfast Club
will be donating 4 bicycles again this year--yay and thanks to them! Members are asked to
bring their donations to Lealman Park the day of the event but if they aren't attending,
please bring them to the meetings in April. Please remember to stuff your eggs but don't
use chocolate (Tootsie Rolls are ok). The JOOI kids will help lay out the eggs on the field.
The Essay Contest has finished and most clubs in the district have their entrants. Our
club's winner was to attend the April 5th meeting but cannot attend due a conflict. She will
attend at another meeting. We will be awarding her $50.00.
Vi, Scott and Sue Foster will be working to redo the banners for the club, getting all the
patches together for the first time in years. More on this to come.

2. March 15th meeting at Tick Tock con’td…
con’td
Poster contest is underway.
Vi announced there will be either a BBQ or a Low Boil at Ric Carvalis' bar, Club 28 in the
near future as a fundraiser for the OI Foundation. More on this later.
The 50/50 drawing was won by Sue Foster. She had Scott pick her card and it was the
Jack of Spades.
Know…
Did You Know
At local taverns, pubs, and bars, people drank from pint and quart-sized
containers. A bar maid's job was to keep an eye on the customers and
keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention and remember who
was drinking in 'pints' and who was drinking in 'quarts,' hence the term
minding your 'P's and 'Q's.
Common entertainment included playing cards. However, there was a tax levied when
purchasing playing cards but only applicable to the 'Ace of Spades.' To avoid paying the
tax, people would purchase 51 cards instead. Yet, since most games require 52 cards,
these people were thought to be stupid or dumb because they weren't 'playing with a full
deck.'
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid
content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing
lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes,
so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered
poisonous.
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would Sometimes knock
the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them
for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple
of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they
would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

3. April 5th meeting at Tick Tock…
Members in attendance were Jim and Jane Ridings, Lee and Judy Warnock, Gardner
and Moonyeene Harshman, Bob and Roseanne Costa, Chuck and Vi Hayworth, Nancy
Reeser, Viki Pena, Scott Kaplan, Sue Foster and Sharon Dennany.
Gardner and Scott worked a Rays games along side of a group of college kids who were
getting in some volunteer hours. If you are available to help on April 15th or 19th contact
Lee.
Raffle tickets are going strong. $5 for 1 tickets, $10 for 3 or $20 for 8. They are
available through the first week of June. June 7th is the drawing.
The Easter Egg Hunt is coming up April 23rd. It starts at 10am at Lealman Park. There
will be lots of goodies…Easter baskets and stuffed animals and a chance to win one of
four bikes donated by the Breakfast Club. Sunday Brunch and Sunset are donating
$100 each and Bayside is donating $50 to help with all the Easter eggs, candies, stuffed
animals or baskets. The JOOI club will help stuff all the plastic eggs and the Bayside
club will be available that day to help wherever needed. And the best part is the Easter
bunny will make an appearance! So tell all your neighbors and friends to bring their
children out for a fun time!
Also on April 23rd is the Zone Oratorical contest at 1pm at the St. Petersburg Main
Library on 3745 9th Avenue North.
The next meeting is at the Ronald McDonald House on April 19th. The families will dine
on three hams, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, apple sauce and more. Please email
Rick or Jean with your contribution.
The JOOI Club members are selling newspapers and all proceeds are go to Bogey
Creek. Their membership is up to 30 now.
Moonyeene drew the winning
ticket for 50/50 and Gardner
It’s My Anniversary
It’ drew the Nine of Hearts for
her. He was debating
April 15th Betty Jo Carvalis between two cards and
the one he didn’t
choose was the Joker!
Sorry Moonyeene!

4. Bunco Party / Fund Raiser
The Downtown Optimist Club is having a Bunco Party/Fund Raiser
Invite all your friends and come out for great fun!
Date: May 21, 2011
Time: 6:00 PM
Cost: Tickets are $10.00 per player
Place: 1409 49th Avenue NE, St. Petersburg
Send Out Some Good Well Wishes
Our fellow Optimist and friend, Rick Rutan, is in Bayfront Medical Center. Jean has
spent a number of days at the hospital but she had GREAT news! The ultrasound
results were good. Rick does have a bad kidney infection, but something that can be
medically corrected.
He is now strong enough to have visitors, but kindly keep them to a minimum. He is in
room 301, bed 1. He can also have calls to his room….the # is 893-6301. He will
probably be there a couple more days. The family appreciates your prayers and
thoughts.
Vi
irthday!
It’s My B
th
April 7
Betty Ralston
th
April 16
a
Roseanne Costth Dime a Day
April 18 Campaign
rshman
Moonyeene Ha rd Foundation Rep Jane Ridings
April 23 passed a Dime a Day flyer
Lee W arnock around at the meeting. It’s a
simple way to make your
th donation to Optimist International
April 29 Foundation. See the flyer on the
Ric Carvalis next page

6. National Start Walking Day
Did you know that April 7th was National Start
Walking Day? It’s not to late to start.
By visiting StartWalkingNow.org, you will find more
good information to help you keep on walking!
Respect for Law
The annual Respect For Law program comes up in May and I need to know very
soon how many clubs in Zone 9 will participate.
For the newer clubs, Respect For Law is an International Program. Some clubs
have individual programs and others make it a zone project as we have been doing
for many years.
It is a time to honor people in any facet of the law profession. We have honored
police officers, cadets, students, attorneys and judges over the years.
There is a small amount of financial responsibility to
each club including a plaque for the nominee and meals
for the recipient and family members. Some clubs also
make a monetary donation too but we ask that this be
done privately so as not to embarrass other clubs.
Please respond as soon as possible if you will take part
in a zone-wide dinner.
Lt. Governor Jean
Tampa Conference
May 13th – 15th is the 3rd Quarter Conference in Tampa at
the Crowne Plaza Tampa Westshore. This quarters theme
is Spanish. Expect some to see some Flamenco dancers
and of course a Spanish meal.

7. The Easter Bunny and Easter Eggs
Since its conception as a holy celebration in the second century, Easter has had its
non-religious side. In fact, Easter was originally a pagan festival.
The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with an uproarious festival
commemorating their goddess of offspring and of springtime, Eastre. When the
second-century Christian missionaries encountered the tribes of the north with their
pagan celebrations, they attempted to convert them to Christianity. They did so,
however, in a clandestine manner.
It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to celebrate their holy
days with observances that did not coincide with celebrations that already existed. To
save lives, the missionaries cleverly decided to spread their religious message slowly
throughout the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts,
but to do so in a Christian manner.
As it happened, the pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of year as the
Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. It made sense, therefore, to alter
the festival itself, to make it a Christian celebration as converts were slowly won over.
The early name, Eastre, was eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.
The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan
festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons
through her earthly symbol, the rabbit. The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-
Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known
and they served as symbols of the new life during the spring season.
The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. The bunny as an
Easter symbol seems to have it's origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in
German writings in the 1500s. The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany
during the early 1800s. The first bunnies were not made of chocolate; they were
made of pastry and sugar. It was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after
the Civil War. In fact, Easter by its self was not widely celebrated in America until
after that time.
From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were
often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them
with the leaves or petals of certain flowers.
German settlers believed a white hare would leave brightly colored eggs for all good
children on Easter morning. Early American children built nests of leaves and sticks
in their gardens for the Easter Hare to fill with colored eggs. By the 19th century in
America, the Easter Hare had become the Easter Bunny delighting children with
baskets of eggs, chocolates, candy chicks, jelly beans and other gifts on Easter
morning.
www.phancypages.com/newsletter/ZNewsletter2599.htm

8. 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