F ebruary is a very spe-

cial month in many

ways. For many people all

over the world the month with ‘28

days clear and 29 in each leap year’

brings us Valentine’s Day and lots

of thinking about love. In my family

two of my daughters were born in

February – one on Valentine’s Day

and the younger exactly one week

short of nine years later.

Well, the latter who turns eight

this year (2014), has bowled me an

Optimism love story I wish to

share. Her name is Jordis;

and just a few days ago, completely

out of the blue, she came up to me

and declared, “Daddy, one

day I’m going to be

president of your

Optimist club just

like you and Te-

trice”. Her confidence and

sincerity got me thinking, ‘wow,

here is a story, worth exploring’.

Tetrice, my first daughter is the

2013/2014 president of my club,

Sunset Optimist Club of Liguanea.

We have had members of the

same family as president before;

but with this bold statement the

Prendergast clan seem set to chal-

lenge the Walkers whose family

has given us three outstanding

presidents – four if we count Past

District Secretary-Treasurer, Op-

timist Heather.

Admittedly, Jordis does have a

long way to go before she could

even become a member of the

club – at least a decade – so to see

a challenge in her declaration

could even be seen as a little

premature. That is unless Jada, the

Valentine’s Day born, carries her

Optimism into college and beyond

to the adult club level.

Anyway, Jordis’ desire to be presi-

dent highlights two things for me.

The first is that Opti-

mism is really about

love in as much as it is about

hope and positive thinking. The

second is that as Optimists we

should remember that working

with and for children is an expres-

sion of love but it is also about

promoting and exposing them to

the tremendous benefits of be-

coming and being junior optimists.

I asked Jordis to tell me why she

wants to be an Optimist – and I

will share her enthusiasm in a

while. What struck me most about

our dialogue was not the goodness

and honesty of her response but

the pure excitement when I told

her about JOOI (Junior Optimists

Octagon International).

When she learnt that it takes only

eight members to start a junior

optimist club at her school the

interest went up a degree. I don’t

know if she was thinking about her

friends but immediately upon

hearing that bit of information her

fingers and vocals synchronised in

counting: one, two, three, four…

Cont’d on page 17

Optimism & Love By: Patrick Prendagast

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Stay connected 2

Vacancies 8

Notices 10

Housekeeping 12

Celebrations

More celebrations

Contact Us 17

Caribbean District News Desk

7 T H F E B R U A R Y , 2 0 1 4 I S S U E 4

T A K E

N O T E

OI Leadership

summit is 22

Mar, 2014

Q2 OICD con-

ference can-

celled.

Club Oratorical

contests by

mid Feb, 14

Q2 dues due

JOOI Buddy Week, pg 4

Jordis

P A G E 2

C A R I B B E A N D I S T R I C T N E W S D E S K

Barbican Pines Optimist Club https://www.facebook.com/optimists.barbicanpines?fref=ts

Caribbean District https://www.facebook.com/caribbean.optimists?fref=ts

Optimist Club of Barbados, Bridgetown https://www.facebook.com/OptimistBridgetown

http://optimistbridgetown.org/

Optimist Club of Cross Roads https://www.facebook.com/pages/Optimist-Club-of-Cross-Roads/186337188241711

Email: optimistcrossroads@outlook.com

Optimist Club of North St. Andrew https://www.facebook.com/Optimistclub.northstandrew?ref=profile

Optimist Club de Ste Lisi www.optimistclubstlucia.com

Optimist Club of UWI, Mona https://www.facebook.com/uwimonaoptimistclub

Progressive Optimist Club of Barbados https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProgressiveOptimist/

http://www.progressiveoptimist.org/

Rising Optimist Club of Moneague https://www.facebook.com/RiseOptimist

Royal Optimist Club of Kingston, The (R.O.C.K) https://www.facebook.com/rockopts

http://rockjamaica.org/

South Circle Optimist Club https://www.facebook.com/southcircleja

http://southcircleja.weebly.com/

Twitter: @SouthCircleJa

St. Ann’s Bay Optimist Club https://www.facebook.com/groups/saboptimists/

Sunset Optimist Club of Kingston https://www.facebook.com/SunsetOptimist?ref=stream

Sta

y C

onnecte

d in r

eal ti

me...

