Love kids? Join the club. The Optimists, that is
By JENNIFER STEWART
Published April 23, 2006
HOLIDAY - At first, Lisa Ventimiglio made fun.
"When you hear Optimist Club, you think it's just a bunch of people thinking positive," she said, smiling and tilting her head.
The group does have an "Optimist's Creed" that dictates hopeful thinking and behavior, but its focus isn't really even on its members.
The club's motto is "Bringing Out the Best in Kids."
A small group of west Pasco residents want to do that here.
Ventimiglio and five others gathered Thursday night at the Broken Yoke Restaurant to discuss forming a local chapter of Optimist International.
The organization, formed in 1919, has about 105,000 members who perform 65,000 annual service projects that help nearly 6-million young people.
Yet "the Optimist (Club) is a relatively unknown entity," said member Larry Basso of Holiday.
On Thursday, one new person joined, making member No. 12.
But they must have 25 to be officially recognized as a group.
Karen Kirkland of the Central Pasco Optimist Club, which is sponsoring the startup, offered guidance to those at the recent meeting.
Also on hand were Lou Patch and Shari Duvall, both of New Port Richey, and Angela Basso , Larry's wife.
The meetings started in early March.
On Thursday, the main discussion was about ways to attract members, such as posting fliers in the windows of local businesses. But the conversation kept coming back to what they can do for area kids.
"You just want to jump ahead to helping, and you can't because you don't have your charter yet," Larry Basso said.
The west side club, which will have elections and meet twice a month once it's chartered, will focus solely on raising and distributing money for kids.
The benefactors they've discussed thus far include Safety Town, the replica town designed to teach kids how to avoid injury, and Hernando-Pasco Hospice's Children's Assistance Program, which provides counseling for children and teenagers who have lost a loved one under any circumstances.
The driving forces behind the local club, initially, were Ventimiglio's fellow Hernando-Pasco Hospice nurse Stacey Kish and seasonal residents David and "Charley" Wischmann. "The kids really need us today, more so than ever," David Wischmann said. He added that he and Charley have met a lot of "wonderful" people and made friends across the county and in the Caribbean through Optimist International, which they've belonged to since the late 1980s.
The local group had set an April 27 deadline to be chartered, but now it's shooting for May.
"If you don't aim for something," Basso said, "you'll just not do anything."
The club meets from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursdays at the Broken Yoke Restaurant, at 3350 Grand Blvd. in Holiday. Annual dues are $30. For information, call Larry Basso at (727) 945-1718.
Visit www.optimist.org for details on Optimist International.
Jennifer Stewart writes about social events and personalities in Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6231. Her e-mail address is jstewart@sptimes.com