Optimist Club of Salisbury

ORATORICAL CONTEST

    Nine girls and five boys participated in the club’s final oratorical
contest April 17 at the Wicomico County Board of Education building.  
       The winning girl was Maria Abraham, a 7th grade student at Bennett
Middle School. Parkside High School 10th grader, Rachel McCain finished in
second place and TeAna Brown, an 8th grade student at Bennett School finished
third. All girl speakers were very strong and made the decision difficult for
the judges..
       The boy winner is.Kaushal Desai, a 9th grade student at Parkside High
School who finished in third place last year. This year’s second place student
is Elfadil Osman a Bennett Middle School 7th grader. The third place speaker
was Colby Elliott, also a 7th grade student at Bennett Middle School.
       The zone contest is Thursday, April 24th at 7 pm also at the Wicomico
County Board of Education building. The three other clubs in our zone, Ocean
City-Berlin, Chestertown and Easton may also be represented. Winners at the
Zone level will advance to the District competition in Ocean City Saturday and
Sunday, May 3rd & 4th, vying for the two $1,500 scholarships.
       Our club-final top three finishers earn gold, silver and bronze
medallions plus cash prizes of $250 (1st place), $150 (2nd place) and $100
(3rd place). .
       Thanks go to two teachers especially, who worked hard with their
students and their guidance showed in excellent writing and presentations.  
Thank you Theresa McCain of Bennett Middle School and Jackie Leggett of
Parkside High School.  
       Oratorical chairman and emcee, Ralph Murray did another excellent job
running this valuable club program and lost three pounds moving the podium
back and forth for the speakers. Ralph is celebrating his 6* th birthday April
20th and wanted to prove he can still handle the physical activity.
       Plan now to attend our dinner program meeting Wednesday, April 23rd at
Daytons when our winning speakers, Maria Abraham and Kaushal Desai will
present their speeches, “Why Me, Why Not”  to our members


MEMBERS

      Bob Freeman proved his toughness by attending our lunch at Market St.
Inn April 16. He had just undergone meniscus (spelling ?) surgery the previous
Friday and was on crutches, but reported the surgery went well. If he had hip
surgery, I could have spelled that correctly. The doctor isn’t requiring the
use of crutches, but Bob used his crutches and challenged  me with my cane to
a race. Bob won.   

        We had one of our largest  turnouts April 16 for a club luncheon at
Market St. Inn There were 14 dining and each time another member entered the
dining room, we all moved down to make room. That’s the first time I’ve seen
Tony Sarbanes move so far to the right.

       At a weekly Monday breakfast at Daytons, our fellow member, model
railroader  Bill Shehan is referred to by the waiter as Mr. Wilson. The waiter
was asked to explain. “He reminds me of Mr. Wilson, the neighbor  in the
Dennis The Menace television Show,” he replied. Do you see the resemblance?

        We optimists always look at the glass as half full. Pessimists see it
as half empty. Others may see the glass as not being big enough. Source: the
Bob Freeman Book of Funnies.







CLUB NEWS

         Our Optimist softball league will have a season opener at the Parker
Complex Saturday, May 10th and then begin Monday through Thursday and Saturday
play at the Prince Street fields May 12th. The fields are looking good and are
nearly 100% ready for league play.  
         Don Fitzgerald, (Papa Fitz) and Bob Freeman are finalizing league
play work schedules for all members.