Add your club’s Facebook page here

Darshani@jillandee.com

P A G E 3

Hampers for Optimists

T he youngsters participating in the Sports For

Life programme at Kensington Oval showed

that they have been embracing the core val-

ues of helping others and being charitable

when they gave a number of hampers to the Opti-

mist Club at The Oval on Saturday.

Receiving the timely gifts on behalf of the Optimists

was Margaret Chapman-Farley, who indicated that

the contribution would greatly help in bringing

cheer and smiles to some of the families and chil-

dren who they look to assist throughout the year.

Tricia Forde, facilitator at Sports For Life stated that

in addition to teaching the children some of the

finer points of sports they were introduced to the

core values of sports and life such as respect and

assisting those in need. (KB)

C A R I B B E A N D I S T R I C T N E W S D E S K

OC

of

Barb

ado

s, S

outh

T HERE ARE many families who go hun-

gry in Barbados. This revelation has come from deputy director of the

Child Care Board (CCB) Denise Nurse who

said many Barbadians were not aware of that reality. And that is why Nurse is thanking the Opti-

mist Club of Barbados South for the 18 gift hampers donated which would help supple-ment its distribution programme this Christ-

mas season. The gift hampers, handed over by club presi-

dent Margaret ChapmanFarley on Wednesday, will be distributed to the children and families the CCB deals with through their pro-

grammes. Last year the board gave out 213 hampers to

families with children compared to 206 the same time this year. Nurse said they were

seeing a new dynamic in Barbados where each bedroom in a home represented a family unit

of a mother and children. She said many people were unaware that they

could give. Nurse also said the CCB was for-tunate to be at the receiving end, considering what was happening in the economy.

The Optimist Club has been making the dona-

tion for the past 12 years. Chapman-Farley said each hamper contained a personalized gift

for a child as the children involved in the Sports for Life programme decided that in-stead of having a gift exchange among them-

selves this year, they would give the gifts to charity. The Optimist club was identified as the recipient.

P A G E 4

Youth Appreciation Days

I n November 2013 the

Optimist Club of

Knutsford Circle en-

gaged all 112 students of

the Torrington United Ear-

ly Childhood Institute in a

“Youth Appreciation Day”

at the school.

The celebrations took the

form of a Presentation and

Ice-cream celebration

among all the children. The

Top Boy and Top Girl of

the school up to that date

were recognized for their

outstanding academic per-

formance. A Certificate of

Achievement was presented

to the Top Boy Javauhn

Jennings and to the teacher

for the Top Girl Paulie-Ann

Bernard who was absent on

that day due to illness.

All the students were then

feted with ice-cream. There

were lots of fun, laughter and

ice-cream games.

generational dialogue which

was ably facilitated by Jason

Charmichael, former Ora-

torical contest winner.

The session addressed top-

ics including teenaged sex,

B ridgetown club

featured one main

event:

Youth Awards & Engage-

ment Session.

The club recognized seven

youth groups for their out-

standing work in their local

communities.

The Barbados Youth

Development Council

The SJPP student Guild

The UWI Student

Guild

The BCC Student

Guild

The Young Democrats

The Young Socialists

The Pine Lands Crea-

tive Workshop

An interactive session fol-

lowed which fostered inter-

roles and responsibilities of

parent and child, im-

portance of goal setting and

most importantly, the pow-

er of perspectives.

C A R I B B E A N D I S T R I C T N E W S D E S K

OC

Barb

ado

s, B

ridgeto

wn

K

nuts

ford

Cir

cle

, JA

P A G E 5

OC

of

St. T

ho

mas,

JA

C A R I B B E A N D I S T R I C T N E W S D E S K

President Noreen, DPltg

Sonia Barr, Optimist Dolcie

& IPP Sonia visited a Cancer

Hospice & delivered groceries

Knuts

ford

Cir

cle

, JA

Christmas treat at the Saunders Basic

School. They treated 25 children and left

with many smiles on their faces.

Optimist Veronica Doyley & Veronica

Facey presenting Ms. Loris and family

with their quarterly food basket.

P A G E 6

Pri

de o

f B

arb

ado

s

C A R I B B E A N D I S T R I C T N E W S D E S K

Weekly reading

continues at St.

Ambrose Primary

School.

OC of St. Thomas, JA

Opt Sherie presenting back to school

supplies to Lyssons Primary School

President Aneesha ensuring that the

children in her class have writing books

P A G E 7

OC

Kensi

nto

n, J

A

C A R I B B E A N D I S T R I C T N E W S D E S K

Visit ot Jerusalem Village Children’s Home.

The club visited the Jerusalem Village Children’s home in January

to hand out toiletries and clothing for the residents there. Also to

comb their hair and cut their nails etc.

Hands on!

Hands on!

Hear-Ye Hear EE

Be part of the Optimist year when the unusual will become usual.

Governor Elect Barbara would like to advise the general membership

that positions are currently being filled in readiness for the 2014/15 Op-

timist year.

District Chairpersons

If you are considering running for office you should first ask yourself the

following:

Am I a little crazy? – not completely nuts but at least a little?

Am I willing to entertain unusual thoughts?

Do I enjoy laughing?

Am I able to laugh at myself?

Do I enjoy watching others laugh and have fun?

Do I care a whole lot more about thing than most people would ex-

pect?

If you have answered yes to at least 4 of these questions than you have

met the basic requirements for being a part of the Step By Step

2014/15 Team. GE Barbara and her DST in waiting Jason Gilead

would like to hear from you as soon as possible. If you know of someone

who is too shy to admit that he or she has all of these qualities please

submit the person’s name and email address and we will make contact

with them.

Awesome & Unusual Training opportunities in exotic environments

await those who dare to STEP UP

Apply within:

barbaraarrindell@yahoo.com

VACANCIES

Transferring membership is as easy as 1-2-3:

1. The member transferring needs to be deleted from the club he is leaving.

2. The new club adds him to the roster with a $5 processing fee sent to OI.

3. Club Roster Adjustment Form can be sent to OI or emailed to bakerc@optimist.org indicating change.

(Include member’s information on the CRA form and check “Transfer”. IF the member is a Life Member, indi-

cate on the CRA. Transfers cannot be done online)

Governor Elect

Requirements:

Presidential Experience, would

be good if the person has also

served as an LtG but no longer a

requirement.

Optimists currently serving as

LtGs are also encouraged to

make their interest known

14 Lieutenant Governors

Requirements:

Presidential Experience. If you

are serving as president now you

are eligible and I’d love to have

you on the team

Plenty Club Presidents &

twice as many Vice Presi-

dents.

To all clubs who shared this

month. Keep on sharing!

P A G E 9

Barb

ican P

ines

C A R I B B E A N D I S T R I C T N E W S D E S K

Tree Planting at Immaculate

High School with the JOOI

stuents and Teachers. The tree

was planted in honour of the

Late Dancel Taylor, member of

Barbican Pines and Vice

Principal of Immaculate High

School

P A G E 1 1

C A R I B B E A N D I S T R I C T N E W S D E S K

Kingston, Jamaica

Sat 22 March, 2014

Registration for the summit is open to all

Optimists and must be done online here.

Message from JOOI District Co-Chair– Lloyd Smalling

Attention Adult Optimists:

The JOOI Caribbean Board is requesting that all Optimist Clubs who

are planning to or are in the process of sponsoring JOOI Clubs to

please advise us of such.

This will help us as we continue to strive towards a cohesive JOOI

District. Let us keep the lines of communication open as we facilitate

this process. We will also do our very best to keep you informed of the

happenings in the JOOI district.

Please send information via email to our:

District Secretary Olivia olivia.ewright@yahoo.com

JOOI Governor jooigovernoredward@hotmail.com

Adult District Team members:

CP Genevieve Gomes vieve2000@yahoo.com

Cecile Hale cecillehale@yahoo.com

Clive Savage porkrum@hotmail.com

Ann Sealy ann@valuevacationsbds.com

Housekeeping

What else is there to say?

Click here

P A G E 1 3

C A R I B B E A N D I S T R I C T N E W S D E S K

OC

UW

I, M

ona, J

A

Tutoring Programe at Mountain View

P A G E 1 4

OC

of

Barb

ado

s, N

ort

h

Youth Appreciation with the

students of Lester VaughnSchool

P A G E 1 5 I S S U E 4

S uper Stars Junior Optimist Club at

the Adrian T. Hazell Primary School ob-

served JOOI Buddy Week in ear-

nest. The club members read with stu-

dents from Kindergarten to grade 2 during

'Golden Time' and lunch breaks.

For Grade Two, they sat in with the students

and assisted them with their science assign-

ments. For Grade One they read with the stu-

dents. Students had the opportunity to choose a quiet area on the school

grounds where they wanted to read. Apart from reading with the students,

the Super Stars have decided to supervise the Kindergarten and Grade One

students on the playing field during lunch break and teach them how to play

safe. They will also teach them how to play different fun games.

Super Stars plan to have this activity at least once a week in every month.

Super Stars Junior Optimist Club, Anguilla

P A G E 1 6

C A R I B B E A N D I S T R I C T N E W S D E S K

OC

of

UW

I, M

ona, J

A

Scenes from their Health and Wellness Fair

you and Tetrice!” – The future.

“I want to be an Optimist, to

help children who are poor…

to make sure they have some-

thing to eat so they can be

healthy and strong; and things

to wear so they can feel nice

and good about themselves. I

want them to go to school to

get a proper education so they

can learn and speak and be

confident”, she says

On her exposure to the work of our

It will take some investment on the

part of adult clubs, but I do believe it

would be value-added to sponsor

clubs at all three levels of the JOOI –

Alpha clubs (6-9 year olds), junior

clubs (10 – 13) and Octagon clubs (14

to 18+).

JOOI clubs are the perfect feeder for,

among other things, the Optimist

scholarship competitions, and person-

al development through mentorship,

self-esteem and confidence building

activities, as well as setting the foun-

dation for stronger growth in Opti-

mism. Jordis was particularly en-

thused about the JOOI of Reading

programme.

It is always good to start from what

the children love and how they see

themselves in the future. That is what

Jordis was projecting when she says,

“Daddy, one day I’m going to be pres-

ident of your Optimist club just like

club she says, “I like painting the

schools and fixing up the place. I like

planting trees and flowers to beautify

the surroundings for the children and

teachers. I like the health fair… to

see the children happy”.

Then to cap it all the assured Jordis

asserts, “When I become

president I am going to

raise money for a children’s

home in the country”.

These words are more than the fu-

ture of Optimism. This is positive

thinking, hope, and the love that Op-

timism encourages and builds among

both adults and children. Man, do I

love an environment of Optimists.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all present

and future Optimists.

Patrick Prendergast is past Lieutenant

Governor (Caribbean District – Zone

4)

The Secretariat

36 1/2 Lyndhurst Road,

Kingston 10

Phone: 1-246-836-9005

Skype: darshaniworkman

E-mail: Darshani@jillandee.com

Whatsapp: 1-246-836-9005

Purposes of Optimism

To develop optimism as a philosophy of life

utilizing the tenets of the Optimist Creed;

to promote an active interest in good gov-

ernment and civic affairs;

to inspire respect for the law;

to promote patriotism and work for inter-

national accord and friendship among all

people;

to aid and encourage the development of

youth, in the belief that the giving of one’s

self in service to others will advance the

well-being of humankind, community life

and the world.

Optimism & Love from page 1

Bringing Out the Best In Kids We’re on the web!

http://oicaribbean.wix.com/caribbeandistrict#!

Optimist International Caribbean District